A Take on Digital Transformation
Mr. Chia Wee Yaw, Head of Services and Development Operation of the Innovative Solution Centre
Singapore’s digital landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation with the increasing influence and advancements in the areas of AI, Automation, Cybersecurity and Analytics. How can businesses leverage these changes to push their operations into the 21st century and onward? We sat down with Mr. Chia Wee Yaw, Head of Services and Development Operation of the Innovative Solution Centre to understand his take on the rapid pace of Singapore’s digital transformation, as well as how his team has been spearheading Canon Singapore’s growth into smart software and 3rd party products & solutions for customers.
The Innovative Solution Centre has been paving the way for Digital Transformation this year. Can you elaborate on what exactly it is and what are the products, solutions and services offered?
The Innovative Solution Centre is the brainchild of Mr. Melvyn Ho, Executive Vice President of Canon Singapore. It was conceived in 2019 when the push towards digital transformation gained momentum. Broadly, we are responsible for software and 3rd party products & services ranging from Cybersecurity, Enterprise Information Management, Infrastructure, Surveillance & Analytics as well as our own suite of Smart Workspace Solutions (SWS). The idea was to form a dedicated task force that is focused on helping our customers on their digital transformation journey. This way, we’re able to bring the best to our customers by allocating the right people, right skills and right resourcesfor their needs.
As the Head of Services & Development Operations of the Innovative Solution Centre, what does your team’s day-to-day look like?
The Services & Development Operations covers largely the pre- and post-sales aspects of solution sales within the team’s portfolio. The pre-sales team provides support in the area of solution consulting, where they conduct in-depth discussions with our customers on specific requirements and pain points that need to be addressed. After a thorough understanding of those needs, the team produces a detailed solution design for every customer. After getting a confirmation from the customer, the team then proceeds with the deployment, which may sometimes require a high level of customisation work. At the same time, we are also constantly working to develop new solutions, and improve existing solutions to better enhance the UI/UX for our customers.
Can you elaborate on how your team helps the businesses?
Our team helps improve the efficiency and productivity of businesses by understanding their requirements and pain points in great detail, after which our consultants will tailor a solution to address those areas. This process may involve software or firmware customisation as well as changes in the configuration where 3rd party solutions are concerned.
Canon has long been known as a brand that’s strong on camera and office hardware, any reasons why it is now expanding into the area of digital solutions and digital transformation?
We began our efforts in expanding into the digital space many years back through working with our partners and function as their resellers. We saw a declining trend in the hardware market through print volume and recognised the importance of digital transformation. This led us to launching our very own suite of Smart Workspace Solutions, Print Management Solutions, and Document Management Solutions.
Digital transformation has long been encouraged, especially with our government’s push through incentive programs. The pandemic has brought about a whole new way of working when we are not able to go to the office physically. With those restrictions, businesses need to find new ways that allow staff to work remotely while staying productive.
COVID-19 has completely changed the business landscape for many. Can you tell us why the team important in helping businesses adapt to that change?
The pandemic has changed the way businesses function, the way we work, and the way we interact. In order for businesses to thrive in the new normal, it is important that they are able to adopt relevant new technologies to help them stay competitive. And this is where our team plays the role of a trusted consultant - we sieve out our customers' pain points and help them overcome them.
A lot of people get confused over the terms "Digitisation", "Digitalisation" and "Digital Transformation". Can you share more about these 3Ds, and how these can benefit organisations from different industries?
The 3D concept is a process of the digital transformation journey that businesses embark on. Broadly, businesses can rely on the 3D framework to understand which stage of the digital journey they are in. For instance, if a business is still dependent on physical paper flow, we can first look into the digitisation stage - converting existing paper documents into digital format and provide a secure digital repository to store them. This repository can also be expanded to streamline workflows with approvals (e.g. purchase order approvals) as well as proper indexing of these documents.
Moving forward, how do you think this pandemic has affected the way companies operate?
Truth be told, I doubt there will be a return back to pre-pandemic ways. The sooner businesses accept this, look forward, think and plan positively, the better. With Digital Transformation becoming a cornerstone of every business operation, businesses need to embrace this new normal and adopt new technologies to help them better navigate the digital environment. It’s not an easy process by any means, that’s why the Innovative Solution Centre really emphasises on building trust and partnerships with our customers to ensure a better working experience.
In your opinion, where does Digital Transformation stand in tomorrow’s society? And do you see it as optional or a need for businesses?
Digital Transformation allows businesses to prioritise growing their sales and emphasise upon existing resources or functions that have a direct impact on their future. Where possible, digital solutions can help businesses automate, organise and store critical information. I believe it will soon come to be a cornerstone of every business operation in the future world, for survival.
What can customers look forward to from your team?
We want our customers to look upon us as trusted advisors, not only as solution providers to help solve their issues, but also as partners whom they can rely on as they embark on this journey.
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