To do this, Snow commissioned a report surveying IT decision-makers. This year, we polled 800 leaders in the US, UK, Germany and Australia. What we found in our 2024 IT Priorities Report is both expected and surprising if we consider the events of the year.  

Let’s take a look. 

Further economic uncertainty reins

The last few years have been marked by constant economic uncertainty – so it’s understandable that many organizations continued to focus on cost savings initiatives. This year, we saw a pretty marked shift in the number of companies that took wide, sweeping cost-cutting steps, including the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce and more.

Despite these significant cost reduction measures – or the year of efficiency as Mark Zuckerberg declared it for Meta, at least – there was a flicker of optimism in the form of artificial intelligence.

As such, IT leaders said that their top three priorities in 2023 were AI, reducing security risks and reducing IT costs. In fact, most IT leaders also believe these priorities will carry over into 2024.

What was surprising about the rise of AI within IT leaders’ agendas was the confidence surrounding it.

Eighty-two percent said they are completely prepared to leverage generative AI. That’s a pretty significant percentage considering that we are still in the early stages of AI use cases and benefits. It does indicate the promise of AI, but the extreme confidence is something worth watching, especially with the likely additional regulation around the world, such as the recent US executive order on AI or the EU AI Act, which seeks to provide a framework for regulating AI in Europe.

The findings – and external data – also suggest that much of AI use today is within the current technology stack and is likely being used for productivity and efficiency gains. Seventy-five percent also said they increased spend on security tools in 2023, and this may be to counter uncertain risks surrounding AI.

However, what’s clear is navigating uncertainty caused by the global macroeconomic climate is a priority and an ongoing reality for the foreseeable future. And AI is providing a bit of sunshine amongst a somewhat dreary forecast.

Data’s new normal moment

In past years, we’ve asked IT leaders about their relationship with data. Being able to source the right data at the right time can make or break organizations, providing competitive advantages, indications on buying behaviors and more. However, many organizations are drowning in data, in some form or fashion.

We asked IT leaders about this – and in 2023, the number has decreased significantly. Forty-six percent said they were overwhelmed by their data, which is a 14-point decrease from 2022 and 26-point drop from 2021.

What’s happening? Have we really solved our data deluge problem?

While we didn’t specifically ask IT leaders what has changed, we can take some educated guesses. One of which is that most of our technology from public cloud to SaaS and more includes data dashboards that provide near real-time updates. We have become used to receiving data in more digestible ways – and even if those are not always presented to us in an actionable format, we know how to navigate some of what we receive.

However, there’s a bit of a warning here that we should consider.

Using dashboards provided by our technology vendors is one way to consume data about the integrity of our programs or ROI of our tools. PowerBI for example, provides ways to pull subsets of data into something more understandable. But this isn’t a long-term solution.

Bringing together data and making it actionable should be the ultimate goal.

The introduction of generative AI within our IT landscapes will likely create further complexity and exacerbate an already tenuous situation we have with our data. Not to mention the source and reliability of that data. It’s essential that we don’t go back to being overwhelmed, but rather we learn from history and prepare for future data challenges and possibilities. Swimming in vast amounts of data – and navigating exponential complexity around that data – will be the new normal.

Visibility remains elusive

We talk about complexity quite often here at Snow. That’s because we’ve seen A LOT of it across our customers’ environments – and we regularly see tech vendors introducing further complexity from pricing increases, new AI integrations, licensing updates and more.

This complexity and the effects of it are part of the reason why we are so passionate about the need for comprehensive visibility – and the need for a less siloed, more platform-based approach, which is another key growth area in this year’s report.

88% of IT leaders reported moving towards platforms and away from point tools.

2024 it priorities report

According to this year’s survey, visibility is an area that needs much more work. Sixty-seven percent of IT leaders said they know their business units are buying more cloud and SaaS than they are aware of. There also is no one clear issue driving this lack of visibility within their organizations.

Considering the priorities around reducing risk and identifying cost savings, it seems like tackling visibility issues is intrinsically linked. Establishing a foundation of visibility is essential for every organization. But it is especially important for those organizations that are looking to dive deeper into AI.

72% of IT leaders anticipate increasing spend on emerging technology applications like artificial intelligence in the next two to three years.

2024 it priorities report

As we close out yet another year, there is so much we can learn from this in retrospective. The question is whether we take those learnings and apply them to 2024. Many of the findings from this year’s IT Priorities Report indicate to us that organizations still need visibility across their entire technology environment and actionable insights that can help them address their priorities for the coming year including the use of AI, reduction of security risks and reduction of IT costs.

If the only constant is change, then we should prepare to be increasingly agile and ensure we fundamentally understand how to get the most out of our technology investments. It may be the difference between a good company – and a great company.

To read more about this year’s findings or hear what is on the minds of IT leaders, download the 2024 IT Priorities Report.

