Assessing the future of remote working in Southeast Asia: How can partners differentiate?

A major paradigm shift is underway in relation to remote working across Southeast Asia, as businesses ensure employees can operate outside of conventional office environments. This exclusive Channel Asia Executive Roundtable -- in association with LogMeIn -- outlined key end-user remote working priorities, documenting how technology providers are differentiating to drive new levels of value post-pandemic.

by James Henderson (Channel Asia)

With remote working now sitting atop of boardroom agendas across Southeast Asia, technology providers are facing a pandemic inspired dilemma -- differentiating amid an emerging and highly competitive market segment.

According to IDC findings, customer spending on future of work technologies -- spanning cloud and mobile solutions -- is expected to reach approximately US$656 billion during the next 6-12 months, representing an increase of 17.4 per cent compared to 2020.

As a 'new normal' comes into focus, customer-driven remote working opportunities are set to surge, creating new levels of opportunity for forward-thinking partners as a result. To capitalise, the ecosystem must now find new ways to shape collaboration conversations, adhering to end-user security, productivity and experience requirements.

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At World Wide Technology (WWT), plans were also in place to "practice what we preached to customers" during the early phase of the pandemic, evident by the company embracing collaboration solutions at speed and scale. Yet some adjustments had to be implemented at an end-user level in recognition of changing market dynamics.

For example, the business adjusted the working model of four Integration Centres globally, which help augment supply chain capabilities and configurations for customers worldwide.

"All WWT customers were at different maturity levels when it came to supporting remote working, meaning there were no one-size-fit-all solutions," acknowledged Piyush V Gupta, Head of Digital Transformation Services at WWT. "We leveraged our deep OEM partnerships to ensure preferred delivery schedules and enhanced our global supply chain capabilities to better manage procurement, build and deliver IT devices for customers.