TimesAsiaNews.com | Business – We know the last two years have witnessed a time of massive disruption, change, and uncertainty in every aspect of our lives. Accelerating change in business, coupled with the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, is creating unprecedented challenges for technology leaders, leading to businesses’ reimagining of everything from employee and customer engagement to supply chains.
This OpenText CEO and CTO Mark J. Barrenechea provided his assessment of this reimagining from multiple perspectives, including innovation, ethics, and the environment, at the company’s recent OpenText World 2021 conference in San Francisco on November 16, 2021.
Then Underpinning what Barrenechea called “the great rethink” is digital transformation. Organizations that embrace data-driven business models will survive a time of wrenching transition to emerge stronger than their peers, he asserted.
The OpenText leader pointed to five forces and how they are enabling winning companies to thrive:
- Distribution of all work. By driving workers to home offices, the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged the remote-work trend that was already well under way. Enabling employees to work collaboratively from any location results in a happier and more productive workforce — and makes it possible for organizations to hire the best people, regardless of their location.
- All transactions being digital. The need to carry on business globally, 24 x 7, is a key element in the fourth industrial revolution. It requires a supply chain that is fully digitized, enabling a business to execute transactions — whether business-to-business or business-to-consumer — in person and/or online.
- The seven-star customer experience. Although five stars is typically the highest rating for outstanding customer service, forward-looking organizations won’t stop there but will strive for a rating of seven stars as they imagine new ways to delight customers.
- Trust and security. The pandemic has led to an outbreak of cybercrime, particularly in COVID-19-branded phishing attacks, fraudulent charities, and fake vaccines. At the same time, the advent of the hybrid work model means that employees have to access sensitive data from anywhere in the world at any time.
- Inclusive and sustainable growth. The global workforce of tomorrow must be diverse and inclusive. Growth, meanwhile, must be sustainable, powered by data.
As for OpenText’s own operations, Barrenechea announced the OpenText ZERO Initiative, which outlines OpenText’s commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gases by 2040, zero waste from operations by 2030, and a majority-diverse workforce by 2030. Said Barrenechea,
“The future of growth is both sustainable and inclusive.” (*/CIO/tanews).
