China leads Asia in digital transformation: report

Chinese companies have outperformed their Asian counterparts in digital transformation, according to a report by a leading software developer.

About 91 percent of Chinese mainland respondents used software development strategy DevOps and about 88 percent Agile. In other Asian countries the figures were 88 percent and 86 percent respectively, according to a report by CA Technologies.

Agile and DevOps are two of the most popular tools to help companies to upgrade their IT infrastructure.

Digitalization is expanding into other industries like banking, manufacturing and telecoms, according to Martin Mackay, CA Technologies president and general manager responsible for the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.

Despite high awareness of digitalization tools, only 33 percent of Chinese respondents used them throughout the company, the report showed.

Other than technology and investment, Martin pointed out that the biggest challenge for companies in digitizing is culture, with a flat corporate culture easier to digitize than a hierarchical one.

"It's not that the IT department wants to change, but that the business is changing, and you have to adapt to changes faster than your competitors," said Nick Lim, ASEAN and Greater China vice president with CA Technologies.

"China is a key market for us and we will continue to grow business here as ongoing economic upgrades mean more companies in China will go digital," Lim added.