Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Speaker at the recently held CommunicAsia2017, Andrew Mackay, leads the Mobile Solution group for Cisco in the APAC region. He supports mobile service providers to develop the optimal network architecture for their business requirements and works closely with the Cisco product development and standards groups as a thought leader on mobile technology strategy in the region.

Big Community managed to have a quick interview with him and get his thoughts on the digital transformation that is happening in every facet of business today.

What has been the most significant digital disruption that has affected your industry and how were industry players copping at the time?

The most significant digital disruption affecting Services Providers is being able to adapt to, manage and benefit from the bandwidth boom, the surge in video content (Cisco’s flagship report, the Visual Network Index, forecasts that 78% of mobile IP traffic will be video by the year 2021), the move to mobile, and a world where everything is connected. This has been intensified by much more informed and fussy customers and the decline in traditional revenue streams. The industry has to adapt or wither.

Today the digital disruption is something we not only expect, but look forward to as it opens up new and innovating possibilities. How do you see this trend evolving and panning out?

There are varying degrees of optimism surrounding digital disruption in Asia, however, most Service Providers appear to be embracing digital disruption out of necessity. The surge of connected devices (IoT) has provided the catalyst for SPs to connect, package or combine, and then monetise the flows of these devices.  They have all embraced the need to virtualise and automate their networks to be more nimble and flexible in an always on, always connected world. All of it underpinned with robust network security.

For Cisco, it’s about evolving today’s networks into digital platforms, the foundation of our IoT offerings for Service Providers. This is also the impetus for our shift from hardware vendor to software and digital advisor. We expect to see this evolution from network to digital platform accelerate and expand as the foundation to manage and deliver services.

What is your opinion on the adoption scale that has been occurring in the space within the region?

Asia is not a homogeneous market, hence digital adoption and transformation varies from country to country and sector to sector. The starting points are also mixed. What we can say is that most companies have started, or are ready to start, their digital journey. However, which aspect of the transformation (people, processes, technology or business model) they plan to initiate first, or where they are on that journey remains inconsistent. What is not inconsistent is the acceptance of when, rather than if, they will transform.

Tell us a little about your involvement in being part of this digital disruption.

Cisco is the industry leader in IP, networking, virtualization and automation and is at the forefront of digital disruption in Asia. For our part, we are already transforming our business model as we move from hardware selling to more software and services. Our commercial models with customers moves from CapEx to more OpEx subscriptions.

For our customers, we are introducing new technologies and platforms combined with advanced software, security and analytics to ensure the next era of networking is robust and flexible enough to accommodate the wide ranging and rapidly shifting user demands. It’s about partnering with our Service Provider customers to add strategic value in the new digital eco-system, and ultimately drive sustained growth in the era of disruption.

As new technologies and capabilities, like 5G, come online, the speed of change will only accelerate. As industry leader, our role at Cisco, will be to ensure that we remain focused on anticipating the future and then developing solutions to future proof and benefit our customers and partners.

CommunicAsia2017 was held from the 23^rd till the 25^th of May. It brought a comprehensive display of cutting-edge technologies that looks at the convergence of technologies and the disruption of traditional business models while showcasing the steps necessary to ensure that businesses stay updated and ready to tackle future consumer demands.

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