The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had a profound impact on everyone across the globe; it has also fundamentally changed the way organizations function. We are nearing one and a half years since remote work became the norm and organizations had to adapt to this new mode of working almost overnight. This rapid transition wouldn’t have been possible without the massive technology, workflow, and process upgrades undertaken by IT departments.
We at ManageEngine were curious to understand how this paradigm shift affected the digital quotient of organizations. We wanted to learn about the impact remote work had on organizations’ biggest technology adoptions and how they perceived these changes.
So we conducted a global research survey, the 2021 Digital Readiness Survey, focusing on how remote work has affected cloud usage, IT security, AI adoption, and business analytics.
The survey was completed by 1,210 qualified technology professionals from India, the United States, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. All the participants were directly responsible for IT and procuring business technologies.
Here’s a glimpse at some of the biggest global findings of the survey.
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Remote work is here to stay
Despite the rushed adoption of WFH policies, organizations and employees worldwide have warmed up to the concept of remote work, with 96% of organizations stating that they will be supporting remote workers for at least the next two years.
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Cloud computing has become a critical enabler
Cloud solutions have played a vital role in facilitating the quick shift to remote work. This has led to a massive uptick in cloud adoption, with 83% of respondents reporting that the pandemic has led to an increase in their organization’s cloud usage.
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IT security threats on the rise
However, as with any unplanned technological change, the hurried shift to remote work brought a horde of security challenges with it. Eighty-three percent of respondents revealed that remote workers have led to an increase in security risks.
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AI and business analytics are set to become huge
Organizations are increasingly looking to AI to take them into the next generation of innovation. Eighty-one percent of respondents reported that their confidence in AI solutions has grown. Additionally, 89% of organizations have also increased their use of business analytics.
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Confidence in tech is at an all-time high
Companies are waking up to the importance of IT and its transformational role. Ninety-one percent of respondents trust their technology leaders to lead the company into the future.
The 2021 Digital Readiness Survey also dug deep into the intrinsic details of cloud usage, the benefits of business analytics, the biggest security threats witnessed by organizations, and much more. We’ve also published in-depth regional insights to provide an accurate representation of each region’s trends. If you’d like to go through all the findings, you can download the full report here.
