Telstra Global is pleased to continue its
support of “The State of the Asian CXO survey 2012” for the third consecutive year.
This annual survey provides an insight into the minds of 280 CXOs across seven
countries in Asia Pacific to understand their
challenges, needs, priorities and attitude towards emerging technologies, such as cloud computing.
Telstra Global - State Of The Asian CXO 2012 Report
1. State of the Asian CXO 2012 1
State of the
Asian CXO
brought to you by sponsored by
2. 2 State of the Asian CXO 2012
Contents
3 Foreword by tC seow, editor, CIo Asia
4 Foreword by Martijn blanken, Managing director, telstra global
5 executive summary
6 business challenges and priorities
9 technology challenges and priorities
10 the rise of cloud computing
12 the challenge of social networking
13 the role of the CXo
14 It skills
Acknowledgements
Produced and designed by: CIO Asia About Fairfax Business Research telstra global provides innovative and flexible
Magazine and Fairfax Business Research Fairfax business research (Fbr) is the global communications services and solutions
Sponsored by: Telstra Global demand-side research division of Fairfax for organisations looking to maximise the
this report is based on the findings of a survey business Media. Fbr provides business benefits of globalisation, particularly across
of It leaders in public and private organisations intelligence and custom research services growth regions such as Asia, whilst driving
in singapore, Malaysia, thailand, the in Australia, new Zealand and across 11 sustainability and enhancing business agility.
philippines, Indonesia, hong Kong and India. countries in the Asia pacific.
together with its offshore subsidiaries and
our sincere thanks to all survey participants About Telstra Global international investments, telstra global
for sharing their insights. telstra global is a leading global supplier of serves over 200 of the world’s top 500
managed network services and international companies, spanning Asia pacific, eMeA and
About CIO Asia Magazine data, voice and satellite services. It is a division the Americas. It operates award-winning
CIo Asia builds the It business case for high of telstra Corporation Limited and owns one of networks which are amongst the largest and
level members of the executive suite. the most technologically advanced Ip backbone most diverse in Asia pacific and facilitates
the publication is read by Asia pacific region’s networks in the world. access to over 1,400 pops in 230 countries and
leading top-level business executives who territories across the globe.
make up the It steering committee of major
enterprises.these executives define It
strategies to deliver corporate objectives.
DesIGn By OlIveGRIn
3. State of the Asian CXO 2012 3
Clearer Skies Ahead
When we published last year’s state of internally and externally, these forward-
the Asian CXo survey report, the regional looking organisations are already breaking
economies were going through a rough patch. new grounds to engage not just their internal
this year, the prevailing economic situations staff but their external stakeholders as well.
do not seem too different; yet, the results
compiled show a contrasting representation Making sense of big data now takes on an
of the It landscape around the region. Much even more urgent pace, as more understand
of the feedback we have gathered proves that the intricacies of data dicing and splicing
the skies are brightening, although there are to better predict customer behaviours and
still stormy forecasts over the horizon. demands. business analytics remains high
on most organisations’ list of priorities, while
this annual survey, spanning seven countries social media — shunned by a large percentage
in Asia this year, provides not just a fairly of respondents last year — are seeing high
good indication of the senior executives’ acceptance as a credible platform to engage
sentiments regarding their technology use customers and to enhance brand value.
and operations, but also their outlook for the
next 12 months. CXos could also breathe easier. the survey
shows that most respondents have more
T.C. seow Keeping the lights on is a given; It has time for strategic thinking, although dealing
editor, CIo Asia strategic roles to play in virtually every part with their peers and negotiating with external
of the business, be it from raising efficiencies parties still make up the bulk of their day-to-
in sourcing, manufacturing to retail, but also day tasks.
to enabling the business to forecast better
and to attain its goals faster. We all know the Cloud has also been seen as dependable
consequence of not doing well in this area means for delivering It services, minus
— losing the competition due to the lack of the cost structure often associated with
strategic It plans is an outcome businesses on-premise deployments. but concerns
can ill-afford in today’s intensely competitive still exist, especially in the area of risk
environment. management and compliance. said one
respondent: “to be effective in our role,
Cost cutting was the prerogative last year. It should be seen as a value provider and
perhaps CXos are tired of being overly not as an expense centre. top management
cautious — last year’s budget cuts weren’t support is very critical. they should see It’s
doing much good in the longer term except value to business.”
