Today’s technology landscape demands that companies determine how to
manage and secure data in a connected ecosystem, as well as embrace it
to create competitive advantages. The key concerns for IT
decision-makers (IT) in this environment are cybersecurity, the ability
to upgrade infrastructure and optimizing IT operations, according to the 2019
Insight Intelligent Technology™ Index, an annual study of
enterprises based in North America conducted by Insight Enterprises,
Inc. (Nasdaq: NSIT).
The study examined how companies manage digital innovation, the cloud
and data center, the modern workplace and IT supply chain management.
Fifty percent of IT say advanced analytics — enabled by artificial
intelligence (AI), big data, machine learning and deep learning — have
been critical to their transformation initiatives over the past two
years. Looking ahead, 44% believe AI and machine learning will most
significantly impact the future of IT.
Amid these advancements, security looms large as the top concern for IT
professionals. In fact, when asked to volunteer any IT issue that keeps
them up at night, security was the top answer for more than one in three
respondents (35%).
“There is no greater reality check today in technology than how a
business handles its data — it creates the most challenges and
opportunities. While data enables innovation, its vulnerability
continues to cause anxiety among IT leaders,” said Steve Dodenhoff,
president, Insight North America. “Companies have no choice but to
launch transformative initiatives that allow them to improve how they
access and leverage data across geographies, platforms and systems.”
1. Digital innovation is a business imperative; IT says they’re
getting it right.
Survey respondents generally agree data has great potential to transform
business internally and publicly. Fifty-two percent report their primary
objectives for digital innovation are improving business operations and,
a close second, improving the customer experience and customer
relationships (47%).
An overwhelming majority (89%) feel their digital innovation investments
have been “moderately or very successful” — with success defined as
improving their standing in the market and/or their financial
performance.
However, there are still real challenges facing IT’s ability to
successfully execute innovation initiatives. The top challenges are:
- Security and data privacy (48%)
- Upfront costs (38%)
- Expertise in new technology (32%)
- Infrastructure delays (31%)
“The new normal of IT directly impacting how business processes work has
led to an incredible demand to stay ahead of the curve. You’d be hard
pressed to find an enterprise that isn’t leaning on their IT teams to
work through transformation issues,” said Stan Lequin, vice president
and general manager, Digital
Innovation, Insight North America.
2. All companies are becoming data-driven, but enabling it first
means securing it.
Of course, digital innovation is not possible unless the data enabling
these transformations can be secured. IT professionals must determine
where information lives, how to secure it and back it up, and when and
where to move it to optimize its value. This could be why 50% say the
top challenge related to managing cloud spending is determining best-fit
workloads for public, private and hybrid clouds.
Equally pressing is the importance of securing that data in a dispersed
environment, with 43% citing this among the top three challenges they
will face in the next three to five years as they contend with
accelerated data growth. Modernizing data protection and recovery
follows closely behind at 41%.
When managing overall IT operations globally, cybersecurity is by far
the main challenge IT faces (47%). IT also say data security and
protection is the greatest roadblock to managing global data center
needs (33%).
“IT modernization is foundational to successful digital transformation,”
said Shawn O’Grady, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud
+ Data Center Transformation, Insight. “From assessing cloud and
on-premises platforms required to support processing-intensive
applications like AI and deep learning to acquiring new skills and
processes required by digitally driven organizations, IT is evolving
from the ground up. Data transformed into intelligent information
derives greater returns for the business and creates seamless
experiences for employees and clients.”
3. Subscription-based models and managed services propel modern
workplaces.
Changing how technology is procured and consumed is integral to
equipping a workforce with the latest products, tools and services. In
fact, 77% agree leasing models designating IT as an operating expense,
rather than a capital expenditure, would help them better equip the
workforce with modern solutions. To that end,72% say their organizations
consume at least some bundled products and services, and a vast majority
(89%) plan to continue or increase their bundled consumption.
Additionally, IT leaders believe it is “very or extremely important” for
corporate IT to resemble consumer experiences (77%). To achieve this,
71% say they implement programs allowing workers to choose their
preferred device types; 58% say they let employees work from their
personal devices.
4. Automation, e-procurement are key links to strengthen the IT
supply chain.
When it comes to procurement, 52% say their IT supply chain is “very or
extremely optimized.” But nearly half (47%) say they want to improve how
they use providers to streamline hardware lifecycle services. Similarly,
47% report the need to improve their e-procurement process, with only
16% having fully automated IT procurement.
Those who feel their IT supply chain is not adequately streamlined
believe optimization would allow their workforce to be more efficient
(63%), would free more time to focus on innovation projects that move
the business forward (59%) and would decrease the time their teams spend
on troubleshooting and break/fix work (54%).
To read the complete 2019 Insight Intelligent Technology Index, go to www.insight.com/iti.
Methodology
The research was conducted online by M/A/R/C Research among 400 IT
decision-makers, at enterprise organizations with 1,000–5,000+
employees. Quotas were set by country: 350 completes in the U.S. and 50
completes in Canada. The margin of error for the total sample of n=400
is +/- 4.9% at the 95% confidence level. Data collection was completed
Feb. 13–26, 2019, and the survey took approximately eight minutes to
complete.
About Insight
Today, every business is a technology business. Insight Enterprises Inc.
empowers organizations of all sizes with Insight Intelligent Technology
Solutions™ and services to maximize the business value of IT. As a
Fortune 500-ranked global provider of Digital Innovation, Cloud + Data
Center Transformation, Connected Workforce, and Supply Chain
Optimization solutions and services, we help clients successfully manage
their IT today while transforming for tomorrow. From IT strategy and
design to implementation and management, our 7,400+ employees help
clients innovate and optimize their operations to run business smarter.
Discover more at www.insight.com.
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