The post Innovation and Adaptation: Are You Ready for What’s in Store for 2024? appeared first on Snow Software.

To understand how IT has handled this ongoing disruption, what they’ve learned along the way and how they plan to propel their organizations forward in the ‘new normal,’ Snow Software surveyed 1,000 IT leaders in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and India. We are excited to share the results, now available in the 2022 IT Priorities Report.

Confidently cautious

Companies that chose to amplify their digital transformation efforts through challenging times have excelled. They are now better fortified for whatever the future may bring, and 87% of IT leaders say their organization is prepared to weather global events. Budgets are forecast to increase, and new technologies and staff will be added in 2022.

But, there is also concern. While modernization efforts will continue at an accelerated pace, uncertainty remains on how to efficiently manage a proliferating technology estate and mounting professional responsibility. The results show IT leaders are confident yet cautious. With plenty of new-found experiences and reshaped perspective, 2022 will be the year for IT to take all that has been learned, set new baselines and drive toward new levels of growth.

Key findings

1. More IT leaders have an influential seat at the executive’s table today. 90% say they are a trusted advisor to the business instead of a one-stop-shop for technology. With this heightened leadership role, IT has increased responsibility and 92% have more financial accountability for their investments.

2. Hybrid work is here to stay and IT leaders are confident in their strategy. 90% feel their organization is now able to deal with hybrid work efficiently, yet it does come with worry. IT leaders have had to change a great deal (90%) as a result, and they predict it may become a burden for IT (78%).

3. Dual IT initiatives of driving accelerated digital transformation and managing an expanding technology estate to healthy ROI is daunting. 93% of IT leaders say the pace of digital transformation dramatically increased in 2021 and 94% say their organization became more innovative, yet 71% say they spend too much time reacting to problems.

4. Organizations put their money where their mouth is and increased technology budgets overall. Notably, security and cloud saw the largest increases in 2021.

5. In 2022, top priorities are challenging, but leaders are optimistic. Top priorities are (1) adopting new technology to improve day-to-day operations (30%), (2) reducing IT costs (28%) and (3) improving customer service and satisfaction. To balance these priorities moving forward, CIOs will need a more advanced approach for managing their technology environment.

In the year to come, as IT teams plan for more, rather than less, change over the status quo, how can IT manage such innovation and evolution? A larger technology landscape means the datasphere will continue to multiply too, yet how can all that data drive more actionable insights? 72% of IT leaders are unsure about how to get meaningful insights out of the wealth of data now at their fingertips. 93% say IT must invest in tools and technologies to extract value from their data and turn it into actionable intelligence.

The results demonstrate why technology intelligence has become critical to modern organizations. Leaders need full visibility into their current technology investments to adequately inform future priorities, plans and budgets. This is also how they fuel further innovation while maintaining control over their sprawling technology estate.

To learn more about the trends identified in the new 2022 IT Priorities Report, download your copy here. We’ll provide additional analysis and data breakdowns on the blog as we dig even deeper into the findings over the next couple months.

For additional help with your 2022 planning process, you can also check out our Software Savings Calculator, Cloud Savings Calculator and SAP Optimization Calculator for a personalized look at your environment.

The post New Snow 2022 IT Priorities Report Reveals Changing Role and Expectations of Today’s IT Leaders appeared first on Snow Software.

Any business operating today is putting itself at risk if it doesn’t identify and address technology blind spots. The repercussions can include unexpected costs, government fines and contractual breaches to name just a few issues. Yet the gap in understanding where risks lie in an organization shows the challenge of digital enablement, education and communication across enterprises.

Risk around the world

The report, which surveyed 1,000 IT leaders and 3,000 workers across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, found data that suggests COVID-19 has created new concerns and challenges for the IT discipline. However, organizations with complete insight and governance across their technology ecosystem are better positioned to deliver on their priorities even in the current climate. This makes the current disparity between IT leadership and worker sentiment even more significant. While the issue is global, there were some notable differences between different countries. Depending on where your staff is located, you may need to adjust your approach.

• Germany had the highest percentage of employees (22%) who felt that unmanaged or unaccounted for technologies weren’t an issue, compared to the US (12%), the UK (14%) and Australia (15%).
• Australia had the highest percentage of IT leaders concerned with security, where 77% of those surveyed said it was the number one issue caused by technology blind spots, followed closely behind the US (74%), UK (70%) and Germany (67%).
• Australia also tied with the UK for the highest percentage of employees (58%) who agreed with IT leaders that security was the top problem that resulted from unmanaged and unaccounted for technology, compared the US (49%) and Germany (45%). The biggest gap between employees and leaders was in the US at 25 points.
• In the UK, IT leaders listed compliance (51%), privacy (48%) and financial risk (45%) as the next biggest concerns after security. UK employees were close to their IT counterparts with their views on privacy (40%) but were 17 and 13 points lower on compliance and financial risk, respectively.
• 46% of German employees responded that privacy was the top issue stemming from unmanaged and unaccounted for technology, making them the only group to rank another issue ahead of security.