to better reflect the numbers in the short
term. the contrarian would have taken the this aptly sums up the key challenges faced
opportunity to invest in growth areas and stay by CXos now. that It should be a value
ahead, instead of stifling growth opportunities enhancer to the business is absolutely
by constraining budgets on all rounds. relevant in today’s environment where
business is conducted at Internet speeds. In
CXos could also Interestingly, the upturn is now visible. More the end, how an organisation stands to gain
are increasing their It budgets for 2013. from its It ventures will depend on how well
breathe easier. the While disruptive trends such as mobility its implementations are and how quickly
and consumerisation of It are forcing many the plans are realised. the dark clouds are
survey shows that organisations to rethink their fundamental clearing. It’s time to catch the wind and set
management beliefs, some have already sail into the right direction.
most respondents embraced these trends to initially understand
how change should be implemented and
have more time for ultimately, to benefit from new ways of
getting things done. From introducing new
strategic thinking user policies to delivering new services
4. 4 State of the Asian CXO 2012
Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
telstra global is pleased to continue its through a combination of our network and
support of “the state of the Asian CXo data centre infrastructure, telstra global will
survey 2012” for the third consecutive year. also be able to better serve both Asian-based
this annual survey provides an insight organisations and european, north American
into the minds of 280 CXos across seven and Australian organisations looking to more
countries in Asia pacific to understand their effectively grow in Asia pacific.
challenges, needs, priorities and attitude
towards emerging technologies, such as this year’s survey results support our
cloud computing. prediction that 2013 will see CXos build on
their knowledge of cloud computing over
reviewing this year’s survey results, it has the next 12 months, resulting in cloud-
become apparent that, despite the economic based solutions becoming true enablers to
downturn, Asian CXos are looking towards a business growth. this is especially true when
more positive future. Whilst managing costs we consider the increasing use of saas at an
and It-business alignment are still priorities organisational level.
for CXos, it is pleasing to see that cloud-
based solutions are being considered among Low-latency network infrastructure has also
the top technologies that help organisations been identified in this survey as a business
realise productivity benefits and contribute process enabler by Asian CXos in 2012. Martijn Blanken
towards business growth at a global level. It is evident that MnCs are increasingly Managing director, telstra global
demanding network infrastructure to
since last year’s survey, we have announced cater for highly competitive business
the launch of telstra global, replacing the environments, such as high frequency
previous telstra International brand. the trading in capital markets, online gaming
evolution of our brand follows a period of and cloud-based services where speed and
transition for the business over the past 12 reliability of a service are crucial to remain
months as we move from being a network competitive.
provider to a network-based services
provider. over the past 12 months, we have also
launched our epL express solution, which
With the launch of telstra global, we have enables customers to mitigate risks,
embarked on a three-year roadmap to scale quickly to meet changing business
update existing assets, and product and and bandwidth demands, as well as take
service offerings, as well as build new advantage of growing opportunities in the
capabilities. together, these enhancements Asia pacific region. CXos will build on
to our services will ensure that our
customers have access to innovative and epL express provides low latency connectivity their knowledge of
flexible global communications on one of the between major financial capitals in Asia
most technologically advanced Ip backbone pacific with their european and American cloud computing
networks in the world. counterparts. this means we can support a
customer’s services in financial centres like over the next 12
We now own one of the best networks in singapore, sydney, tokyo, hong Kong, seoul,
Asia meaning that our customers are not new york, Chicago, London and Frankfurt. months, resulting
only using telstra global more for data
and voice, but are also increasingly looking I trust you will find “the state of the Asia CXo in cloud-based
to explore cloud-based solutions. telstra survey 2012” of interest and invite you to get
already has significant cloud infrastructure in touch with myself or a member of my team solutions becoming
nodes located within Melbourne and directly to discuss how telstra global can
singapore and our existing offering will help your organisation leverage the benefits true enabler to
soon be augmented with new infrastructure of an effective global communications and It
in key Asian markets. services strategy. business growth
5. State of the Asian CXO 2012 5
Executive Summary
this year’s state of the Asian CXo survey the ‘consumerisation’ of It are having a
provides a fascinating insight into the significant impact in the corporate world.
challenges and opportunities faced by senior
It executives across the region. 4. While managing costs remains the biggest
challenge for CXos, many appear to have
Against a background of uncertain economic more time available for strategic thinking.
conditions and subdued global growth, Asian Issues occupying their minds include the
organisations are seeking ways to improve increasing complexity of their businesses,
performance while also keeping a lid on difficulties in achieving It integration,
operational costs. In many cases, It is being and coping with the overwhelming pace
seen as a vehicle that can deliver both goals. of technology change. these findings,
consistent with last year’s, show CXos are
When the results of the 2012 survey are playing an increasingly strategic role in
compared with previous years, it’s clear many their organisations.
