Many UK businesses are in danger of suffering stunted growth due to a lack of investment in core IT connectivity systems. A new report has found that four in every five UK firms are unable to scale plans to their fullest potential with current connectivity arrangements. Just 20 per cent of UK businesses state they can undertake digital transformation plans.
Conducted by Neos Networks, the report gathered results from 247 medium-to-large UK organisations, and data, cloud, and network infrastructure service providers. The findings highlight challenges businesses face in ‘building back better’, what’s needed to ensure UK business has future-ready systems and just how many companies need connectivity investment to grow.
This comes as 84 per cent of enterprise organisations state their digital transformation plans have accelerated due to Covid-19. For almost half of the firms surveyed, these plans have been accelerated by a year or more. Almost every firm said they consider digital transformation to be important to their future strategy, underlining just how integral digital plans are to the growth of UK business.
The report found that 81 per cent of companies saw a ‘highly successful’ digital transformation success rate when up to 20 per cent or more of the digital transformation budget was devoted to connectivity or networking. For companies allocating ten per cent or less of their budget to connectivity or networking, the success rate dropped to 19 per cent and the number of unsuccessful initiatives rose to 62 per cent. This illustrates the fundamental role that connectivity plays in digital development.
“It’s clear that UK business needs greater investment, particularly after all the commercial challenges and changes the pandemic brought,” Pete Asman, managing director for public sector and enterprise at Neos Networks, said. “This report only serves to highlight how integral connectivity and smart technology is to firms hoping to enact digital transformation – and the success of digital initiatives.
“The pandemic has acted as a catalyst in some ways, moving digital ever closer to the heart of businesses. It’s only natural that some industries have more catching up to do than others. What’s important now, however, is that we see investment in connectivity, especially if we want to see real economic growth in the post-pandemic landscape.”
