Technology adoption and corporate planning in Asia

S P O N S O R E D B Y :
Plan to change, change the plan:
Technology adoption and corporate planning in Asia
An Economist Intelligence Unit report

1© The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2013
Plan to change, change the plan: Technology adoption and corporate planning in Asia
Contents
Preface2
Executive summary 3
Introduction5
How firms make technology adoption decisions 6
How technology affects business planning and decision-making 10
Conclusion12
Appendix: Survey results 13

2 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2013
Preface
Plan to change, change the plan: Technology
adoption and corporate planning in Asia is an
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report,
commissioned by SAP. The EIU conducted the
survey and interviews independently and wrote
the report. The findings and views expressed here
are those of the EIU alone.
This report is one in a series of three—the others,
The potential and the reality and The new planning
conversation, are based on the same survey and
additional expert insights.
Ross O’Brien was the author of the report and
Sudhir Vadaketh was the editor. Tan Kane Juan
was responsible for design and layout.
We would like to thank the following interviewees
for their time and insights (listed alphabetically
by organisation):
Shawn Vadnais, regional services director, DSI
Ron Fons, global head, financial services
industries, Huawei
Arina Campbell-Pitt, senior IT executive, Li
Fung
Peter Bullock, partner and head of Asian
technology practice, Pinsent Masons
March 2013

Executive
summary
Flexibility remains of vital importance to business
success, particularly in Asia where markets
are growing rapidly and companies are under
pressure to deliver both top-and-bottom-line
growth. Strategic planning has become ever
more critical and the need for speed in decision-
making is increasing.
Given the constant demand for “plannable”
results and the need for nimble responses to
changing market dynamics, how do senior
decision-makers decide on technological
changes? Which stakeholders most influence
technology adoption decisions? In turn, what
impact do these new technologies have on
business planning processes? This report, based
on a survey of over 350 C-level executives in Asia,
attempts to answer these questions.
Among the key findings of this report are the
following:
l For technology adoption decisions, firms
in Asia incorporate the views of many senior
executives, with the CEO as the ultimate
decision-maker. Asian firms consider a number
of voices in the technology planning process:
a majority of respondents indicated that at
least two senior executives, usually the CEO and
the CIO, are critical influences in technology
adoption. Moreover, one-third of respondents
indicated that four or more executives have
important roles. Despite what appears to be an
inclusive process, however, more than 60% of
respondents said that the CEO is the ultimate
decision-maker in technology decisions.
l IT “consumerisation” has made technology
crucial to relationships with employees and
customers, and these external stakeholders
have become influential in decisions about
technology. The availability of relatively
sophisticated technology to consumers is
influencing the way workers use technology and
increasing their expectations of the technology’s
utility, both on and off the job. Customers’ and
employees’ personal technology choices must
be accommodated by the firms they work for
and interact with. Senior executives are thus
exploring and requiring the same flexibility
from the technologies they invest in. Almost
two-thirds of respondents said customers have
an important influence on their technology
decisions in Asia (more than one-fifth of them
believe their influence is “great”). Similarly,
more than half believe the same of employees
and business partners. Harnessing insights from
increasing amounts of customer data and social
network-delivered information (among other
sources) requires a constant evaluation of new
technology capabilities.