priorities remain consistent. business and It
alignment, complexity and cost management 5. Cloud-based solutions have been
continue to rank highly. yet, at the same time, identified as the top technologies that will
some new factors have entered the mix. contribute to business growth, followed
Mobility, cloud computing, big data and social by secured and managed services, and
networking have all grown in significance, low-latency network infrastructure.
adding to CXo workloads and requiring a these findings confirm the general
rethink of long-term plans and priorities. move towards cloud computing to realise
greater efficiencies and lower costs.
some of the key conclusions of the 2012
survey include: 6. social media has found a place in the
enterprise. While a small percentage of
1. properly aligning It with business respondents said a ban on social media
goals still ranks as the number one was still maintained in their organisations,
management priority for CXos across the about a third said access to social media
region. this is followed by cost control and was allowed at specific times. this augurs
business continuity / risk management. well for businesses wanting to expand
these findings clearly show It executives their horizons in reaching out, not just
continue to struggle with the same issues to their customers, but also suppliers
they have faced for the past few years. and business partners via social media.
however, staff productivity and enterprise
2. the key benefit delivered to the business security remain two key concerns.
by It was nominated as reduced business
costs. Interestingly, those surveyed this year’s survey provides some fascinating
felt this would be replaced in 2013 by insights. While the global economic outlook
‘enabling business innovation’ followed remains uncertain, it is heartening to note
by ‘creating competitive advantage’. this that Asian CXos are putting their worries a
points to an increasing maturity in the way little behind them and pushing ahead for
It is perceived within many organisations. some real improvements — especially in
the areas of cloud computing and social
3. technology priorities remain relatively media. this augurs well for progress in
unchanged compared with last year. While coming years.
business intelligence still ranks in the
top three, a surprise entry was mobility/
wireless which did not appear in the top
five last year. It’s clear that the trends
of byod (bring your own device) and
6. 6 State of the Asian CXO 2012
Business Challenges
and Priorities figure 1
Asian CXos continue to face a growing list
of challenges. Within the constraints of
tight budgets they must constantly prioritise
activities and investments to ensure business
requirements are met and the potential of
new technologies is exploited.
the results of the 2012 survey clearly show
the perennial challenge of aligning It and
business goals remains at the top of many
priority lists. It is only by achieving this goal
that an organisation can extract maximum
value from its It investments and achieve
the best possible competitive advantage.
other top priorities include cost control and
business continuity (see Figure 1).
the fact that business and It alignment
has remained the top management priority
across all countries in the region (apart from
thailand where it is number 2) is cause for
some concern. the senior management
within many organisations would have rightly RAnk 2011 2012
expected this issue to have been dealt with
years ago. With technology now playing 1 Aligning IT and business goals Aligning IT and business goals
a critical function across all areas of a
business, proper alignment with It is vital for 2 Controlling costs Controlling costs
efficiency and reliability.
3 Business continuity / Business continuity /
however uncertain economic conditions and risk management risk management
constantly changing business priorities are
clearly making such alignment an ongoing 4 Enterprise IT security Improving internal customer
challenge. CXos recognise more must be (user) satisfaction
done and are keeping it atop their to-do lists
for another year. 5 Improving internal customer Process improvement
(user) satisfaction
Figure 1: Top five CXO management
priorities
Cost control is another high management
priority, flagged by CXos across the region. encouragingly, pursuit of these priorities
this reflects a need within all organisations during the coming year will be supported by
to do more with less and maximise return healthy It budgets (see Figure 2). More than
on investments in hardware, software and half of those surveyed (54.9 percent) believed
services. yet this push for cost control their It budget will be increased in 2013
cannot come at the expense of It systems with another 34.8 percent saying it is likely
performance and reliability. the survey found to remain the same. only 10.3 percent feel
business continuity and risk management their budget will be reduced. these results
ranked in third place, and this goal can only reflect the vital role played by It and an
be achieved with the support of a robust acknowledgement by management boards
underlying It platform. that ongoing investment is vital.
