Drive us into new era of strategic business, oh ICT! — Nigerian business leaders pray

Over 90 percent of business leaders in Nigeria are riding on the back of Information and Communications Technology, ICT to book a place at the unfolding new era of strategic business.
This is mainly after identifying that ICT is a strategic lever for business growth.
With this realization, there is a growing adoption of technology solutions like automation, to manage daily activities with a prayer that it could be enough to drive them into the new era of strategic business planning.
More so, a recent research conducted by EMC Corporation reveals that of 528 business and technology decision makers across Nigeria’s private and public sectors,
more than 80 percent agree that their organisations recognise the increasing role of automation, such as software defined storage, among others as critical to business growth.
The study also found that about 96 percent of respondents expect next-generation technologies such as Mobile, Social, Cloud Computing and Big Data to give their organisations a competitive advantage, even as these new technologies will impact key aspects of business, including improving customer experience, managing mission-critical business operations and building new products and services.
The survey result was revealed at the 2014 edition of the EMC Forum in Lagos last week. Meanwhile, the Forum also showcased the transformation required by organisations in order to remain competitive and seize new opportunities in the coming era of data explosion. The event saw top decision makers and IT professionals from different organisations brainstorming on the latest challenges and trends in the industry. Participants were also provided with information on how to harness the latest IT developments in Big Data, Cloud Computing, Information Security and related services, towards enabling their organizations meet the demands of the dynamic global IT landscape.

EMC’s General Manager for West Africa, Rasheed Ola Jimoh, said that the survey results reflect heightened interest in third platform technologies by Nigerian organisations. For him, “enterprises across Nigeria are realising the value that can be derived from technologies such as Cloud Computing and Big Data. These technologies form the bedrock for driving agility and engaging the connected consumer. As the transition to third platform commences, IT departments will find themselves open to new opportunities to innovate and truly fuel business transformation,” he said. Jimoh underscored the need for organisations to take a more cloud-centric approach to business, against the backdrop of changing customer expectations arising from the emergence of new, always-on technology platforms. “Consumer expectations have undergone a radical shift. They now expect to interact not only with each other, but with a multitude of organizations, via mobile devices and at the speed of now. To remain relevant and competitive, organisations across every industry are reinventing their business models to handle unprecedented levels of access, interaction and scale. For this reason, IT finds itself back in the driver’s seat, morphing from cost centre to a true catalyst for change through the use of cloud and Big Data technologies,” he explained. He added that EMC’s long-established reputation as a global leader in helping businesses and service providers transform their operations places the organization at a vantage position for facilitating Nigeria’s transition to an IT-driven economy.