l Technology and a closer alignment between
C-suite functions are creating a positive
feedback loop between technology adoption
decisions and the business planning process.
While external stakeholders are exerting a
greater influence on technology adoption
decisions, the technology being adopted today is
allowing business planners to better incorporate
the views of these stakeholders. This positive
feedback loop is reinforced by the closer strategic
alignment between the CEO and the CIO.
l Leading-edge technology adoption is
accelerating decision-making processes,
prompting changes to organisational
mindsets. Roughly half of all respondents say
that new technologies—with the exception of
cloud computing—have a positive benefit on
collaborative decision-making. A similarly high
percentage say there is a link between their
technology choices and the pressure placed
on managers to make decisions more quickly.
Technology-driven collaboration only works,
however, if the firm’s management enables all its
decision-makers to access and leverage insights
enabled by the technology.
l Successful firms recognise the need to set
and monitor established plans as well as the
need for flexibility to adjust as required to
address the market. Given the multitude of
“non-IT” internal and external influences that
are becoming more influential and opinionated
in their recommendations on technology
adoption, firms in Asia should not adopt a single
business practice or set of policies with regard
to technology, but must adopt one that can be
perpetually flexible.
About the survey:
The EIU surveyed 351 Asia-based C-level
executives. CEOs and CFOs together make up
45% of the respondents; the rest are CIOs, COOs,
CMOs, CHROs and other C-level executives. In
terms of size, 38% work at companies whose
global headcount exceeds 1,000 people. Some
28% of respondents work at firms whose global
annual revenues exceed US$1bn.
The respondents work in a broad mix of
industries—15% in manufacturing; 13% in
financial services; 9% in the energy and natural
resources sector; 9% in construction and real
estate; 9% in the healthcare, pharmaceuticals
and biotechnology sector; and the remainder
in IT and technology; professional services;
chemicals; consumer goods; transportation,
travel and tourism; retailing; automotive;
logistics and distribution; telecoms; and some
other smaller sectors.

Many companies are expecting Asia to deliver
more of their global profits, but with the
American and European markets remaining in
the doldrums few companies have the resources
to invest fully to achieve that growth. Hence
senior executives are faced with the need to
produce top-line revenue growth that is in line
with economic growth rates in the region while
at the same time improving margins. Strategic
planning has become ever more critical and the
need for speed in decision-making is increasing.
Executives are recognising the potential for
technology to help in the planning process, both
in terms of quality and speed.
Several new technologies in the market—
including cloud computing, data capture and
analytics, enterprise mobility, software as a
service (SaaS), IT security and social media—
have the potential to radically change the way
corporations conduct their strategic planning
exercises. They can also heavily influence
decision-making processes within a firm.
For instance, new technologies can allow
firms to implement strategy in a faster, more
coordinated fashion. They can also harness big
data for insight, and allow more comprehensive
intelligence gathering from additional
stakeholders—most importantly customers,
employees and business partners—via mobile
and social media channels. Thus, technology
adoption decisions can be part of the actual
process of strategic planning, while the
technology adopted can then enable further
precision in business planning.
However, in order for firms to integrate
technology seamlessly—and for that technology
to be properly utilised throughout the
organisation to aid planning and decision-
making—they have to overcome several
roadblocks. These include competing technology
visions within the C-suite; corporate structures
that hinder the more collaborative and bottom-
up information flows that technologies promote;
and the persistence of legacy systems.
This paper examines these two inter-related
trends: how firms in Asia make decisions
on technology adoption; and how those
technologies subsequently affect strategic
planning and decision-making processes.
Introduction

As discussed in the other reports in this series,
senior decision-makers are both more aware of
the need to engage with multiple stakeholders,
as well as other members of the C-suite, in order
to accurately and consistently incorporate
technology adoption decisions into business
strategy.1
Yet, while a sizeable number of our
respondents indicated that as many as four
executives weigh in on the process, the ultimate
decision-maker is usually the CEO (see chart A).
The clear implication is that technology decisions
are, ultimately, taken on board by a business
leader—which brings those decisions closer to
the overall strategy process almost by default.
This, in turn, also helps define the CIO as a more
strategic team member; the fact that technology
solutions available to firms are partly selected
to achieve bottom-line objectives actually helps
reinforce this role.
“The CIO is inclined to use tools like cloud
computing, software as a service and outsourcing
first from a ‘more for less’ perspective,” says
Peter Bullock, partner and head of the Asian
technology practice at Pinsent Masons, a law
firm. “The efficiency gains they enable allow
the role by default to become a more business-
centric, strategic one.” New technologies—and
the way technology is adopted—are helping to
bring the CEO and the CIO in closer strategic
alignment. This creates a positive feedback loop
between technology adoption decisions and the
business planning process.
How firms make technology adoption
decisions1
1
This report is one in a
series of three—the others,
The potential and the reality
and The new planning
conversation, are based
on the same survey and
additional expert insights.