Shining a light on your technology blind spots

Gaining and maintaining visibility across your technology ecosystem should be priority number one for any organization concerned about blind spots. According to the report though, it seems like it will be an uphill battle for many – 63% of global IT leaders indicated that technology management had become more difficult over the past 12 months.

For those that can achieve this visibility and incorporate governance practices, the data suggests there is a significant benefit. While only 14% of IT leaders surveyed indicated that they had mature technology intelligence – or confidence in their understanding of how their tech investments impact their larger organization – this pool also seems to have a stronger security posture and is better able to rein in spend, among other things.

For this group, 100% strongly agreed that they could identify and address known vulnerabilities across their ecosystem. In addition, 100% also indicated that they could accurately report on spend, identify duplicate and overlapping functionality to optimize that spend and predictably stay on budget when it comes to cloud spend.

If all else fails, fall back on best practices

Of course, fully banishing blind spots requires an important collaborator – your employee base.

It’s essential that organizations have ongoing communication, training and enablement for employees, especially at such a critical and pressurized time. With remote and hybrid working here to stay in 2021, these new ways of working are one of many factors exacerbating the potential risk landscape right now. Our own Rob Price recently provided additional insights and recommendations around the surge in shadow IT and how teams can start to address it.

But mitigating risk is not just about security. Unmanaged technology can lead to soaring IT expenses, unexpected true-up costs, fines, contractual breaches and more. With more uncertainty ahead in 2021, organizations should re-evaluate how they are managing their overall technology stack and the data stored on it to appropriately mitigate an increase in these business risks.

To learn more, watch our recent webinar on-demand, for an in-depth panel discussion of the trends & challenges facing CIOs and IT professionals in 2021. 

The post Technology Blind Spots: Is Lack of Visibility Leaving Your Business Exposed? appeared first on Snow Software.

It is clear that new ways of working, budget cuts and heightened risk will continue to impact IT teams in 2021. At Snow, we wanted to see how those challenges have intersected with organizational priorities and employee behaviors, uncovering trends that are influencing how CIOs and IT leaders will set their plans for the coming year. In our inaugural 2021 IT Priorities Report, we surveyed 1,000 IT leaders and 3,000 workers from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia to better gauge how organizations around the world are using and managing their technology resources, especially as they adapt to the long-term implications and resulting market pressures of the pandemic.

To understand how the landscape has shifted for many enterprises, discovering more about the realities faced by IT teams was only one piece of the puzzle. Employees’ attitudes and behaviors towards technology, policies and processes are equally important to see how IT plans come to life. In the IT Priorities Report, we asked questions like:

• What were IT teams’ most pressing challenges and organizations’ top IT priorities in 2020?
• How did these challenges and priorities impact technology investment and management?
• What are employee perceptions and behaviors when it comes to technology use?
• What is the current risk landscape for organizations, not just in terms of security but also compliance and financial risks?
• Are there any commonalities between organizations with strong visibility and management over their technology resources, and how does that stance impact the larger IT agenda?
• How has Covid-19 impacted the role of technology in business and how is that setting the stage for 2021 priorities?

While every organization is facing a different set of circumstances based on industry, geography and size, there were a number of similarities in the trends and challenges faced over the past year. The data also suggests that organizations who feel confident in their ability to understand and govern their technology accordingly – what we at Snow call technology intelligence – were better positioned to weather current events and maintain an innovative IT agenda.

Additional key takeaways we discovered include:

• The majority of IT leaders increased spend on all technologies. This was expected for cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications but more surprising when it came to hardware and on-prem software.
• 63% of IT leaders reported that technology management became more difficult in 2020. Additionally, 76% said the pace of digital transformation significantly increased as well.
• Employees attitudes towards IT improved in 2020, with 50% of workers saying they have more empathy, respect and gratitude for IT.
• IT leaders are likely underestimating some key risks in 2021. While there is high awareness for security risk among both employees and IT, there are concerning disconnects in other areas such as vendor audits.
• The top three IT priorities for organizations in 2020 were reducing security risks, reducing IT spend and adopting new technologies. Given the inherent conflicts between these priorities, IT leaders need to take a more advanced approach to technology management.

If you’re interested in learning more about these trends and how these are framing priorities for CIOs and IT teams in 2021, download your copy of the report here. We’ll provide additional analysis and data breakdowns on the blog as we dig even deeper into the findings over the next couple months.

For additional help with your 2021 planning process, be sure to check out our Software Savings Calculator, Cloud Savings Calculator and SAP Optimization Calculator for a personalized look at your environment.

