Kaseya’s IT Operations Report 2023 shows that enterprises are outsourcing more services, particularly in the areas of automation, integration and cybersecurity
Kaseya, the leading global provider of unified IT management and cybersecurity infrastructure software for mid-market companies, has released the IT Operations Report 2023. For the study, Kaseya surveyed more than 1,300 internal corporate IT leaders worldwide about their priorities and key challenges.
Due to the current economic climate, companies of all sizes are reviewing their operations and business strategies to adapt to market changes and maximise their competitiveness and profitability. The key findings from this year’s survey are:
Impact of the economic situation. Companies want to remain cost-efficient and productive. To adapt to the current uncertain economic environment, companies are increasingly outsourcing IT services to managed service providers (MSPs) to optimise their performance and financial spend.
Essential automation and integration. To increase their competitiveness, enter new markets and reduce operating costs, companies are replacing old tools with modern and faster solutions that they can better adapt to changing requirements. They are also planning to allocate resources to integrations and automations to increase productivity and growth.
Pressing cybersecurity issues. Companies are placing a high priority on cybersecurity, even during tough economic times. One focus is on talent acquisition, either through internal hiring or outsourcing to MSPs that provide cybersecurity services.
IT professionals are overworked
Budgets and resources may be shrinking, but workloads are not. 62% of respondents say they often have to work on days off or weekends. Nearly half of them have worked all-nighters. About 40 % work more than 50 hours a week.
Budgets
About 40% of respondents, about the same as last year, say their IT budgets have increased. However, 18% of respondents say their 2023 budget has decreased – 8% more than last year. Budget reductions include spending on software for 40%, spending on hardware for 35% and spending on training and certification for 29%.
Promoting business growth is the most cited budget focus at 32%. Replacing outdated IT infrastructures is cited as a focus by 29% of respondents, and 28% see security concerns or security incidents as a focus.
Strengthening cybersecurity and upgrading legacy systems are the biggest challenges
Cybercrime is a constant threat, which is why 40% of respondents cite cybersecurity and data protection as the most important IT challenge in 2023. Outdated technology stacks can stand in the way of business productivity, growth and innovation, which is why 24% of respondents cite legacy systems as the second biggest challenge.
Strengthening security and increasing productivity through automation are priorities
Businesses understand the importance of strong defences against cyber threats. 45% of respondents say strengthening their overall IT security is a priority. Automation increases cybersecurity. By using an advanced endpoint management tool, technicians can monitor, detect and automatically remediate security breaches. Another benefit of automation is that it increases productivity and reduces the ever-growing workload of technicians.
What will IT professionals invest in next?
Looking at investment priorities through 2024, respondents indicate that their focus is primarily on automation and security solutions. 39% of respondents cite IT automation as the most important investment, followed by email security (30%, including phishing protection) and endpoint detection & response (EDR, 27%). Almost half of the respondents (48%) want to invest in training to make their employees aware of cybersecurity. Another 36% of respondents are interested in scanning tools to detect and fix security vulnerabilities in the IT infrastructure. In addition, 47 % plan to add or change cybersecurity solutions this year. Almost a third (30%) of respondents say they have backup & recovery solutions on their radar, also citing the importance of comprehensive data protection plans. Some 22% also expect to increase their cybersecurity staff.
MSPs will benefit
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are outsourcing more and more IT services to MSPs. Almost 80% of IT managers surveyed for the IT Operations Report say that MSPs provide one or more services for them. In 2022, this figure was still 64%.
The three most frequently outsourced services are IT security, network monitoring and cloud infrastructure management. Other services often outsourced are endpoint management, compliance reporting and onboarding/offboarding of users and devices.
Other findings of the report concern integration: about a quarter of the participants name the integration of IT documentation into the endpoint management tool as the integration with the most benefits. When it comes to IT management tools, respondents name the following five areas: Helpdesk/Ticketing, Endpoint Management, IT Documentation/Information Management, Network Management/Network Performance Monitoring and EDR.
The findings of the IT Operations Report show that overworked IT professionals are investing more in automation and integration, and outsourcing more tasks to MSPs despite economic uncertainty. At the same time, they are allocating budgets to strengthen cybersecurity and update legacy systems.
https://www.kaseya.com/resource/2023-it-operations-survey-report/