(% respondents)
Chart A: Within your company, what degree of influence do the following functional
roles have on technology adoption decisions?
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey
3
2
19
26
61
36
40
56
65
27
49
49
20
8
11
12
9
5
1
1
Relevant
business head
IT specialist
CFO
CIO/CTO
CEO
Ultimate decision maker
Strong influence
Some influence
No influence
2
But business leaders also look outside their inner
circle for input. Almost two-thirds of respondents
say customers have an important influence
on a firm’s technology decisions in Asia (more
than one-fifth of them believe their influence is
“great”). Similarly, more than half believe the
same of employees and business partners (see
chart B).
Not surprisingly, external parties far from the
core of the business—analysts, consultants and
government regulators—are not seen to have
particular influence, although in these times of
heightened sensitivities around governance, the
CFO and CIO respondents did indicate a slightly
greater willingness to seek input from regulators.
Meanwhile, a majority of respondents say they
gather insights from all these stakeholders
through formal attempts, either via regularly
scheduled sessions or business intelligence
systems. This has two powerful implications for
the business planning process.
The first is that most technology adoption
decisions have a huge impact on the way
firms engage with their customers and
employees, partly because of the rapid uptake
of smartphones in Asia. The availability of
technology to consumers is influencing the way
workers use technology and increasing their
expectations of the technology’s utility, both
inside and outside of the workplace. This “IT
consumerisation” means that customers’ and
employees’ personal technology choices must be
accommodated by the firm’s own systems. Senior
executives are thus exploring and requiring
the same flexibility from the technologies they
invest in. As a result of all this, external parties
must become ongoing components of the firm’s
technology adoption and decision-making
processes.
Second, given that firms need speed and agility
to succeed in a fast-growing Asia, stakeholder
input must be gathered and assimilated quickly.
Senior executives must harness the potential of
those technology tools that help them achieve
this. Survey respondents see two technology
solutions— data capture and analytics, and IT
security—as important in this process. Of the
two, data capture and analytics is seen as being
of critical value in alleviating business challenges

related to customers, such as the lack of
customer data, and in driving customer-centric
business initiatives. The link between customer
input and the strategic planning process is clear:
the more “formal” the capabilities for capturing
and assessing the needs of customers, the better
it is for business planning at all levels.
This closer relationship between a firm and its
customers and employees further reinforces the
feedback loop between technology adoption
decisions and the business planning process, as
these new technologies allow decision-makers
to more effectively take on board the views of
external stakeholders. In other words, external
stakeholders are exerting a greater influence on
technology adoption decisions; and those same
technologies then allow business planners to
better understand the external stakeholders’
views.
(% respondents)
Chart B: What sources of information have the greatest influence on your
technology adoption decisions?
Customers
Employees
Business partners
Government/regulators
Suppliers
Professional service providers
Industry peers/ communities
Analysts
External consultants
Google/ search engines
21 42 27 8 3
Great Influence 1 2 3 4 No influence 5
12 41 37 7 3
12 40 32 9 7
13 30 33 12 11
9 31 41 14 6
9 35 42 12 3
7 34 44 12 4
5 26 36 20 13
5 23 39 26 7
4 22 39 26 9
This evolving dynamic between external parties
and a firm’s technology adoption and decision-
making processes can be observed in the financial
services industry. Compared to the survey
average, financial service industry respondents
indicate that customers and employees are
more influential in their technology adoption
decisions. “BYOD (Bring your own device) creates
tremendous variability in the devices, media
types, and locations which serves customers,”
says Ron Fons, global head of financial services
industries at Huawei, an information and
communications technology firm. He sees this
trend as having the ability to “flatten the silos” of
technology that service these channels, in large
part because mobility increases the reach—and
the expectations—of the customer.
The challenge for banks, he says, is whether they
can pack disparate applications together into
an “omni-channel”, where the end user gets
the same look and feel when he or she carries
a transaction from the laptop to the mobile
device to the service counter—as opposed to
“multichannel”, where the experience differs
from one channel to the next.
“Technology tends to be tied to a specific
channel, but customers don’t think of themselves

as multichannel users,” says Mr Fons. To achieve
a coherent omni-channel requires consideration
of design and process issues, not merely the
adoption of new technology applications. In
addition, this must be matched with increased
security. “Security concerns increase with a
broadening of contact points outside the firm,”
says Mr Fons.

