BLUE BELL, Pa., Aug. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey
sponsored by Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) shows a strong
commitment among executives to adopting a digital business model,
with the cloud as the key enabler. However, the study also
indicates that security concerns and tepid execution complicate the
ability of the executives' organizations to deliver on that
commitment.
Conducted for Unisys by IDG Research, the study polled 175 IT
and business executives in the United
States and Europe on the
initiatives their organizations are undertaking to capitalize on
the convergence of social, cloud, mobility, data analytics,
internet of things (IoT) and security to drive new business models
and engage, enable and support an increasingly tech-savvy workforce
and customer base.
Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of the respondents agree that
it is critical or very important for an organization to modify IT
processes and resources to support a digital business model. That
represents an increase of 7 percentage points (up from 65 percent)
from the response to a similar question in a Unisys-IDG study
conducted in October 2015.
The respondents clearly see the value of the cloud as the
linchpin in an IT infrastructure that enables digital business:
they report that more than half (55 percent) of their
organizations' applications are already deployed in a cloud
environment.
Moreover, the respondents indicate that their organizations are
seeing positive results from initial cloud and digital initiatives,
with improvements over the last 12 months in multiple areas,
including data security (56 percent), user experience with
applications and services (44 percent), IT efficiency (42 percent)
and infrastructure performance/availability (41 percent).
However, the executives show greater trepidation about their
organizations' ability to build quickly on that initial success.
For example, fewer than 1 in 5 (15 percent) of respondents indicate
that their organizations currently have the "extremely
flexible/nimble" attributes required to implement a digital model
that enables them to capitalize fully on future business
opportunities.
Gap between Aspiration and Execution Could Impede
Progress
Those insufficiently robust capabilities could
pose a challenge in areas the respondents see as priorities over
the next 12 months. For example, 88 percent cite data security in
the cloud as a top priority for competitiveness in the digital
world while only 32 percent cite significant progress, creating a
gap between aspiration and execution of 56 percentage points.
Similarly, less than a third of respondents report significant
progress in other areas key to digital business, from creating
scalable/predictable IT environments (24 percent) to gaining a high
level of visibility into IT environments (32 percent). These
shortfalls may slow progress at a time when it should be
accelerating.
On the plus side, the study shows that the respondents who
consider their organizations extremely flexible and nimble, and
more aggressive in adopting the cloud, more frequently report
benefits from use of cloud apps than the aggregate population of
respondents.
Nearly three-fifths (59 percent) of respondents who identify
their organizations as extremely nimble say they have seen improved
data security (vs. 56 percent of those who do not), while 56
percent of the same group say they are seeing improved speed of
business decision-making. By contrast, only 18 percent of those who
identified their organizations as less nimble have seen improved
speed of decision-making. There is also a significant disparity
between those reporting improved user experience with applications
and services. More than half (52 percent) of the extremely nimble
group reports this benefit, while only 38 percent of the less
nimble group can say the same.
Respondents in extremely nimble organizations are also more
likely to report improved customer experience through integration
of infrastructure and applications with IoT.
"This research points the way for organizations to become more
nimble and successful in capitalizing on present and future
business challenges," said Steve
Nunn, vice president, Cloud and Infrastructure Services,
Unisys. "Digital business is all about finding innovative ways to
empower workers and customers. The organizations that will prosper
in the new order are those that most quickly become focused,
proficient and flexible in integrating and securing the cloud, IoT
and other key digital technologies to drive new levels of
service."
Unisys provides a range of cloud-enabled enterprise computing
and application services that help clients transform their IT
architecture into a software-defined environment that enables
digital business. Unisys Stealth® can provide an extra
layer of security, using identity-based micro-segmentation
techniques and encryption to help organizations mitigate attacks
and hacker incidents by rendering devices, data and end users
undetectable on networks.
Learn more about the Unisys digital-business survey results.
About the Research
IDG Research surveyed 175 IT and
business executives in U.S. (125) and Europe (17 UK, 17 Germany and 16 France) on
Unisys behalf in June 2016. The
executives were affiliated with organizations of 1,000 employees
and above.
About Unisys
Unisys is a global information
technology company that works with many of the world's largest
companies and government organizations to solve their most pressing
IT and business challenges. Unisys specializes in providing
integrated, leading-edge solutions to clients in government,
financial services and commercial markets. With more than 20,000
employees serving clients around the world, Unisys offerings
include cloud and infrastructure services, application services,
security solutions, and high-end server technology. For more
information, visit www.unisys.com.
Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn.
RELEASE NO.: 0829/9447
Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein,
as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product
referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered
trademark of its respective holder.
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SOURCE Unisys Corporation