Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 47 | Page 74

FINAL WORD

Mapping your digital pathway : The power of thinking outside the box in unusual times

Jim Holland , General Manager , Africa , Lenovo Data Centre Group , on the digital economy and why many commentators in the enterprise IT space appear to be missing this new , burgeoning economy .

It ’ s often said that the numbers don ’ t lie . Yet , sometimes they

do – or at least don ’ t tell the whole story . By looking beyond , the figures of the declining global growth and productivity , there is a new , burgeoning economy on the rise that many commentators appear to be missing – The digital economy .
The question we all find ourselves asking , as the region emerges from the lockdown , is will we ever go back to the old normal ? The slow normal . The maybe-next-week normal . The lets-have-a-meetingabout-a-meeting normal . I don ’ t believe we will . That ’ s not to say that the world of offices and face-to-face meetings are gone . Very much the contrary – many of us can ’ t wait to shake hands and look our customers in the eyes again . It ’ s just that now we know there ’ s another way and we can select the mode – physical or virtual – that suits us best depending on the context . While the global issues that have kept us all preoccupied in recent months will hopefully pass , we will be left with a world that has profoundly changed . And our business strategies need to change accordingly . There are four areas to which business and IT decision makers should pay particular attention to .
Being prepared for uncertainty
This year ’ s events have highlighted the gap between those businesses that were ready for a digital future and those that weren ’ t . While uncertainty lingers around the after-effects of the lockdown and the possibility of further waves and restrictions , now is the time to make
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