How technology affects business
planning and decision-making2
specifically, are highlighted as tools that have
forced managers to respond more quickly, or
make decisions in a collaborative environment
faster. Over half of the survey respondents
indicated that data capture and analytics enabled
this (see chart C).
(% respondents)
Chart C: What impact have the following technologies had on decision-making
processes within your organisation?
21
24
26
27
32
33
28
42
44
44
44
50
31
42
43
42
50
52
44
27
24
22
13
15
Cloud computing
Social media technologies
Enterprise mobility
Software as a service
IT security
Data capture and analytics
Moved decision-making capabilities down
the corporate hierarchy; front-line empowerment
Increased pressure on managers to respond instantly
Made collaborative decision-making faster
Have yet to implement
Regardless of where their business is based
or how large an organisation they run,
survey respondents definitely feel that the
new technologies have accelerated planning
processes—or, at a minimum, put pressure on
decision-makers to speed them up. Enterprise
mobility and data capture and analytics,

It is in this last point—and indeed, in the word
“collaborative”—that an important implication is
revealed. While the Asian business environment
requires and rewards speedy response time,
businesses can only respond quickly and
effectively if knowledge, responsibility and
capability flow down through the organisation.
This creates a chicken-and-egg conundrum: how
can business leaders create efficient decision-
making processes based on technologies using
more precise data if they do not have this data in
the first place? The answer may lie in the ability of
firms to experiment quickly and cheaply with new
technology tools and solutions, and to measure
their impact on internal and external corporate
processes.
As with many new enterprise technologies,
mobility is one of the first channels where this
informal RD process starts: “Decision-makers
within firms today already have multiple mobile
devices on them, and mobile device proliferation
dramatically increases the data channels to
which they have access,” says Shawn Vadnais,
regional services director for Asia Pacific at DSI,
an enterprise mobility solutions firm. “This gives
them increased visibility onto new processes—
and their response time also increases quickly.”
One specific way in which Asian firms are
putting this experimentation to work in creating
concrete business value is in their usage of utility
computing. More than 40% of respondents say
SaaS facilitates collaborative processes and
reduces decision-making times. After IT security
and data capture and analytics, SaaS has the
highest adoption rate of any new technology in
our survey. Only 24% of respondents have not
yet implemented SaaS at all, and nearly half
have done so specifically in order to expedite the
collaboration process.
“The ability for smaller teams to respond quickly
to many different requests is possible because
there are so many pay-as-you-go tools available
for trialling, testing and modifying solutions,”
observes Arina Campbell-Pitt, a senior IT
executive at Li Fung, a global supplier. This
approach is like a buffet: effective technology
service provision offered to the greatest number
of knowledgeable, empowered, enterprise users
possible so that they can help themselves. This
not only speeds up adoption and enhances
efficiencies; it also distributes the burden
of technology innovation throughout the
organisation. “The only way to respond to an
ever-increasing number of technology requests is
to ensure that the buffet table is always as full as
possible, while getting end users to weigh in on
what, and how much, they are consuming,” says
Ms Campbell-Pitt.
The tools that firms adopt, and the way they
integrate those tools into their business
planning practices, are naturally dependent on
their operating environments. Respondents in
information-intensive sectors, such as financial
services and healthcare, indicate that they
are much more likely to bring the technology
planning team into the business strategy process
early, usually at initial project commissioning.
Finance respondents believe that early
involvement of technology planners is critical
for process redesign, and for projects involving
customer interactions.
These conditions, particularly in fast-growing
Asia, change rapidly, as do the capabilities and
competencies of the firms themselves. The pace
with which enabling technology flows down to
line managers and even front-line employees is
due to a confluence of trends changing the way
enterprise technology is accessed. The cloud
model, for instance, allows for “pay-as-you-go”
usage and the ability for users to access, modify
and deploy new applications without necessarily
having technology skills. Furthermore, personal
technology, particularly mobility, is influencing
the way workers use technology, and increasing
their expectations of the technology’s utility. The
corollary of that is that firms should not adopt
a single business practice or set of policies with
regards to technology, but must adopt one that
can be perpetually flexible.

