Intelligent SME.tech Issue 12 | Page 20

? EDITOR ’ S QUESTION //

ACROSS ALL TECHNOLOGY
DOMAINS , 58 % OF
RESPONDENTS REPORTED EITHER AN INCREASE OR A PLAN
TO INCREASE
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT IN
2021 , COMPARED WITH 29 % IN
2020 .
Every month , we pose industry experts a question pertinent to the issues of the day . This month . . . .
T EXECUTIVES SEE the

I talent shortage as the most significant adoption barrier to 64 % of emerging technologies , compared with just 4 % in 2020 , according to a new survey from Gartner . A lack of talent availability was cited far more often than other barriers this year , such as implementation cost ( 29 %) or security risk ( 7 %). Talent availability is cited as a leading factor inhibiting adoption among all six technology domains included in the survey – compute infrastructure and platform services , network , security , digital workplace , IT automation and storage and database . IT executives cited talent availability as the main adoption risk factor for the majority of IT automation technologies ( 75 %) and nearly half of digital workplace technologies ( 41 %).

“ The on-going push toward remote work and the acceleration of hiring plans in 2021 has exacerbated IT talent scarcity , especially for sourcing skills that enable cloud and edge , automation and continuous delivery ,” said Yinuo Geng , Research Vice President at Gartner . “ As one example , of all the IT automation technologies profiled in the survey , only 20 % of them have moved ahead in the adoption cycle since 2020 . The issue of talent is to blame here .”
Emerging technology investments and deployments are accelerating
Despite talent challenges , infrastructure and operations ( I & O ) and other IT leaders have increased the adoption of emerging technologies to drive innovation as organisations begin to recover from the pandemic . Across all technology domains , 58 % of respondents reported either an increase or a plan to increase emerging technology investment in 2021 , compared
HOW CAN SMES ENSURE THEY HAVE A SOLID IT INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH CAN SUPPORT NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE DAY-TO-DAY RUNNING OF THE BUSINESS ? with 29 % in 2020 . Furthermore , I & O functions have witnessed a reduction in deployment timelines , with all technologies in deployment expected to reach adoption within the next six to 18 months . “ This indicates that organisations feel more comfortable directly deploying new technologies to accelerate growth , rather than relying on an extended observation period to develop the business case ,” said Geng .
In addition , a greater number of leaders ( both inside and outside of the IT function ) are influencing technology investment decisions this year , driving the trend of ‘ democratised delivery ’. In 2021 , 82 % of IT leaders either agree or strongly agree that enterprise leaders outside of IT , influence emerging technology adoption decisions across all technology domains evaluated .
Cloud and security technologies prioritised
Resilience and improving critical IT infrastructure are top priorities among I & O and other IT leaders in 2021 , according to the survey . As a result , they are prioritising cloud deployments and investments in security technologies . To allow the smooth movement of information between physical and virtual locations , organisations are investing heavily in creating a strong hybrid cloud base , supported by multi-cloud technologies . Distributed cloud systems , cloud access security brokers ( CASBs ) and cloud enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) are among those reaching the deployment phase in 2021 , with respondents stating that resilience is the primary investment driver for 63 % of these cloud technologies .

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. tech
Intelligent SME . tech