The post Introducing Snow’s 2021 IT Priorities Report appeared first on Snow Software.

Over the past couple weeks, the US Department of Justice charged Google with anti-competitive practices, EU regulators are putting together a “hit list” of tech companies that will be subjected to stricter rules and Australia is considering laws that would require Facebook as well as Google to pay local media outlets to share their news.

In Snow’s latest survey of 1,000 IT leaders and 3,000 employees, we found that the vast majority of both groups support these measures, but that their feelings about tech regulation have also evolved over the past year.

In recent years, conversations have significantly increased on technology regulations around the world and the need to better reflect or protect our digital lifestyles. The rapid pace of technology innovation, increasing reliance on data as the foundation of many businesses and growing severity of cybersecurity threats have raised serious questions over whether current policies are sufficient. And many countries have found that the resounding answer is no.

Much of this talk was put on pause while the technology industry, businesses, governments and individuals alike responded to the coronavirus and tried to make sense of the uncertainty. But as the pandemic continues to linger, many countries are resuming their reviews of technology regulations. Just like GDPR a few years ago, the continued debate and potential resulting regulations could have lasting impacts for many organizations on areas like the overall costs of technology or introduce new compliance mandates. Ultimately, despite a patchwork of rules from various countries or the potentially short shelf lives of some policies (like the recently rejected US-EU data transfer agreement), it’s important for IT leaders to stay informed on potential regulations. It is also critical that they have comprehensive visibility of their networks, and a sense for employee sentiment and behavior, to understand how these laws could impact their business or technology strategy.

A growing majority believes more regulation is needed

For Snow’s upcoming 2021 IT Priorities Report, we polled a sample of global IT leaders and employees to determine current challenges faced over the past 12 months and learn how organizations are adapting their technology priorities moving forward. One area we asked about was technology regulations, which we compared to similar questions presented in our 2019 global worker survey.

In 2019, 74% of employees said that the technology industry needed more regulations. Looking at the 2020 global data, 94% of IT leaders and 82% of employees said that they believe more regulations were needed. Of those who do want to see more tech regulations, the two leading areas were data protection (54% IT leaders / 46% employees) and cybersecurity (54% IT / 42% employees).

For IT leaders, concerns vary by region

When looking at geographic breakdowns from the 2020 data, IT leaders in different parts of the world had divergent views on the areas that may require additional regulation for the technology industry.

• The United States was the only country where IT leaders ranked other areas ahead of cybersecurity, with 63% wanting to see more regulations on data protection and 60% on data collection. Cybersecurity came in third place with 49%, followed by universal connectivity at 39% and competition at 36%.
• In the United Kingdom, 54% of IT prefer to see regulations focused on cybersecurity first and foremost, followed by closely by data protection at 48%. Data collection and encryption tied for third at 35% each, followed by competition and universal connectivity at 22% each.
• Similar to the United Kingdom, German IT leaders also favor regulating cybersecurity (53%), data protection (51%), encryption (32%), data collection (32%), and taxation (22%).
• Australian IT leaders also favor regulation focused on cybersecurity (60%), data protection (55%), data collection (48%), encryption (37%) and competition (24%).
• British and German IT respondents had the highest percentage of those who felt the technology industry did not need more regulation, both reporting 9%. Australians were slightly lower at 6%, and just 2% of American IT leaders thought additional regulation was not needed.

Feelings around tech regulations are changing

Beyond weighing in on where potential regulation may be required, we also asked respondents in 2019 and 2020 how the current state of technology regulations made them feel. This year, despite more respondents reporting increased regulations were needed, overall both IT leaders and employees had positive sentiments about where things currently stand compared to last year.

Some year-over-year trends to note include:

• The leading sentiment among IT leaders in 2020 was hopeful at 43%. Yet employees reported being slightly less hopeful – 26% in 2020 down from 29% in 2019.
• Feeling safe topped this list for employees at 28% in 2020, a slight uptick from 26% in 2019. It was also the second most popular choice for IT leaders in 2020 at 37%.
• Unsurprisingly, the biggest gap between IT leaders and employees was empowerment – in 2020, 32% of IT leaders felt empowered versus just 15% of employees.
• The biggest year-over-year change was around vulnerability. Nearly twice as many employees felt vulnerable in 2019 (24%) compared to 2020 (13% employees and 10% of IT leaders).

Interestingly, IT leaders in the United States seem more hopeful (60%) about the current state of technology regulations compared to their counterparts in the UK (38%), Germany (35%) and Australia (40%).

As governments around the world begin to pick this back up as a key topic of discussion, technology regulations should be on every IT leader’s radar. If legislation changes, organizations must be ready to adapt to minimize any potential disruption. Understanding the role that technology plays across your organization and ensuring it is providing the most value is step one.

If you’re interested in learning more, download your copy of Snow’s 2021 IT Priorities Report here. 

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