C-suite executives in Asia have found that
investments in new technologies such as data
capture and analytics can accelerate the planning
process. This in turn increases the ability of
decision-makers within the organisation to
inform, define, communicate, react to, and
achieve their strategic objectives.
Therefore, to maximise this positive effect—and
ideally tighten up the cycles between planning
and execution—technology investments must
be an integral part of overall business strategy.
This only works, however, if management enables
decision-makers throughout the organisational
hierarchy to access and leverage insights enabled
by these technologies.
Similarly, collaboration is enhanced by these new
technologies, potentially increasing productivity
and idea generation across the organisation.
But in order to realise this, a key part of the
technology adoption process must be a change or
reinforcement of this mindset to inform, enable,
and empower decision-makers.
The larger implication here is not that a firm’s
decision-makers have to come from information-
centric industries in order to make the right
technology decisions that help quicken and
smarten their overall business planning process.
Rather, all executives running businesses in Asia
must understand what early adopters perhaps
instinctively grasp: that responding to new
technologies in a fast and flexible way, and in a
way that considers their impact on the business
from an early stage in the planning process,
will likely cause them to base their technology
decisions around business-critical functions such
as getting more insight out of customer data, or
creating more efficient workflows.
Technology, in turn, builds more robust and more
nimble decision-making processes, because
these tools help executives do two things more
powerfully: gather insight from increasing points
of data, and empower more team members to
execute business plans based on the implications
of those insights. Plans based on the notion that
plans must change will be the most successful in
Asia’s complex, fast-running markets.
Conclusion

Appendix:
Survey results
Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding or the ability of respondents to
choose multiple responses
In which country are you personally located?
(% respondents)
2
3
3
4
5
7
7
7
8
11
11
16
18
Taiwan
Vietnam
Thailand
Indonesia
Philippines
South Korea
Malaysia
Japan
Hong Kong
Singapore
China
Australia
India

What is your primary industry?
(% respondents)
How many people work at your organisation?
(% respondents)
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
4
5
6
8
8
9
9
9
13
15
Aerospace and defence
Telecoms
Government/Public sector
Logistics and distribution
Education
Agriculture and agribusiness
Entertainment, media and publishing
Automotive
Retailing
Transportation, travel and tourism
Consumer goods
Chemicals
Professional services
IT and technology
Healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology
Energy and natural resources
Construction and real estate
Financial services
Manufacturing
11
27
14
12
12
8
9
6
Over 10,000
1,001-10,000
501-1,000
201-500
101-200
51-100
11-50
1-10

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues in US dollars?
(% respondents)
Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)
1. Are the following operational challenges keeping you awake at night?
(% respondents)
7
3
18
25
47
$10bn or more
$5bn to $10bn
$1bn to $5bn
$500m to $1bn
$500m or less
0
8
9
11
12
15
19
26
Other C-level executive
CHRO/HR director, or equivalent
CIO/Technology director, or equivalent
CMO/Marketing director, or equivalent
COO/Head of operations, or equivalent
CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller, or equivalent
CEO/President/Managing director, or equivalent
17
30
34
35
38
41
41
49
53
83
70
66
65
62
59
59
51
47
Labour unrest
Infrastructure deficits
Intellectual property theft
Property prices/ rents
Legal/regulatory uncertainty
Working capital/getting paid
Insufficient market/customer data
Rising labour costs
Staff shortages

