Evaluator Group releases Round II study on how enterprise IT is responding to Covid-19
From staffing and budget impacts to new cybersecurity requirements, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected IT organizations and will continue to do so in 2021. Amid the chaos of identifying and adapting to the “new normal,” the majority of IT professionals believe that COVID-19 has created new business (60%) and technology (64%) requirements related to digital transformation – accelerating select IT projects.
These are key findings from Evaluator Group’s new study, “Enterprise IT Responds to COVID-19 Round II”, which is a follow-up to Evaluator Group’s April 2020 research on the pandemic’s impact on enterprise IT. Both studies are available for free to the public.
In April, IT professionals by and large were scrambling to set up new technologies that facilitate remote working, and to respond to cyberattacks. The “Enterprise IT Responds to COVID-19 Round II” study determines whether or not the initial findings and projections were actualized. It also adds additional color in a number of areas including the changes that IT professionals expect to be permanent. The study found that enterprises are moving forward with IT-related initiatives deemed business critical as working from home is expected to continue well into 2021.
“The most surprising takeaway from this study has been the resilience of digital transformation initiatives in spite of the disruption,” said John Webster, Senior Partner. “In fact, we saw that over the last six months, COVID has stimulated rather than depressed these initiatives.”
“Enterprise IT Responds to COVID-19 Round II” found that the overwhelming majority (89%) of respondents have at least started their digital transformation journey, with 56% being somewhere in the process of implementing new or upgraded technologies to meet digital transformation-related business objectives and requirements. “We are heartened to see some of the businesses and industries pursuing these changes in light of the challenge this year has presented us,” said Camberley Bates, Managing Director, Evaluator Group.
“The linkage between COVID-19 and digital transformation is important because, by and large, IT projects are being put on hold if they are not deemed business critical,” said Krista Macomber, Evaluator Group Senior Analyst. “Digital transformation is framing what is critical to day-to-day operations, and what future priorities are going to be.”
As organizations continue to grapple with the uncertainty of what the future holds, “Enterprise IT Responds to COVID-19 Round II” is designed to provide peer feedback on how IT professionals are navigating this complex situation as well as the impact to IT budgetary and staffing priorities, based on an incisive survey. The study covers spending patterns, technology issues relating to working from home, and cyber protection – to name a few areas. Participants were IT professionals that represented a range of responsibility levels, from senior vice president to operational administrator, and industries, including telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, retail, public sector, entertainment and media, manufacturing, and education.
This 24-page study can be downloaded free of charge at the Evaluator Group website. To see how Evaluator Group can help your organization implement best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, contact them here.
About Evaluator Group
Evaluator Group Inc., an Information Management and Data Storage analyst firm, has been covering information systems for over 20 years. IT Executives and Managers use Evaluator Group research daily to make informed decisions on architecting and purchasing systems that support their continuously evolving data requirements. We surpass the current technology analysis landscape by defining requirements and providing an in-depth knowledge of products as well as the intricacies that dictate successful long-term information delivery strategies.
Press Contact: For more information about Evaluator Group contact Nick Waterhouse at 303.221.7867 x1008 or Nick(at)evaluatorgroup(dot)com.
