In 2019 we pivoted our monthly “tips,” which tended to lean towards technical in nature, to monthly “insights.” The goals of our Insights are to incorporate a technology topic, naturally, but also to highlight business benefits, opportunities and risks. This year’s Insights ranged from digital transformation strategy (and why you need one) to getting more out of big data, AI strategy, and of course, multiple articles covering a range of Office 365 topics.
You can access and read all of this year’s Insights here.
This final Insight of 2019 references a couple different sources of industry research and highlights some of the key findings, providing a glimpse into what 2020 has in store for us.
In an October 2019 CEO Survey performed by Vistage Worldwide, Inc., when CEOs were asked about the major decisions CEOs have to make regarding their business in 2019, not surprisingly, Technology ranked in the Top 10 (#7) with Hiring, Recruiting and Sourcing being #1.
When asked what are the top three areas of their business in which they will invest in during 2019, Technology ranked #1 by a good margin. Additionally, it was determined that approximately 64% of companies nationally allocate somewhere between 1 – 5% of their total revenue to technology solutions, NOT including salaries. NOTE: in this chart, “Local” refers to the GA-AL markets.
These statistics further emphasize that no matter what industry you’re in (manufacturing, professional services, real estate, legal, health care, energy, etc.) or what business you conduct within those industries, ALL companies are technology companies.
As far as how companies are leveraging technology solutions and how technology is reshaping their business, the same CEOs responded as follows:
The surprising response from this is the percentage of companies who say they have a well-defined digital business strategy. If all companies are technology companies then why have so few defined a plan for how their business is going to leverage technology to increase their productivity, efficiency and competitive leadership?
Where are Businesses Investing?
According to a recent State of the Industry Report published by the Technology Association of Georgia (“TAG”), which is the largest technology association in the US, the top growth sectors in IT are:
- Security
- Business Intelligence (BI)/Big Data
- Cloud
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
Security – The most important technology initiative
If you’re an IT professional, you are painfully aware of the emphasis on security these days. Even though security breaches/cyber-attacks of mega-companies are the only ones that make the news, 100% of companies are susceptible to security breaches…and the pain and financial loss associated with them.
Cyber-attacks are the silent killers of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). 28% of SMBs are aware of having a cyber-attack in the past 12 months. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the other 72% have not had an attack…it could very well mean that they were attacked and don’t have a clue!
In the Vistage survey, when CEOs were asked whether their company has a defined cyber risk strategy that is documented and communicated to executive leaders, only 38% said yes! 62% of SMBs reported not having a defined strategy; not having a strategy but actively working on one; or having a strategy that is not current and does not have a scheduled review cycle.
In a time when businesses and individuals are under constant threat of cyber-attacks, doesn’t it seem inconsistent that more attention isn’t given to protect the security and privacy of the data that drives your organization?
Whether it’s the security of your networks, employee devices, applications (within your organization, in the cloud or both), IT professionals will continue to spend significant time in 2020 investigating and implementing solutions to safeguard corporate data.
More to come in 2020
While we can’t possibly stay on top of all things going on in technology (no one can), we strive to stay informed on key trends impacting our customers, especially our key areas of service – Strategy, Infrastructure, Business Insights & Analytics, Business Process, Portals & Collaboration and Business Applications.
We look forward to learning and sharing our knowledge with you in 2020!
This Abel Insight written by Abel Solutions President, David Hammond.
