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Why IT Has Fallen Behind the Pace of Business- Valutrics

Very few IT and business leaders feel that their organization is extremely nimble in responding to future business needs, according to a recent survey from Unisys Corporation. The resulting report, titled “Meeting the Demands of the Digital Generation: Get Good at Cloud Now!” indicates that it’s critical for tech teams to re-examine IT processes and resources to better support a digital business model. Today’s users, findings show, highly value the cloud as an essential business driver. And while it’s encouraging that most companies have migrated apps to public or private clouds (or both), it remains troubling that cyber-threats to data and systems outages remain a way of life for modern business users. “Collectively dubbed ‘the digital generation,’ this group has very specific requirements and perspective—and more so than previous generations,” according to the report. “Having grown up in a digital world, they are used to instant response, accessing information and apps when they want, where they want, and how they want, regardless of technology … In the face of this new reality, IT leaders are realizing they need to transform and implement an adaptable, flexible software-defined infrastructure that is more nimble, scalable, and flexible, especially as the convergence of social, cloud, mobility, data analytics, internet of Things (IoT) and security creates new business models.” A total of 175 IT and business execs in the U.S. and Europe took part in the research, which was conducted for Unisys by IDG Research.

Static Situation

15% of survey respondents consider their organization as “extremely nimble” in responding to future business needs.

Adjustment Required

72% said it’s critical or “very” important to modify IT tech, processes and resources to support a digital business model.

 Scattered Migration

83% said their company has at least three different cloud platforms in use, with 27% indicating they have no less than 10.

Top Priorities to Ensure Digital World Competitiveness

Data security in the cloud: 52%, Positive customer experiences: 39%, Strong infrastructure performance/availability: 35%, More timely creation of development and production environments: 37%, Improved cloud and data-center management to best utilize all assets: 32%

Defensive Stance

74% of survey respondents said they must enhance overall IT security over the next 12 months.

Tech Talent

53% said they must hire and retain new IT talent and improve tech skills over the next 12 months

Construction Plan

52% said they have to build a scalable and predictable IT environment over the next 12 months, while 42% said they’re seeking to implement a hybrid cloud strategy and platform.

– See more at: http://www.cioinsight.com/it-strategy/cloud-virtualization/slideshows/why-it-has-fallen-behind-the-pace-of-business.html#sthash.o4BUQ7vZ.dpuf

Biggest IT Challenges

Evolving security/compliance threats/risks: 49%, An increasingly complex IT infrastructure: 45%, IT overhead/costs: 41%, Need for 24/7 tech systems availability: 39%

Output Interruption

Half of survey respondents said their organization experiences at least four service outages a month, with 27% reporting no less than seven a month.

Extended Delay

51% said it takes no less than an hour to restore service after an outage, with 21% indicating it takes at least five hours to do this.