To say enterprise IT leaders have a lot on their plate would be…an understatement.
Our recent survey of over 100 IT leaders from around the world gave us unique insight into ten major trends they’re facing today – from harnessing and integrating new technologies to delivering engaging and secure customer experiences.
To get a better understanding of these competing priorities – and to share our findings with their peers in enterprise IT teams – we’ve compiled our Enterprise technology Trends report.
It’s full of insights on factors like how much of a priority each trend is for IT leaders, whether they have a defined strategy to tackle it, and how they rate their skills in that area today.
Grab the report here or read on for a quick breakdown of some of the findings.
Customer & Employee Experience
We’re combining multiple trends in one here, but as you’ll see from the report, they’re all closely related.
Top of IT leaders’ agenda is customer experience, with 87% saying it’s a high priority. Reassuringly, 42% also say their customer experience strategy is completely defined.
Employee experience is another matter altogether. Some organisations are recognising a link between satisfied employees and satisfied customers, but not all. Only 22% say they have a defined strategy for employee experience, and just 50% of IT leaders are increasing investment in this area.
One super-important (and scarce) group of employees is developers. And when they can’t find the dev talent they need, IT leaders struggle to get the important stuff done. In fact, 72% of IT leaders say strategic projects are being held up by project backlogs.
Only 10% say their developer experience strategy is completely defined – an even smaller proportion than for employee experience in general.
IT Staff Learning and Development
When technological advances outpace your employees’ technical skills, things can get tricky for everyone.
And this isn’t just important for business. It’s a social responsibility too, according to the 96% of people who believe employers have a responsibility to prepare their workforce for the impact emerging technology might have on their jobs.
Worryingly, only 24% of IT leaders have a defined strategy in place for IT learning and development – even though a similarly low number say their development skills in this area are advanced.
New Technologies
So what kinds of new technologies do IT leaders need to get their people up to speed with?
- Artificial Intelligence – 83% say AI is transforming customer engagement, and 69% say it’s transforming their businesses.
- Voice – 68% believe voice technologies will be a key part of their business processes in the next two years.
- Blockchain – 22% of IT leaders are actively working on a Blockchain project, proving that this nascent technology is making traction.
- Mobile – 74% say a lack of mobile access to business apps, data and content will slow business productivity in 2025.
System Integration
An unsurprising 99% of survey respondents say their business has to be mobile-enabled to survive in the future – but only 20% say their mobile technology strategy is completely defined.
The proliferation of mobile technologies has contributed to the explosion in applications, with the average enterprise now using 900 different applications.
The trouble is, IT leaders say only 29% of their applications are integrated. This isn’t just frustrating for employees; it affects the customer experience. 69% say a lack of integration leads to disconnected customer experiences.
Security and Trust
Finally, the report takes a look at the security implications of all this innovation, and how IT leaders are trying to earn and keep customers’ trust.
54% of the IT organizations we surveyed have a dedicated security team or officer in place. And they’re not just looking at external threats: 85% of IT leaders say internal security threats are just as serious a problem.
For all the insights on ten trends faced by enterprise IT leaders today, grab the full Enterprise technology Trends report now.
