A new report released today by Sonus Networks shows that 74% of local IT decision-makers want to spend more time on innovation and transformation projects.
The Removing the Barriers to Business Transformation report is based on current research conducted by Research Now with 465 IT decision-makers in EMEA. Overall, the report shows that many companies in EMEA are not in a position to react to the economic upswing, with an average of 50% of businesses claiming that adoption of technology innovation is being stifled because of lack of budget.
Interestingly, South African companies come across as the most progressive in terms of transformational projects:
* Of all nationalities surveyed, South African companies are the most keen to spend time on transformation projects, (74% compared to, for example, 43% of German companies).
* South African companies are the least stymied by low budgets (with only 36% claiming low budgets are holding them back, compared to 52% of UK companies).
* More South African companies are also planning to progress projects to implement communications systems based around SIP and/or WebRTC than any other nationality.
* Nevertheless, the pressure that legacy systems and maintenance are placing on IT departments in South Africa is surprisingly pronounced, with the same amount of IT budget being apportioned to maintaining legacy equipment as on introducing new equipment (46% of budget).
The primary challenge that IT decision-makers in South Africa face in driving business transformation is ‘adapting IT and network infrastructures to support new technologies’. In contrast, security was the main challenge for those in France and Germany.
However none of these challenges are insurmountable. By putting in place strategies that focus on interoperability, making use of legacy systems and securing the enterprise, IT decision-makers can create a next generation enterprise that breaks down regional barriers, creates competition and drives innovation and success.
“It is clear from this report that IT departments are under increasing pressure to balance the desire to embrace new technologies that can transform the business, while continuing to maintain legacy systems,” says Serge Adam, VP, EMEA, Sonus Networks.
“The good news is that this balancing act is possible when the focus is put on technologies that can interoperate with and overlay existing investments, while simultaneously enabling secure multimedia communications that can transform the business. In this way, IT leaders can play a key role in driving innovation, improving customer service and using technology to create a competitive advantage.”