7 Statistics That Shows The Dismal State of IT

Gartner conducted a survey that included 122 enterprise State of IT leaders in the early part of 2023. They published the findings from the survey at Gartner’s State of ITInfrastructure, Operations, and Cloud Strategies Conference in Las Vegas. The survey results concluded that IT leaders are experiencing a host of issues from talent shortages to cybersecurity risks, supply chain disruptions to inflationary pressures. They lack the required resources to meet or surpass CIO expectations.

Are you interested in learning more about the key takeaways from this survey? If yes, then this article is for you. In this article, you will learn about the seven shocking statistics that point towards the dismal state of IT.

Here are seven statistics that show the current challenges the IT industry is experiencing.

Only 12% of IT Infrastructure Pros Exceeds CIOs Expectations

Did you know that only 12% of IT infrastructure professionals manage to meet or surpass IT leaders’ expectations? CIO expectations have grown tremendously from IT professionals but resource constraints and a host of other challenges prevent IT pros from performing at the best of their capability. This includes not only the financial resources but also the human resources as well as tools. Most IT teams are understaffed and lack the budget required to fulfill those expectations that we need ssd dedicated servers

41% of IT Leaders Said That Their Budget Increased But Inflation Has Eaten Up The Gains

One positive outcome from the survey findings came in the form of an IT budget increase but sadly those gains were eaten up by rising inflation. 41% of IT leaders said that their IT budgets have increased over the past year. Despite the rise, the CIO failed to realize the real benefits of the increase as it was eaten away by inflationary pressures. The rising inflation canceled out the effects and brought businesses back to the same position as they were before the rise.

37% of IT Leaders Said That Their Budgets Were Cut or Stayed The Same

The economic headwinds are forcing businesses to cut back on spending and make the most of the investments they have already made. IT budgets are bearing the brunt of it. 37% of State IT leaders said that their budgets were slashed or stayed the same. With limited budgets to work with, they are always looking to chase the elusive goal of achieving more with less. This puts brakes on innovation and limits your team’s ability to perform at higher efficiency.

48% Consider Cybersecurity Risk as The Biggest Threat

This should not come as a surprise as almost half of State of IT leaders surveyed said that cybersecurity risk is their biggest threat. The growing number of cybersecurity attacks and data breaches targeting businesses along with threat actors’ access to sophisticated tools have made it possible for them to launch cyberattackers in large volume but also launch attacks that are harder to detect for businesses.

Enterprises will have to spend more money on buying the latest and greatest cybersecurity tools, providing cybersecurity training to their employees, and bolstering their cybersecurity defenses. Following cybersecurity best practices and access controls can go a long way in minimizing the risk of cybersecurity threats.

45% Rated Supply Chain Disruption as the Second Biggest Concern

Cybersecurity attacks are commonplace but the same can not be said for supply chain disruption. This has changed for the worse and we are seeing more supply chain disruptions than ever before. The last few years have been a testament to that.

The growing number of supply chain attacks makes matters even worse. With third-party vendors not taking their security as seriously as they should, we will continue to see this trend continue in the years to come. Businesses must vet the security measures of the vendors and third-party service providers and contractors before signing a contract with them to save themselves from supply chain attacks.

43% Considers Talent Shortages and Skill Gap as a Major Problem

Another issue that is very common in the IT industry is talent shortages and skill gaps. With demand for IT professionals reaching record highs, there is not enough supply of talent to meet those needs. This creates cutthroat competition for hiring IT talent. Large-scale enterprises with large budgets tend to benefit from this as they can afford to pay top dollar to hire the best talent.

Sadly, small and mid-size businesses tend to suffer as they can not afford to pay exorbitant amounts of money to hire qualified individuals. What’s even worse is that fresh graduates lack the required skills to meet the industry demands, which makes them misfits to fill those open positions.

40% of Respondents Considers Inflationary Pressure as the Biggest External Threat

According to Gartner survey results, 40% of respondents consider inflationary pressure as the biggest external threat to their business growth. The price of everything from hardware such as cheap dedicated servers to software to networking to services has gone up significantly as compared to last year. The rising prices have led to surging IT operational expenses. With stagnant IT budgets to work with, businesses are struggling to keep the lights on. State of IT leaders must work smarter and find new ways to keep costs in check so they can achieve IT goals even with limited IT budgets.

Did this article help you understand the current state of  IT industry and the challenges IT leaders are currently facing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.