Almost all firms 'forced to rethink tech priorities'

A new working order arrives rises as a result of the pandemic

Companies face immense pressure to reprioritise their technological goals in order to meet their dynamics business requirements in the post-COVID world, new research has found.

A study released by AppDynamics examined the pressures faced by enterprise technology leaders worldwide as they respond and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technology executives face increasing pressure to accelerate their digital transformation strategies in order to deliver best-in-class digital experiences to their customers and remote workforces, the report points out. At the same time, IT leaders must negotiate economic downturns and help businesses to configure survival strategies, it adds. 

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 Post-pandemic priorities 

The study entailed interviews with directors and CIOs through to senior and mid-level IT management from across 10 countries: US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, UAE, Russia, Japan and Singapore.

Enterprise technologists today confront several headwinds. They have to enable optimum work-from-home capability for the newly-remote workforce, negotiate network and application pressures, as well as maintain the security of the technology stack.

Respondents also admitted that the pandemic caught them flat-footed on the digital front, and that companies have had to implement several years’ worth of digital transformation plans in a matter of weeks.

In addition, the research highlights that 95 per cent of organisations have realigned their technology priorities as a result of the pandemic, and 88 per cent of technologists said that customer digital experiences are now the top priority.

The main challenges in provisioning seamless customer experiences, according to the study, include:

• Managing spikes in website traffic
• Lack of unified visibility and insights into performance of the technology stack and its impact on customers
• Managing mean time to resolution (MTTR) with a remote IT department 

The study also details the resources that technologists need to address these challenges: clear goals; real-time data on demand; autonomy and accountability; and freedom to take risks. 

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