Tony Young, CIO in Hong Kong

I recently returned from China and Hong Kong after having met with several CIOs, media and analysts, as well as delivering keynotes focused on customer centricity. When I return to the US after traveling, I’m often asked about the state of IT in the geography I was just in. I’ve been to both China and Hong Kong several times over the past few years, and from my perspective, IT is maturing at a very rapid pace in that region.

During prior trips to Asia, it felt like the old days of data processing. I would speak with senior IT leaders and they were more concerned with the “blocking and tackling” of IT, and not looking at how IT can provide a strategic competitive advantage. Specifically in China, IT leadership was comfortable scaling by applying people to the problem rather than using commercial software. (more…)