Cybersecurity and Hybrid Working are Top Priorities for Enterprise IT

The pandemic has changed technology priorities for organizations worldwide, according to a report from research group Omdia on the future of work. The top two enterprise priorities are now cyber security (58%) and hybrid working (55%), with customer experience, business processes and better empowering frontline workers tied in third place at 49%.

Working away from the traditional office will be the new norm as 58% of employees confirmed they will either be primarily home-based or will adopt a hybrid work style. Omdia’s research also found that working remotely is improving employee productivity, with 68% of enterprises believing employee productivity has improved since the mass move to remote working and 35% of respondents reporting they have the metrics to prove it.

“The world of work has undergone significant change due to the disruptions brought about by the pandemic,“ said Adam Holtby, Principal Analyst, Digital Workplace, Omdia and author of The Future of Work report. “Our research shows that people, process, place, and technology transformation are the foundation upon which successful digital workplace ecosystems are created. However, an anywhere workforce is reliant on a diverse set of capabilities and this new normal is presenting new challenges. Businesses must now reinvent themselves to create productive, safe and empowering environments for their employees. It’s time to focus less on work location and more on employee experience.“

A focus on people, process and technology has never been more important, the report found. It suggests that the organizations must strategize and make investments that focus on optimizing the value from people, processes and technologies, as well as reinventing their business models.

Seventy percent of respondents say that the pandemic has influenced their organization’s decision about which information and communications technology (ICT) partners and service providers it will use in the future. Fifty percent of respondents say that technology vendors have been very helpful in supporting the transition to remote working.

Cellular connectivity is an important digital workplace capability. Personal connectivity solutions, such as personal cellular and broadband, are vital and organizations are planning to increase investment in employee mobile cellular connectivity. Forty-eight percent of respondents are prioritizing an increase in budget around mobile cellular over cloud services (43%) and security platforms and services (40%).

Enterprises want much more than just best-of-breed technologies. When it comes to the digital workplace, businesses are looking to work with partners that can help select the most appropriate IT architecture and technologies, understand the impact of digitalization on their industry and help align business and digital strategies. Partners must focus on delivering faster deployment of new technologies (38%), providing better support (28%) and having access to a dedicated service manager (26%), as these are the attributes businesses will most value from partner’s post-pandemic, according to the survey.