7. State of the Asian CXO 2012 7
figure 2 figure 3
In 2013, yOuR IT BuDGeT wIll: Pressure for cost management and reduction 56.7%
be increased 54.9%
Difficulty proving the value of IT 45.6 %
remain unchanged 34.8%
be decreased 10.3% Lack of alignment between business goals and IT efforts 43.3%
Total 100%
Lack of key technical skill sets within IT 43.3%
Shortage of time for strategic thinking/planning 40.9%
Unknown/unrealistic expectations from the business 37.2%
Figure 2: IT budgets in 2013 Lack of business knowledge with IT department 37.2%
yet, despite the clearly important role that It
plays within large organisations, the survey
found somewhat surprisingly that many CXos Inadequate budgets 37.2%
still have difficulty in proving its value. When
asked to nominate the biggest challenges to
their effectiveness, 45.6 percent put pressure Risk and uncertainty due to volatile economic conditions 35.8%
for cost management and reduction in top
place (see Figure 3).
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Figure 3: Biggest challenges to role
effectiveness
some of this pressure can be attributed to direct investment towards products and
to the fact that a large proportion of CXos services that can provide the best support for
have an ongoing difficultly in proving the business activity.
value of It. this challenge is difficult to
understand and perhaps points to a lack of Coupled with this challenge is a feeling that
communication between the It department corporate cultures do not devolve enough
and the wider organisation. If the channels responsibility to It to innovate. this ranked at
of communication were improved and number 4 in 2011 but has risen to number 2
senior management had a clearer picture this year. the third nominated roadblock, that
of the supporting role provided by It, such It execs are too busy maintaining existing
anomalies could surely be reduced. systems in infrastructures to innovate,
ranked in second place last year.
Another possible reason for the continuing
challenge of explaining the value of It overall these results paint a picture of a
emerged from the survey (see Figure 4). As concerning disconnect between CXos and
they did in 2011, CXos feel they are involved their It departments and the wider business.
too late in the decision making process. For organisations to get the most from their
this can result in decisions that do not It investments, this disconnect needs to be
take advantage of new technologies or fail addressed and resolved quickly.
8. 8 State of the Asian CXO 2012
figure 4
Figure 4: key Roadblocks to Innovation
on a more positive note, the 2012 survey
found It has delivered some key business
benefits to organisations across the
region (see Figure 5). While the top benefit
nominated by CXos during the year was
‘reduced business costs’, others included
‘creating competitive advantage’ and RAnk 2011 2012
‘enabling business innovation’. While the
priority might change slightly, these three 1 IT executives are involved too late in IT executives are involved too late in
items are forecast to remain at the top of the the decision making process the decision making process
list during 2013.
2 IT executives are too busy maintaining The corporate culture does not give
A comparison with the 2011 survey results existing systems and infrastructure enough responsibility to IT
shows these top benefits have remained to innovate to innovate
relatively consistent—evidence that the
key benefits afforded by investments in 3 Inadequate opportunities for IT to IT executives are too busy maintaining
technology remain the same over time. communicate innovative ideas existing systems and infrastructure
to innovate
encouragingly, the shift of ‘enable business
innovation’ into the top spot for 2013 indicates 4 The corporate culture does not give Inadequate opportunities for IT to
that CXos believe they will be in a position to enough responsibility to IT to innovate communicate innovative ideas
shift their focus away from cost reduction
and spend more time on enabling innovation. 5 Senior management does not Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s
this will help to position organisations well encourage IT to proactively innovate ability to generate ideas and
to take advantage of any economic recovery to innovate
should it begin to appear next year.
6 Lack of C-suite confidence in IT’s Senior management does not
Figure 5: Benefits from IT on ability to generate ideas and to innovate encourage IT to proactively innovate
overall business
figure 5
RAnk 2011 2012 (Projected) 2012 2013 (Projected)
1 Create competitive Create competitive Reduced business Enable business innovation
advantage advantage costs
2 Enable business innovation Enable business innovation Enable business innovation Create competitive advantage
3 Reduced business costs Reduced business costs Create competitive advantage Reduced business costs
4 Improved customer Improved customer Improved customer Improved customer
(external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction (external) satisfaction
5 Improved security/risk Enable new revenue streams Improved security/risk Enable new revenue streams
management management
9. State of the Asian CXO 2012 9
Technology challenges
and priorities
figure 6 result has been driven, in no small part, by
the rapid rise in the use of mobile devices
Mobility and wireless 46.5% within all organisations. Whether provided to
employees or introduced as part of a bring
your own device (byod) program, smart
Business intelligence 44.7% phones, tablets and other devices are playing
a much more important role than they were
even 12 months ago.
