Sime Darby, SVP Presents on Strategy and Information Technology

An interesting session on Strategy and Information Technology – Strategy & Innovation was given by no less than the Senior Vice President of Sime Darby, Rafiza Ghazali. This session explored on how Strategy partners with IT on the execution of strategic initiatives.

The IT industry has undergone multiple transformations as technology is now considered an essential part of strategy and is no longer seen as an enabler.  In the current environment, industry leaders will agree that it often defines the business model of an organization.  But historically, the technology infrastructure is often only embedded after the business model has been developed.

To increase the likelihood of a successful execution, Rafiza shared her insights on how they could be integrated starting even at the conception stage.

According to Rafiza, the challenge now is to grow at or above the pace of their industry without losing control of operations. She also stressed that one of the most important practices in Sime Darby is making the right project choices, especially and choosing which particular projects to work on. Managers and their respective organizations are facing increasing internal and external pressures to cut costs while being more effective in meeting the ever changing markets.

Key take aways from the session include the need for a shorter turnaround time of IT projects and making them scalable and agile.