Insight report Insight Intelligent Technology Report 2022: IT Ambitions for Business Transformation
The pandemic accelerated transformation at organizations in every industry — and there are no signs of slowing.
By Insight Editor / 15 Nov 2021
In the wake of COVID-19, businesses responded to significant challenges and deep uncertainty by driving more ambitious agendas on tighter timelines than ever before.
Organizations took bold steps forward into a digital-first landscape starting in 2020, and they’re striving to extend that trajectory into 2022 and beyond. However, challenges remain — ranging from talent shortages to supply chain disruption — and these roadblocks can impede operations and hinder strategic transformation.
To deepen our understanding of what lies ahead, we commissioned IDG to survey 400 IT leaders about post-pandemic marketplace and organizational shifts in our annual progress report, the Insight Intelligent Technology Report 2022: IT Ambitions for Business Transformation. Their responses reveal how they’re adapting to internal challenges, external disruption and new digital transformation goals.
Transformation is the new normal.
Organizations of all sizes and across all business sectors navigated digital acceleration during the pandemic — and enterprises were no exception.
43%
reported that the pandemic accelerated business transformation progress, and another 52% either had to change or create a new strategy entirely.
47%
of new IT investments are dedicated to transforming the business vs. "keep the lights on" requirements.
67%
strongly agree that their organizations have adapted to marketplace changes by incorporating new technologies and IT processes.
Specifically, IT leaders focused on key initiatives in
✔ Data
✔ Operational processes
✔ Security
✔ Spending
Knocking down internal roadblocks
While organizations responded impressively to external challenges during the pandemic, hindrance to IT modernization often came from within. 61% of respondents cited internal challenges as bigger roadblocks than external factors, including:
The cloud is a particular point of concern.
One-third of respondents struggle with managing cloud spending, determining best-fit workloads for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and a lack of skills related to the cloud.
And, IT teams are asked to do more with less.
Since February 2020, respondents report that IT has taken on new responsibilities in:
78%
Cybersecurity
72%
Cloud architecture
68%
IT procurement
64%
Analytics/BI
At the same time, 45% of respondents reported skills and talent gaps specifically related to these shifting responsibilities.
Getting ahead of external disruption
While internal factors are a primary obstacle for IT modernization, external factors carry significant weight as well. 91% of respondents said their organizations are impacted to at least some extent by IT supply chain disruption, with 49% indicating they have been affected to a great extent.
How are leaders planning to mitigate these challenges?
44%
plan to shift application processing requirements to the cloud.
43%
intend to avoid last-minute, ad-hoc IT purchases.
42%
seek to improve forecasting for longer-term visibility into needs.
Modernization persists in the face of these challenges.
And investing in talent and infrastructure is critical to unlocking digital transformation. Organizations are planning bold steps in the next 12 months, from hiring new IT talent to leveraging the power of DevOps, the Internet of Things and edge computing.
IT decision-makers are concentrating heavily on modernizing their cloud environment in the next 12 months, particularly in the areas of:
And, over the next three years, they intend to focus on energizing the intelligent use of data through:
36%
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
34%
High-performance computing
32%
BI and data analytics
31%
Digital workplace technologies
Thinking holistically about the IT ecosystem
At a time when every business is a technology business, IT teams are asked to do more, and every digital transformation initiative is a major priority. Accelerating innovation while navigating internal and external roadblocks requires a holistic approach to the IT ecosystem — and enterprise leaders agree that they can’t execute that approach without help.
That’s why 95% of respondents indicate their organizations will rely on third parties to shape their business transformation strategies, and 89% expect the volume of IT projects offloaded to a partner to increase over the next 12 months.
No one achieves their most ambitious goals alone.
Learn more about how a trusted partner can accelerate your transformation strategy in the full report.
