A third of UK business leaders have accelerated plans for cloud investments

The findings from the Was it Love or Just Lockdown? report highlight that, despite 53 percent of business leaders suspecting that unnecessary technology investments have been made since the onset of the pandemic, 29 percent believe third-party technology partners will become a more integral part of supporting overall business operations long-term. The same percentage will look to them for guidance on how they can scale their cloud infrastructure further.

Relationships with third-party technology partners were vital to helping businesses stay resilient and keep operations afloat throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but as the economy rebounds organisations are assessing where to prioritise going forward. Sungard AS surveyed 500 senior decision makers in the UK at organisations with 500+ employees, to better understand how these relationships have developed and see how they are influencing technology adoption and investment plans post-pandemic.

Over the next three years, respondents plan to seek advice from technology vendors on a number of areas, of which cloud constitutes almost half:

• Cyber security (29 percent)

• Cloud connectivity (27 percent)

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) (25 percent)

• 5G (24 percent)

• Cloud adoption (23 percent)

“It’s great to see so many organisations looking to put in place longer term strategies and commit to cloud investment to set their businesses up for the future. As businesses accelerate cloud investments, they also need to be cognizant of the onslaught of sophisticated cyber attacks. It’s therefore comforting to see that cyber security is the number one area that business leaders will seek advice from providers in the coming years,” comments Chris Huggett, Senior Vice President, EMEA & India at Sungard AS.

“With hackers expanding their capabilities and intent, outsourcing cyber security requirements will help to lift the pressure on in-house security teams, supplying experts to help mitigate risk or respond to a threat. Working with a third-party also provides 24/7 cover so organisations aren’t left vulnerable by staff absences” Huggett continues.

Elsewhere, findings from the study reveal a quarter of senior business leaders want to be better placed to reap the benefits the cloud can offer. With more than half of respondents (54 percent) reporting technology spending increased during the past 12 months, two-thirds (66 percent) admit investments were only made to support short-term goals.

Huggett concludes, “It is exciting to see so many organisations Organisations are realising the importance of investing in advancing technologies to innovate, such as AI and 5G, as well as seeking further benefits from the cloud. Senior business leaders better understand how technology investments impact their business and want to know how they can innovate further in future. As such, they need to partner with third-party providers to adopt a cloud ready approach to reap the benefits the cloud, and other technologies, can offer in years to come.”