Lenovo South Africa is one of SA’s leading PC and tech brands. With the current COVID-19 pandemic gripping South Africa, Thibault Dousson, General Manager of Lenovo Southern Africa explained the importance of digital transformation across businesses and companies in SA.
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Dousson explains how the current COVID-19 pandemic changed everything by forcing businesses to implement immediate digital change at the drop of a hat. Plans which were once set in place for 18 months’ time had to be implemented immediately. In addition, businesses who have yet to embrace the change in the digital landscape may be left behind as consumers are changing the way they approach products and services online.
With the current change in the country, businesses have also been forced to implement new operations including remote working. This could see a drastic change in future operations by having offices that could cater for smaller numbers of employees. As a result, less office space means possible cost savings.
However, it is not all good news. Dousson explains that the need for digital transformation comes with its own set of setbacks, especially in SA. The need for improved sound and camera quality is tougher for some South Africans than others. Not all people have access to technology that can offer the performance and equipment to adapt to remote working. However, the South African government is aware of the issues many people face. As a result, they have ramped up investment focus in these areas, especially in online education.
Dousson believes that with the implementation of 5G in SA, more people will be able to connect much faster too. This will help across the board in industries such as education. machine learning and AI.
Businesses still have ways to go Dousson claims. Companies need to have a strong and strategic focus ahead of them to adapt to these new changes. In addition, they need to innovate within their existing ecosystems to cater to customers. Dousson believes this is just the beginning of a new journey;
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#FF2B00″ class=”” size=”21″]”Digital transformation is a journey – but the current crisis has forced it to happen quicker than anyone anticipated. Although an initial resistance to this shift is to be expected, businesses that implement the necessary changes quickly will benefit from the profound value of digital transformation and reap its many rewards.”[/perfectpullquote]
