MELBOURNE, 07 OCTOBER 2024: Growth has topped the list of business priorities for the second year running but the top tech investment priority for Australian businesses is cybersecurity.
Cost management and customers – with the focus on attracting new customers – are next on the list of business priorities, replacing last year’s focus on employees and innovation.
The results come from Datacom’s fifth annual cloud report, based on a survey of 700+ organisations across Australia and New Zealand undertaken by research partner Tech Research Asia.
Top challenges for Australian businesses right now were identified as budget constraints, security, and recruiting and retaining skilled staff. Automation and DevOps also appeared in the top five business challenges for the first time since the research began.
The latest research observes the continuing trend towards locating application workloads on a case-by-case basis. Businesses are adopting a hybrid cloud approach, seeking a flexible mix of platforms and services that provide the best performance, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Despite that, only 33% of Australian organisations have an official hybrid cloud strategy. Respondents were asked what needs to change to derive real benefits from their IT platforms and infrastructure, and the top areas they identified were skills and training, governance of cloud use and implementing the right cloud structures, as key priorities.
“This reflects a growing understanding that cloud is a new mode of operating rather than just a destination. If organisations get their platforms and cloud strategy right, the foundation is there for every other aspect of their business including better security and future growth,” says Mike Walls, Director – Cloud, Datacom.
Over 40% of organisations surveyed were expecting to spend more on cloud computing over the next year than they had in the previous year. Other areas predicted to get the lion’s share of IT budgets over the next 12 months include AI and cybersecurity.
The survey also highlighted a push towards private cloud to support AI, driven by privacy and security concerns – an issue that Datacom Australia Managing Director Mike Fuller says needs to be addressed to ensure it does not create an obstacle to AI adoption for Australian organisations.
Datacom’s Annual Cloud Report, undertaken with research partner Tech Research Asia, is one of the largest longitudinal studies of its kind in Australasia with a focus on the state of cloud computing and infrastructure, and related technologies and trends.
Download a copy of this year’s report.
About Datacom:
Built on strong values, Datacom has grown to be one of the region’s leading locally-owned technology businesses. We work across Australia and New Zealand to make a difference in people’s lives by turning the imaginable into reality. Datacom supports customers through a broad range of services and solutions that span technology, operations, digital services, and products, all underpinned by robust industry experience and insight. With more than 6,100 people working across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, Datacom is truly world-class in capability and proudly local at heart. For more information visit datacom.com