Open Source Can Help ASEAN Businesses to Leapfrog in 2017

By Damien Wong, Vice President & General Manager, ASEAN, Red Hat

Damien Wong, Vice President & General Manager, ASEAN, Red Hat

It’s no secret that we are living in a period of uncertainty around the world, both politically and economically. For many organizations, the only certainty amidst the uncertainty may be the increasingly challenging and digitally disrupted business landscape.

“As businesses grow and innovate, CIOs have to think beyond traditional IT and learn from the existing deployments”

The reality of digital disruption impacting businesses across industries is perhaps undeniable. Today’s technology-savvy customers are more empowered and they have high expectations of a business' ability to offer services on the platforms of their choice. All throughout ASEAN, organizations are focused on innovation. Improving operational efficiency and customer experience are among top priorities for many CIOs, though efforts can be constrained by traditional IT.

Open Source for Digital Innovation

In view of the mounting disruption and competition ahead, many organizations in ASEAN are turning to open source for answers, driven by benefits such as faster implementation and improved flexibility, which can enable organizations to build new customer experiences, services, and products more quickly.

“As businesses grow and innovate, CIOs have to think beyond traditional IT and learn from the existing deployments”

Open source helps to break down the barriers of IT challenges through a collaborative, iterative, and open ecosystem, along with other benefits such as lower investment costs, faster implementation, improved agility, and reducing vendor lock-in and often, reduced costs.

A case in point is Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech). As the digital transformation custodian for Singapore’s public sector, GovTech harnesses information and communications technology with a goal of making a difference in the lives of people in Singapore. Using open source technology, GovTech has developed an innovative Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution for the government of Singapore. This can help government agencies to quickly develop, host, and scale applications, and also achieve these with speed and consistency.

Best Practice for Open Source Implementation

Whether it is meeting compliance or addressing a shortage of talent, many IT decision makers are facing some of their biggest challenges today. Thankfully, open source solutions can help address many of these hurdles. But first and foremost, businesses may have to change their mindset to embrace not only new technologies, but perhaps more importantly, open source-centric corporate culture and processes.

Greater innovation and agility can happen when organizations adopt an open source and collaborative way of thinking and working – rewarding the best ideas, upholding the spirit of meritocracy, and creating a shared purpose and platform to facilitate participation.

Organizations lacking the in-house talent to implement open source can consider seeking external help. Take IT consultancy for instance, which value-adds by understanding each business stakeholder’s priorities and creates greater synergy within enterprises.

Time to Embrace Open Source

As businesses grow and innovate, CIOs have to think beyond traditional IT and learn from the existing deployments. Many organizations like GovTech are now turning to open source to help transform their operations and customer experience, disrupting the market, especially in a region as vibrant, diversified and dynamic like ASEAN.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in North Carolina, USA, Red Hat specializes in providing reliable, high-performing open source software solutions. The company also offers support, training, and consulting services with the help of over 10,000 employees worldwide.