With its state-of-the-art digital infrastructure working in tandem with strong, coordinated government policies, the transformation space is something in which Singapore can claim leadership beyond its role as a trading hub, manufacturing economy, and financial centre.
But with the gaining momentum of technological developments such as artificial intelligence (AI), Singaporean enterprises still have some catching up to do.
Today, 70% of companies globally have already had a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one, and a study by IDC predicts by 2022, 75% of enterprises will embed intelligent automation into technology and process development. From a global perspective, digital is the way forward for many businesses.
However, when we place Singapore under the microscope, only 15% of Singapore small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and 36 percent of larger companies see the need to digitally transform to counter slowing economic growth and technological change.
Quickly identifying this need, the Singaporean government has taken on the mammoth task of encouraging companies to digitalize by setting up initiatives such as the GoBusiness Licensing Portal to streamline the process of applying for government licenses for businesses. While its efforts have brought about some positive shifts, 25% are still sorely lagging behind.
Singaporean enterprises are now facing mounting global pressures to digitally transform to adapt to changes—and they need to act quickly. How can local enterprises remain relevant and competitive on the global stage of innovation?
The answer lies in scalability. Business needs to focus more on the principles of agility, automation, and accessibility—and less on blindly hopping onto any shiny new tech trend. This is where a simple and unassuming software steps up to the plate.
Out of the box, into a new one
To put it simply, containers are a software methodology that will serve as your building blocks to meet stakeholder needs for software and services—whatever the scale required.
By packing up applications so they can be moved between operating systems, hardware, and hybrid environments, IT pros can conduct consistent version management and manage the scalability of individual building blocks in a system.
This allows DevOps teams the ability to think less about the technical details of provisioning and maintenance and focus on factors most important to a digitally transformed enterprise: flexing, scaling, and adjusting to demand, they can then use to develop, deploy, manage, and scale these applications with automation.
Singapore: ready for the age of containers?
To truly step out of their boxes and into the light of successful digital transformation, Singaporean companies first need to tackle the epidemic of talent and skill shortage.
Containers are still a relatively new technology, and the skillsets required to operate container-based platforms are different from what traditional operations professionals possess. Developers today need to upskill themselves to build and manage these containerized apps.
A capable, well-oiled IT team is crucial if businesses want to effectively implement containers. However, the root of the problem seems to be the utter lack of STEM graduates.
In a recent career survey conducted, only nine to 18% think pursuing a career in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields would lead to satisfying careers. The further widening the technology-talent gap now pits SMEs against larger, more established firms for talent amongst increasing wages and salary expectations.
When companies recognize containerization as a key lever for digital transformation, they need to start looking into the existing workforce and training talent internally. Beyond the initial training, it’s equally important for companies to ensure their training is up to date, so workers are prepared for both current and future digital challenges.
Strategy is the skeleton key
Another wall enterprises must take the box cutter to is the lack of an implementation strategy. Some businesses are unsure of which solution to adopt and where or how to deploy it properly. In some cases, a comprehensive transformation strategy is completely non-existent.
While container adoption has been on the rise at the developer and operations engineer level, a successful production implementation requires a proper strategy. When different teams have their own strategies, the lack of cohesiveness and defined goals can make it difficult to track metrics.
When embarking on digital journeys, companies need to start thinking in containers—not just within IT teams, but organization-wide—while asking themselves: how can they best and most efficiently meet consumer needs with the use of technology?
Digital transformation works only if we get our thinking aligned before adopting new technologies and processes. Firms need to start investing internally and strengthening their DevOps strategies and teams.
Containerization isn’t a one-and-done solution to magic away the many challenges of digital transformation, but it gives IT a more effective infrastructure and language with which to address them. Singaporean IT pros need to push their thinking out of the box first, but once they do, a whole door of opportunities await.
