Many clients ask me for help in dealing with very large software companies who, in their opinion, always seem to have the upper hand in negotiations. "How can I make myself less dependent on X?" they ask, or "how can I cut the amount I have to pay Y each year?" They're CIOs or sourcing professionals who are used to being able to push suppliers around, threatening to kick them out if they misbehave, and they struggle to accept the reality that their normal tactics won't work with the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP. My advice is, get used to it. These companies have grown so big and profitable that they will dominate the business technology market for years to come. Yes, they will face competition from younger companies, but they generate so much cash and have such strong embedded positions in so many enterprises that they can always acquire the upstart, or develop a product that beats it in most deals. 

However, the software giants' huge power isn't necessarily a bad thing. Their scale enables them to spend far more money on development than their smaller rivals, and this usally results in excellent  innovative products. Yes, they can also be inflexible, siloed, frustrating, bureaucratic - but when it comes to software development, size matters. So there really isn't much point in questioning whether the world would be a better place if these companies were much smaller than they currently are. Instead, we should accept reality and learn how to survive and thrive under their rule.

The Asia Pacific mobile payment landscape is currently in an exciting phase of development, but remains fragmented. Asian telcos will likely need to wait at least another two to three years to see traction with mobile payments. Here’s why:

1. User readiness. Let’s face it: Cash and credit/debit cards still dominate the payment landscape, and are a lot more convenient to use. While penetration of feature and smartphones has grown substantially in Asia, not many people actually use their phones for mobile payments. Even in markets like Australia and South Korea, cash and credit cards remain highly popular among consumers. And if demand remains low, merchants will not deign to accept mobile payments — creating a vicious cycle.
2. Infrastructure development. Telecom infrastructure in many Asian countries remains uneven with spotty coverage, (e.g. India and Indonesia). Without proper network access, mobile payments will not propagate outside of urban areas, if at all. While Globe’s Gcash has seen some level of success, the truth is that mobile payments remain nascent in the Philippines specifically and in Asia more broadly. In addition, there is still limited handset support for mobile payments (e.g. some Android models are not able to work with a service). Australia’s Commonwealth Bank went ahead with its m-payment launch after deciding not to wait for incompatible handsets to catch up.

China’s GDP growth slowed to 7.7% in Q1 2013. While below market expectations, this growth rate still ensures strong continued IT spending, as local organizations seek to meet ongoing demand for products and services. At the same time, we expect Chinese government stimulus packages to drive increased consumer demand, particularly in the retail, supply chain, and banking industries. Chinese organizations wishing to capitalize on these opportunities are currently seeking ways to transform their business and decision-making processes and broaden their product portfolios. This, in turn, has driven increased interest in third-party service providers as organizations seek to augment limited (or, in some cases, nonexistent) internal IT capabilities.

Recently I spoke with IT managers at two local Chinese companies; they shared their recent experience with third-party service providers.

• A top 5 Chinese insurance company worked with multiple service providers to strengthen its CRM data mining and analysis capabilities. While this company started its CRM implementation project in early 2006, it still had limited capabilities to manage fast-growing customer data, which was essential given the increased presence of foreign insurance companies in the local market. In response, the company sourced application development and modernization services from Accenture, primarily to define a data architecture and deliver analysis capabilities. With these new functions added to their existing CRM systems, the company enhanced customer data analysis capabilities, grew related sales, and improved customer experience/loyalty.

Mobile devices have cut the mustard as the first tool of choice against the PC. Despite their deficits, they are now poised to become the universal device many people will chose to work with. This trend, driven by end users, was predicted some time ago. But the displacement is happening faster than many anticipated and is now catching the PC manufacturers.  One quarter of the world population already has a smartphone and Forrester expects this number to rise to over 40% in 2017*. And they have an impact on the business world. One third of business leaders expect that more than 75% of their employees use a smartphone regularly for work today, only 18% of them believe that the same is true for laptops**.