2. Is your company undertaking the following strategic initiatives in Asia?
(% respondents)
3a. For each of the concerns you’ve identified, please indicate if any of the following technologies
are being adopted to address the challenge. Please tick all that apply.
(% respondents)
12
46
51
56
71
72
72
74
82
88
54
49
44
29
28
28
26
18
Other, please specify
Reducing capital expenditure
Building new production facilities
Increasing local content in product/design/RD processes
Revising/creating new customer segments
Creating new products/services
Reducing operational costs
Entering new markets
Improving profitability
10
6
11
15
22
16
17
15
22
23
25
26
29
34
36
37
42
44
18
11
17
17
26
23
21
19
26
15
9
18
20
27
20
23
22
28
12
7
18
19
16
15
18
18
22
15
15
11
17
15
27
26
28
17
Staff shortages
Insufficient market/
customer data
Building new
production facilities
Increasing local
content in product
/design/RD processes
Reducing
operational costs
Entering new markets
Creating new
products/services
Revising/creating new
customer segments
Improving profitability
Enterprise mobility
Enhancing IT security
Cloud computing

0
4
8
9
6
5
11
15
10
8
11
11
13
14
17
20
22
6
7
10
8
6
13
17
18
5
7
7
10
8
12
17
16
6
24
7
9
11
10
11
15
5
8
5
5
8
6
10
10
Labour unrest
Intellectual property theft
Property prices/ rents
Infrastructure deficits
Legal/regulatory uncertainty
Working capital/getting paid
Reducing capital expenditure
Rising labour costs
Enterprise mobility
Enhancing IT security
Cloud computing
4. Please rate the following technology
adoption issues in terms of their impact on
your business strategy in Asia. Rate on a scale
of 1 to 5, where 1 = Critical impact and 5 = No
impact. (% respondents)
12
11
15
16
25
26
21
31
38
36
37
41
32
35
28
27
24
19
16
15
13
14
10
9
19
9
6
7
4
5
Cloud computing
Enterprise mobility
IT security
Critical Impact 1 2 3 4 No impact 5

5. At what stage are you in implementing a strategy to address your business challenges?
(% respondents)
6. How has implementing these technologies changed the perception of IT within the
organisation? Rate on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = Strong positive impact and 5 = Strong negative
impact. (% respondents)
Data capture and analytics (managing big data)
IT security
Software as a service (or other IT utility usage models)
Enterprise mobility
Cloud computing
47 22 16 6 9
39 40 11 7 3
33 32 15 10 9
33 27 19 10 11
21 42 17 11 9
9 37 15 14 25
Fully adopted; in management and refinement stage
In process of adopting
Evaluating implementation options
Considering need for adoption
No action taken
13
10
13
14
21
20
26
36
30
34
39
39
21
27
31
28
24
29
2
7
4
4
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
0
38
21
22
19
14
8
Cloud computing
Enterprise mobility
IT security
Strong positive impact 1 2 3 4 Strong negative impact 5 Have yet to implement

7. When your company evaluates technology adoption, are strategic objectives or financial/
budgetary considerations more important? (% respondents)
8. Which statement best describes your company’s position relative to your industry peers in
terms of technology adoption?(% respondents)
9. Which statement best describes the role of your CIO in decisions regarding business strategy?
(% respondents)
17
22
61
Budgetary considerations
are more important
Strategic objectives
are more important
Strategic and budgetary
considerations are
equally important
1
16
31
52
Don’t know
We are lagging
our industry peers
We are an
industry leader
We are on par with
the industry average
1
8
25
33
33
CIO takes direction on technology
implementation primarily from the CFO
CIO takes direction on technology
implementation primarily from the CEO
CIO makes technology decisions based
primarily on the firm’s operational
requirements, and/or budgetary parameters
CIO is actively involved in the planning
stages of all firm-wide strategic initiatives,
and makes technology decisions based
primarily on the firm’s strategic direction

