With figures from 2,000 UK respondents working across various IT roles, 97% said they believe that the modernising of their IT systems is important to making sure their business remains competitive. Of this, 37% say this is essential.
As for investment priorities over the next five years, respondents said that cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and 5G are their top priorities. These areas were consistently second or third on respondents’ list, with cybersecurity featuring in the top three for the most respondents.
Following these three priorities, artificial intelligence and edge came in fourth and sixth in terms of overall investment priority.
Further to this, the survey found that 83% of respondents confirmed that their organisation accelerated its implementation and adoption of new cybersecurity measures and systems. In addition, 50% think data loss is the biggest risk to their business from a cyber-attack. While 37% say they would be concerned about their business ceasing to function and 34% worry about financial implications.
Smaller businesses are less concerned about cyberattacks with 28% of business with 0-5 or 6-49 employees saying they are not concerned with any cyber-related attack.
“British businesses continue to grapple with the two biggest existential threats they’ve faced in decades: the pandemic and cybercrime. It’s not surprising that responding to both remain top priorities,” said Dayne Turbitt (pictured), senior vice president and general manager, Dell Technologies in the UK.
“However, if British businesses are to be competitive in the global digital economy investment in edge computing and artificial intelligence needs to start now. At Dell Technologies we believe that edge computing will have transformative impact from retail and manufacturing to smart cities and hospitals. We are working closely with our UK customers to provide best-in-class studied on how it can benefit their business and the whole economy.”
Other findings show that 85% of respondents confirmed that their organisation is planning to increase its use of cloud infrastructure, with 33% stating this will happen in 2022.
In 2021 16% of companies invested most in collaboration tools, followed by remote connectivity infrastructure and remote workforce devices, both 14%.
65% believe IT/storage admin staff will become more influential in IT purchasing decisions and 62% feel the same about chief information officers. While only 46% feel CEOs / managing directors will become more influential in making these decisions.
Overall, 97% of IT workers believe that modernised and updated IT infrastructure is critical to the success of their businesses.
On the subject of sustainability, 85% say the sustainability of IT products and services they buy influences what IT products they buy.
Lastly, 74% of IT workers also feel IT vendors could be more sustainable, compared to just 15% say they do not think anything needs to change.