Business continuity 44.2%
As well as allowing employees to be much
more productive while away from the office,
Integrating/enhancing systems and processes 42.3% the mobility and wireless trend also presents
a range of fresh challenges for CXos.
security of core It systems and data must be
Business process automation 41.4% maintained while at the same time allowing
access to those who require it. Attention
must also be given to the overall cost of
Cost management 41.4% portable devices to an organisation to ensure
that value is being achieved for the level of
investment being made.
Enterprise IT security 36.3%
The rise of cloud computing
For the first time, the survey asked
Network connectivity 35.8% respondents about their plans for and use of
cloud computing services and technologies.
the results paint an interesting picture
Virtualisation 34.9% of where Asian CXos stand in this rapidly
developing space.
Cloud computing 32.1% In 2011, cloud computing and the linked topic
of virtualisation did not appear in the top five
list of technology priorities for the year. In
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 2012, they remain outside the top five but are
included in the wider top-10 list. this result
is somewhat surprising, giving the intense
results from the survey questions dealing interest in cloud computing across the It
with technology challenges shed some very industry and the considerable marketing and
interesting light on what is going on at the educational efforts being made by vendors.
coalface of corporate It. With one eye on the
business priorities (see previous section), however, while CXos did not place cloud
CXos are also dealing with an ever-changing computing at the top of their priority lists,
mix of technologies, products and services. the survey revealed usage has been growing
consistently during the year (see Figure 7). In
Figure 6: Top technology priorities for 2012: fact, 32.8 percent of those surveyed reported
Interestingly, the survey found mobility and that hosted (cloud-based) solutions were now
wireless had jumped into the top spot on common across their organisation and a further
the priority list for many CXos, overtaking 26.8 percent said they would be adopting hosted
perennial topics such as business intelligence solutions as some parts of their organisation
and business continuity (see Figure 6). this had already gone down this path.
10. 10 State of the Asian CXO 2012
Figure 7: stage of adoption of hosted figure 7
solutions
drilling down further in the area of cloud
(Figure 8), the survey found the need for
infrastructure and compute resources
was ranked as the number one priority for
adoption. this tallies with one of the key
benefits of cloud computing — organisations
can rapidly scale their It resources up and
down as demands change.
Figure 8: Cloud computing priorities
not surprisingly, making use of business
applications — delivered by either a
platform-as-a-service (paas) or software-
as-a-service (saas) platform — also
ranked highly. this is to be expected as
organisations come to understand the cost
savings and efficiency improvements that Hosted solutions are now common 32.8%
such an approach can deliver. across the organisation
When asked what specific technologies Some parts of the organisation are already 26.8%
would contribute to business growth using hosted solutions
during the next year, cloud-based business
process management was nominated by I am an early adopter and I am leading the 29.3%
38.1 percent of respondents. A further 12.6 organisation’s adoption of hosted solutions
percent nominated cloud-based virtual
contact centres. Many parts of the organisation are using 11.1%
hosted solutions
there is no question that cloud adoption in all
countries covered by the survey is very strong total 100%
and will continue to grow. With pressure to
restrain It spending set to continue, the
financial benefits around the adoption of
cloud-based services and resources will gain
figure 8
further attention.
singapore (Figure 9). this is not surprising, Cloud Computing Priorities Rank
Figure 9: Major city hubs for cloud as the island state has done much to position
computing itself as a solid base from which cloud Infrastructure and 1
For many organisations considering the service providers can operate. significant compute resources
adoption of cloud computing services, the investments in networking infrastructure
location from which those services will be also mean reliable, high-speed links can be business applications 2
delivered is an important consideration. If provided throughout the region. (including saas/paas)
a cloud service is to be used for storage of
sensitive commercial or personal data, an The challenge of social networking big data (analytics & 3
organisation will be keen to know where the For some years, social networking has been interpretation of data)
servers are physically located, what security regarded by many large organisations as a
is in place, and whether there are redundant time-wasting nuisance that does little more
network links to allow access should than reduce staff productivity. however,
connection outages occur. during the past 12 months, corporate
attitudes towards the trend have changed
When asked to name the major city hubs as increasing numbers of senior managers
for cloud computing services, the majority come to realise the potential that social
(86.5 percent) of those surveyed nominated networks offer.
