3 Key Information Technology (IT) Trends to Occur in Indonesia in 2017
NetApp Indonesia, the local unit of the American multinational storage and data management company, predicts three main information technology (IT) trends in Indonesia in 2017: (1) data becoming the "new currency", (2) new platform models taking over, and (3) cloud computing becoming a key source of corporate growth. Ana Sopia, Country Manager NetApp Indonesia, explained that numerous companies, all over the world, are currently experiencing digital transformation challenges.
However, this digital transformation not simply facilitates a company's traditional method of doing business, but in several sectors the digital transformation in fact encourages new and innovative business models. One simple example is the transportation app (such as Grab, GoJek, or Uber) on the mobile device through which consumers can order a vehicle or motorcycle (including driver), a highly successful and innovative business model (but one that came at the expense of earnings in the traditional transportation sector such as taxis and buses). Besides transporting the consumer, transportation app developers have been offering new and creative solutions to consumers: Go-Food (for the order and delivery of food), Go-Massage (to order a masseuse), Go-Clean (to order cleaning services), etc.
For existing companies it is important to adapt to the new digital reality in order to safeguard future revenue streams. However, this adaptation process brings challenges, such as the need for additional human resources who are capable of handling the companies' activities in the new digital reality (in addition to the traditional services that can be done by the older generation of workers at the company), as well as data management, IT infrastructure and connectivity.
Country Manager NetApp Indonesia Ana Sopia says not only internationally but also most companies in Indonesia are currently facing these challenges. Part of existing companies have already adapted but many more are still doing business in the traditional way although there does exist awareness to adapt to the digital reality. She detects three global IT trends that are to occur in Indonesia in 2017.
The New Currency
Data are the new currency, Sopia says. The explosion of data in the digital economy has fundamentally changed the way companies conduct business, including their business model, technology, and marketing. Some companies, such as the above-mentioned transportation apps, are even fully dependent on data. Others need data to determine their audience and to offer their products and services to this audience. Data have already been used by companies to analyze their clients' behavior and composition. However, Sopia believes that for many companies these data will become the key driver of their business model, hence being much more than just statistics.
New Platform Models Taking Over
The second trend involves new platform models taking over, for example Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon.com, which is a cloud services platform that offers compute power, database storage, content delivery and other functionality to help businesses scale and grow. Such platforms integrate and simplify various services for its clients (to build sophisticated applications) and are therefore cost-efficient. Considering there is a lot of young and creative talent in Indonesia (developers and programmers), this pool of talent is expected to choose for a comprehensive platform model for reasons of efficiency and effectiveness.
Cloud Computing
The third trend is cloud computing ("the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer"). This is already being used by many companies in Indonesia for their data needs, Sopia says. The availability of cloud computing gives easy access to IT infrastructure that is required for innovation. One of the main advantages is cost-efficiency because it would be much more expensive for a company to set up its own data center than to use the existing facilities.