The report, conducted by Frost & Sullivan and commissioned by GoTo, looked at the global trends of 1,000 IT decision-makers at companies with less than 1,000 employees. Among the key trends, the survey sees 83 per cent of businesses considering consolidation of communication and IT management and support tools an important initiative for 2023. As an added benefit, this consolidation helps to alleviate the burden on IT, a goal of 92 per cent of respondents.
As economic uncertainty, scrutinised budgets, and overburdened resources continue to be the norm, IT decision-makers are faced with determining the right set of goals and objectives to maximise their investment, grow their business, and streamline their processes.
Key IT trends
- Consolidation for enhanced productivity and cost savings: 41% of businesses are planning to switch vendors to reduce costs. 83% of respondents consider consolidation of communication, collaboration, and IT management and support tools an important initiative for the year. 93% have completed, planned, or are in process with these consolidation efforts. The top reasons for consolidation were to increase employee productivity, give solutions to the IT team that are easier to manage, and cost savings.
- With choice comes responsibility: Nearly half (48%) said it was very important to consider reducing the burden on IT when choosing new software, compared to only 35% last year. 68% of company leaders say they are more involved in the purchase process of products and tools than they were a year ago.
- Support IT teams with better IT support tools: 65% of organisations say they saw an increase in the IT workload in the past year. 92% of respondents said they want to reduce the burden on IT through the right software choice. 40% of respondents said that their reason for digital tool upgrades and change was driven by IT team preference.
- Hybrid work is still the preferred way to work: While the survey saw almost double the number of in-office workers compared to 2022 (36% now compared to 19% last year), hybrid work remains the gold standard with half the respondents splitting their time between home and the office. Year-over-year results show a decrease of 10% in the number of businesses that have official rules on the number of days an employee needs to be in the office, meaning that employees have more flexibility than ever.
- Find new ways to prioritise the customer: While businesses will only function if the right IT support and communication tools are enabled for employees, it’s equally critical that externally-facing teams have the right technology to seamlessly support customers. 66% of respondents plan to spend more on customer experience (CX) technology in 2023 than they did in 2022.
- Partners play a key role in decision-making: 44% of businesses choose a partner versus 27% going to the solution provider directly to find new business communication and IT support tools. The survey saw a 55% increase in the use of partners in the past year.