11. State of the Asian CXO 2012 11
figure 9 Figure 10: Potential of social networking
as a business tool
City Hub Percentage Rank others felt social networks could add value
as a means of connecting with partners and
singapore 86.5% 1 suppliers or as a way to develop new products
and services.
hong Kong 66.5% 2
Interestingly, one in five CXos (20.3 percent)
shanghai 52.6% 3 the 2012 survey asked CXos about their felt social networks were too insecure to be
attitudes towards social networking, and the used as a business tool. this attitude is a
Kuala Lumpur 52.1% 4 results provide an interesting insight into little surprising and will have to be revised as
the approach being taken by organisations the take-up of social networking continues
sydney 43.7% 5 (Figure 10). of those surveyed, 42.6 percent to rise at an increasing rate. organisations
said they believed social networking could that opt not to make use of networks, such
tokyo 42.8% 6 potentially benefit their enterprise CrM as Facebook and twitter, risk losing out on
approach. opportunities to competitors that do.
figure 10
Social computing could potentially
benefit our enterprise CRM 42.6%
approach
Social computing could be used
internally by our enterprise as a method 14.7%
of developing products and services
social computing could be valuable
as a tool for staying in touch with 21.3%
business partners and suppliers
social computing is too
insecure to be used for business 20.3%
purposes
other 1%
12. 12 State of the Asian CXO 2012
figure 11
Other Social
Figure 11: social computing policies in the computing is
enterprise banned in our
yet, despite more than 78 percent of Social 5.6% enterprise
respondents saying social networking computing,
offers some benefit to their organisation, relating
23.9 percent of those surveyed said its use to our 23.9%
remains banned within their organisations enterprise
(see Figure 11). A further 32.5 place business, is
restrictions on its use at certain times. such permitted 29.4%
attitudes, while understandable, contradict in our
the acknowledgement that social networks organisation
can offer real business benefits.
the survey found CXos and other senior
mangers opt to ban or limit use of these
networks through a fear of reduced staff
productivity (see Figure 12). this can be 8.6% 32.5%
overcome through proper staff education and Social
the establishment of recognised policies on We have integrated computing is
social networking use during working hours. social computing into allowed, but
our operations only at certain
Figure 12: Greatest concern of social times
media
the benefits offered by the intelligent use
of social networks within the enterprise
are considerable. From brand promotion
and marketing to direct communication figure 12
with customers, social networks have
quickly become a valuable communications Other Corporate
channel. CXos across Asia will need to Branding
monitor developments closely to ensure
their organisation is well placed to maximise 4.6%
its potential.
Staff 18.8%
Productivity
40.6%
34.5%
Staff Loyalty
1.5% Security
13. State of the Asian CXO 2012 13
The role of the CXO
this year’s survey shone new light on the When compared with the 2011 survey, these
complex role played by CXos in larger results confirm that the role of the CXo is
organisations. As well as the expected becoming more complex and strategic. the
tasks associated with overseeing It systems fact that the task of strategising and big
and staff, CXos are also deeply involved picture planning was nominated by 60%
in interactions with vendors, designing of respondents (up from 56.6 percent last
business processes and budgeting. year) indicates the critical role played by the
position inside large organisations.
Others Board of No
figure 13 figure 14
directors
To whom do you Are you a
report to? 22.3% 11.2% member of
the business
executive 33.5%
management
28.4% team in your
organisation?
15.8% CEO 66.5%
Corporate CIO
13.5% 8.8%
CFO COO Yes
figure 15
On which of the following activities do
you spend the most time?
Strategising and big-picture planning 60.0%
Interacting with vendors/outsourcers 54.4%
Designing/optimising business processes 49.3%
Budgeting 47.4%
Leading projects 46.0%
Interacting with your company’s CXOs 40.5%
Making strategic systems decisions 38.6%
Hiring, developing and managing staff 31.2%
Strategic planning 30.7%
Learning about technologies 25.6%
Managing IT crises 22.8%
Security management/planning 17.2%
Interacting with external business 15.8%
Compliance management/planning 16.3%
14. 14 State of the Asian CXO 2012
IT skills
the survey results provide insight into
the skill sets CXos are looking for as they
built out their It teams in the coming year.
Following are some highlights of the results.
figure 16
will your headcount
increase, decrease or
remain unchanged during
the next 12 months?
Increase
37.2%
60.0%
2.8%
Remain unchanged Decrease
15. State of the Asian CXO 2012 15
figure 16
If you are hiring, what are the top five skill sets you are looking for in candidates?
Application development 63.7%
Architecture development/management 28.8%
Database management 46.0%
Help desk/user support 30.2%
Open source technology 16.3%
Networking 38.1%
Project management 48.8%
Security 37.0%
Website development 20.9%
Vendor relationship management 10.2%
Infrastructure technology 43.7%
Web services 15.8%
Business or industry knowledge 29.8%
Business knowledge 32.1%
Emerging technologies 33.0%
Others 5.1%