A new survey of 400 IT decision-making people from Insight Enterprises found that 95% of IT decision-making people say the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has driven business transformation priorities.
The Insight Smart Technology Report 2022 found that nearly all IT leaders surveyed were affected by IT supply chain disruptions in some way. The survey gave the answers of 400 IT leaders in North America to a 23-question survey in September.
About two-thirds said they believe their business has successfully adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusted to the new reality using new technology and IT processes.
Stan Lequin, senior vice president and general manager of solutions at Insight, said the question now is how companies can sustain and build on their progress.
Lequin said: “This stems from their ambition to pursue new business transformation strategies while investing in the underlying IT infrastructure that powers everything – from collaboration tools that enable remote work to automation and edge computing, “Lequin said.
“But IT executives are struggling with real challenges. Talent shortages and global supply chain issues hamper progress as IT is being given more responsibility than ever before to power the business, and our new report also identifies a number of internal barriers.”
More than half of IT leaders say security is the top investment they intend to prioritize when modernizing their IT platform. Nearly 40% said cloud infrastructure and platform-managed services would take precedence, while another 37% said data analytics would be focused. Others refer to software as a cloud monitoring and service.
When looking ahead over the next three years, respondents said their jobs will be most affected by AI, machine learning, high-performance computers, data analytics, and digital technologies in the workplace.
Surprisingly, 61% said internal challenges would be the biggest obstacle to IT modernization, followed by issues of data security and privacy, competitive priorities, and upfront costs.
“C-Suite executives must think holistically about the IT ecosystem and how digital transformation and IT modernization go hand in hand. With resources at a high level, the focus is on building resilience versus returning to innovation,” said Matt Jackson, vice president. Digital innovation at Insight. “But now is also a good time for business leaders to plan for the future. They have the opportunity to reissue what their business will look like in the future and the results show they are starting to focus more on this issue.”
Nearly 80% said IT departments have faced new cybersecurity challenges since February 2020. When asked about “the biggest perceived threats,” 62% of respondents mentioned competitors’ product or service improvements, while more than half said market-disrupting factors innovating.
Many also attribute the shortage of IT talent, and 52% say their team suffers from employee wear and tear. More than 44% said there was a gap in skills and talent due to market demand.
Almost all respondents said they plan to rely on third parties to handle “the depth of IT-owned business requirements.” Nearly 90% said they expected to offload more projects for third parties in the coming year.
Responding to IT supply chain issues, 44% said they plan to “move application processing requirements to the cloud to mitigate the impact of IT supply chain disruptions.”
“The difficult reality is that global supply chain issues will continue to play out well into 2022 and potentially further,” said Megan Amdahl, senior vice president at Insight. “While this is a very challenging time, disruption has forced organizations to make the necessary changes in planning, purchasing, and processing to help them better manage volatility now and in the future.”