10. Which statement best describes the role of your CIO in your IT decisions?
(% respondents)
11. Which statement best describes the role of your CEO in decisions regarding the adoption of
technology? (% respondents)
12. Within your company, what degree of influence do the following functional roles have on
technology adoption decisions? (% respondents)
23
23
27
27
CIO’s role is purely strategic:
interacting with other CXOs
and communicating firm’s
overall strategy with
direct report
CIO is actively involved in
the day-to-day operations
of the IT department
CIO is involved with any
software or IT service decision
CIO is involved with big
enterprise IT decisions
but not individual software
or IT service discussions
28 35
36
9
12
20
23
36
CEO relies on the
advice of the CFO
CEO is involved in evaluating
options based on budgetary
constraints.
CEO relies on the
advice of the CIO
CEO is involved in evaluating
options based on operating
needs of the company
CEO is actively involved
in evaluating options based
on strategic objectives
3
2
19
26
61
36
40
56
65
27
49
49
20
8
11
12
9
5
1
1
Relevant
business head
IT specialist
CFO
CIO/CTO
CEO
Ultimate decision maker
Strong influence
Some influence
No influence
2

13. What sources of information have the greatest influence on your technology adoption
decisions? Rate on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 = Great influence and 5 = No influence.
(% respondents)
14. What methods do you use to capture stakeholder feedback? Select all that apply.
(% respondents)
Customers
Employees
Business partners
Government/regulators
Suppliers
Professional service providers
Industry peers/ communities
Analysts
External consultants
Google/ search engines
21 42 27 8 3
Great Influence 1 2 3 4 No influence 5
12 41 37 7 3
12 40 32 9 7
13 30 33 12 11
9 31 41 14 6
9 35 42 12 3
7 34 44 12 4
5 26 36 20 13
5 23 39 26 7
4 22 39 26 9
1
34
34
38
42
45
51
57
Other, please specify
Commissioned user experience surveys
Social media
Trendwatching/market intelligence gathering
Point-of-sale/touchpoint feedback collection
Informal methods (eg, conversations)
Business intelligence/enterprise planning systems
Regularly scheduled discussions
60
1

15. Which of the following technology adoption issues are of most concern to your external
stakeholders? Select up to three. (% respondents)
16. What impact have the following technologies...
(% respondents)
22
27
36
46
47
56
Cloud computing
(or other IT utility usage models)
Enterprise mobility
IT security
(managing big data)
36 48 60
36
46
47
56
55
21
24
26
27
32
33
28
42
44
44
44
50
31
42
43
42
50
52
44
27
24
22
13
15
Cloud computing
Enterprise mobility
IT security
Moved decision-making capabilities down
the corporate hierarchy; front-line empowerment
Increased pressure on managers to respond instantly
Made collaborative decision-making faster
Have yet to implement

17. Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between technology trends
and ongoing strategic planning? (% respondents)
18. At what stage of the following types of specific business strategy initiatives is the technology
planning team brought in? (% respondents)
19. To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Rate on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 =
Strongly agree and 5 = Strongly disagree. (% respondents)
7
15
35
43
Our technology decisions
are reactive to external pressures
Technology decisions are
largely financially driven
and unconnected to core
business strategy
Technology adoption decisions
are evaluated concurrently with
larger business strategy decisions
Technology decisions are
formulated as a result of our
overall business strategy process
Initial project commissioning
Project specification and design
After project kick-off
32
38
41
46
40
35
39
38
27
27
20
16
Revising key enterprise
performance metrics
New product design
Addressing/refining
customer experience
Process redesign or
efficiency drive
Senior management believes the ability
to adopt leading-edge IT solutions is
critical to business performance
Our firm’s ability to adopt business-relevant technology
has provided us with competitive advantage
Senior management can clearly see
significant trends on the IT horizon
We are usually an early adopter of the IT
solutions that matter most to our firm
Senior management has the ability to
determine which new IT trends will have
significant impact on our business
32 40 23 31
30 33 25 9 3
27 42 21 9 1
23 28 30 15 5
22 29 28 9 1
Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 Strongly disagree 5

While every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy
of this information, neither The Economist Intelligence
Unit Ltd. nor the sponsor of this report can accept any
responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on
this white paper or any of the information, opinions or
conclusions set out in this white paper.

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