A ManageEngine study shows use of AI and Business Analytics is growing rapidly to support data-driven decisions.
Research shows that 94% of businesses in Singapore increased their utilisation of business analytics over the last two years.
This is according to ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation. The company has shared the results of its recent market study, The 2021 Digital Readiness Survey.
The study results also show a significant rise in the adoption of technologies such as the cloud and artificial intelligence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Findings
According to a media statement by the company, here are the key findings of the survey:
· Businesses are leveraging analytics to improve decision-making: For modern-day organisations, data is an invaluable asset. Almost 94% of respondents in Singapore stated that their companies have increased the use of business analytics. Major drivers for the rise in the use of business analytics include the need to improve decision-making and better leverage the data available to the company.
· Increased adoption of cloud solutions: Enterprises in Singapore have accelerated the use of cloud solutions, such as Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service. More than 86% of respondents stated they have increased the adoption of the cloud as a result of the pandemic, and knowledge about the cloud (both public and private) was among the top skills learned during this period.
· Confidence in AI has increased in the last two years: Nearly 89% of respondents stated that their company’s use of AI has increased in the last two years. The results of the survey show that providing a better customer experience, increasing operational efficiency and improving business analytics are the top three reasons companies in Singapore have accelerated the adoption of AI technologies.
· IT leaders make good CEO candidates in Singapore: The study revealed that the tech leadership team is heavily trusted to lead their company in the future. In fact, around 71% of respondents believe that IT leaders are better equipped and qualified to assume the CEO mantle compared to those occupying roles in other departments like sales, marketing and finance.
· Work-from-home security concerns are a key driver for innovation: With 98% of companies planning to support their remote workers for at least the next two years, the need to improve security is driving companies to adopt new technologies. The top three security initiatives implemented by companies are training employees, instilling more awareness among staff and adapting their security strategies.
“Even as enterprises are pushed to accelerate their digital initiatives to rapidly transition to hybrid work, the need to offer a better customer experience and ensure operational efficiency has never been greater,” said Gibu Mathew, vice president and general manager for the Asia Pacific at Zoho Corporation. “Business leaders understand that technologies such as AI and the cloud are vital to overcome future disruptions and achieve resiliency. As organisations continue to lean on IT to cope with the shift, we are committed to empowering and supporting our customers in navigating the ever-changing landscape.”
Implications for Martech
“Integrating AI into business applications that generate vast amounts of data can help organisations identify gaps in the customer experience and improve products and services,” said Mathew.
For instance, he added, chat conversations with customers and web analytics patterns have a lot of information waiting to be tapped. With the help of AI, marketers can leverage this data for customer sentiment analysis and determine customers’ attitude towards the brand. Marketers can also use data from chat conversations to gauge if customers are satisfied with their interactions or if there was any engagement at all.
“IT also plays a critical role in ensuring the delivery of cloud services, and the interconnected roles of marketing and IT can help make the difference between a typical experience and a great experience by ensuring that marketing expectations are clearly communicated,” he said. “Increased digital services, brand reputation, and improving the end-user experience of websites are other examples of where there is a lot of synergy between the two roles.”
According to Mathew, AI will play a key role in helping marketers better understand their customers and achieve business goals. “As more companies embrace digitalisation and implement AI-enabled technologies, we’ll see more game-changing applications and use cases of AI for better customer experiences,” he said.
ManageEngine commissioned market research firm Dimensional Research to conduct the 2021 Digital Readiness Survey to understand the changing IT landscape and COVID-19’s impact on businesses. A total of 1,210 IT executives and technology professionals from Singapore, India, North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand were surveyed. In Singapore, 101 respondents from businesses with more than 500 employees across 16 industry verticals completed the survey.
