We’re seeing technology as a key path to economic recovery

Fady Richmany, senior director and general manager – UAE at Dell Technologies, discusses the concept of digital as the new normal, and what virtual attendees can expect from the upcoming Dell Technologies UAE Forum,

What is Dell Technologies’ business vision for the UAE?

The UAE continues to place ICT at the heart of its development strategy as it becomes a competitive and dynamic digital economy. It is therefore important that organisations ensure their IT infrastructure enables them to compete in a hyper-digital world and are laying the foundations for their digital future.

Our primary focus is to help organisations accelerate national and business transformation initiatives with speed and purpose as we work together to power the innovation agenda of the UAE. Given the reach of digital technology and the change it promises, there is a need to shepherd these exciting technologies without diminishing its energy and potential. Dell Technologies is committed to making transformation real for organisations across the UAE and we look forward to not only strengthening our position as trusted advisors to our customers and partners, but to also help businesses chart a successful digital roadmap for the future.

With Gitex Technology Week underway, your next event is the Dell Technologies UAE Forum. What can attendees expect?

With digital transformation being a major area of focus for businesses and government across the UAE, we are committed to advancing the ICT agenda through the work we do with our customers and partners. Dell Technologies UAE Forum, our flagship event, is being held on a virtual platform this year and brings together business leaders and industry experts to share their insights on how technology can help shape the future success of businesses in the country. We understand that every company has a unique set of barriers and challenges, be it the lack of skillsets, limited workforce or insufficient finances. Our team of digital transformation specialists will be able to address the unique concerns of each individual and organisation and provide them with specific guidance on how to enable real transformation from the edge to the core to the cloud to enhance their productivity, efficiency and profitability. Registration to the event is free and can be accessed via the registration link.

Can you talk about the roll Dell Technologies has played in terms of helping your customers maintain businesses continuity during the pandemic?

The coronavirus has brought technology to the forefront of every sector, with organisations embracing digital transformation at a faster pace than before. In fact, the findings of Dell Technologies’ Digital Transformation Index study (across 18 countries and 12 industries) that we released in October, shows that 80 percent of businesses globally accelerated their digital transformation plans, with 79 percent reinventing their business model as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic. We heard from many customers that technology has never been more important to them. They put a big priority on continuing to invest in technology. At such a critical time, we were able to support them on this journey, from enabling infrastructure to security to products, helping them to maintain business continuity.

Additionally, Dell Technologies has been a leader in work-from-home solutions and technologies for years, developing a broad portfolio of products and solutions to help customers enable a remote workforce and turn unique challenges into business opportunities. We were able to help organisations through this difficult transition due to our own history with enabling our own flexible and remote workforce policies.  At Dell Technologies, we had already been leaning into flexible work. Before March 15, when we announced a global work-from-home policy, 65 percent of team members were leveraging our flexible work policies, and we had approximately 30 percent of team members working remotely on any given day.

Today we keep hearing the term new normal – what are the main characteristics of the new normal for businesses and looking ahead, what are some of the key shifts we’ll see in the market?

Change has really become precedent and organisations need to prepare for “digital as the new normal”. In this new normal, we’re seeing novel ways of interacting emerging for organisations, employees, customers and consumers. We’re also seeing technology as a key path to economic recovery as IT and data are the catalysts for growth. It’s clear that technology has proven to be key in keeping businesses afloat by enabling remote work, agile business, and in the longer term organisations will leverage technology to underpin every process, initiative and value chain as they adapt to these changes.

We’ll also have a larger remote workforce, expanding talent pools and reducing environmental impact. Trends and shifts to telehealth, telelearning and e-commerce will be accelerated. Then there are technologies such as cloud, 5G, AI/ML, Edge and IoT, data analytics, security and workforce transformation solutions that continue to be at the forefront of IT investment amongst businesses in the UAE. In addition, sustainability will be a key part of the rebuild – there are environmental benefits of not returning to how we operated before. The more we can virtualize travel, interaction, collaboration and communication, the greener we become.

Finally, there’s the understanding that harnessing technology to drive business success is a human-centric activity. In the digital race we are in, organisations must have technology readiness, leadership and a resilient culture – to both remain competitive and overcome new challenges.