How can ICT solution providers help organisations successfully realise digital transformation?

The world is on the verge of becoming fully connected as technological innovation has become the driving force behind social and economic development. In the Middle East, spending on IT projects is set to rise this year as regional economies improve, and projects put on hold due to the pandemic are now moved onto the fast-track. Local governments are also prioritising the communication needs of people and businesses, ensuring stable communication systems that are always able to operate at peak performance.

However, creating real-world business value through technology deployments can still be a challenging task for some, especially considering the rapid pace of transformation seen today. Reliable ICT partners are needed now more than ever before. Our industry has a responsibility to help businesses and governments effectively undertake every step of their digital transformation process — from strategic development and implementation to operations and support.

The reality is that fierce competition and rapid digital transformation requires increasingly fast problem resolution. This includes organisations having hyper-accurate fault demarcation, faster disaster recovery, and more effective remote support at all times.

There are several ways in which ICT solution providers can help organisations to successfully realise this level of digital transformation, now and in the future.

One of these strategies is to invest in robust services and round-the-clock technical support capabilities. At Huawei, for example, we believe in providing simplicity to our customers and handling complexity ourselves. This delivers smooth operations for every single customer’s daily services. Through a customer-centric approach, end-to-end processes, highly experienced experts, and intelligent tool platforms, we safeguard network communications. Even in periods of crisis, we can ensure stable network operations in more than 170 countries and regions.

To better meet customer expectations, today Huawei’s enterprise services support 18 different languages, providing 24/7 remote services and other self-service capabilities to organisations. Those capabilities have been recognised across the industry. For example, Huawei has received the outstanding rating certification from the Technical Services Industry Association (TSIA). According to TSIA, this recognises that Huawei’s technical support services have reached the highest industry standard in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In addition to having technical support capabilities, another consideration for organisations today is a solid ecosystem strategy. This must be built on open cooperation and sharing of capabilities and benefits. In the age of digital transformation, companies need to collaborate in order to survive and grow. This collaboration is needed throughout the project lifecycle from consulting, planning, design, sales, and delivery to operations and maintenance. For example, Huawei enjoys relationships with more than 30,000 enterprise partners across the world, including sales partners, solution partners, service operations partners, talent alliances, investment and financing partners, industry organisations, and other partners. We also continuously invest in partner development, cultivation, motivation, and support programmes.

Moreover, one of the most important ways that ICT solution providers can help organisations to successfully realise digital transformation is through knowledge-development activities. Digital transformation relies heavily on trained professionals. It is imperative for the industry to not only pursue technological advancement, but also actively use technology to create economic and social value. All tech companies need to see themselves as knowledge partners and inculcate trainings as part of being responsible corporate citizens. To this end, Huawei is committed to promoting the development of the ICT talent ecosystem in the countries where it operates. By 2020, Huawei had certified more than 400,000 ICT professionals in more than 1,600 Huawei ICT academies, helping bridge the digital skills gap.

Last but not least, in order to drive sustainable social development, technology needs to play a key role in addressing environmental issues. Research shows that the extensive application of ICT enables a range of industries to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. Huawei works hand-in-hand with customers towards these goals. Emaar Properties has used Huawei’s all-optical campus solution to develop the 6 square kilometer Dubai Creek Harbour project. Huawei’s solution helped reduce equipment room space by 80 per cent, lower energy consumption by 30 per cent (approximately 130,000 kWh of electricity each year), and reduce approximately 62 tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to planting more than 2,700 trees.

Looking at these scenarios holistically, the power of technology cannot be underestimated. It can build engines for socioeconomic development, drive transformation, improve peoples’ livelihoods, and protect the environment. To date, 267 of the world’s top 500 enterprises, along with more than 700 global cities, have trusted Huawei to be their digital transformation partner. Huawei is dedicated to making life better, making business smarter, and making society more inclusive — ultimately accelerating the advent of a fully connected, intelligent world.

David Shi is the president of enterprise business group, Middle East Region, Huawei