In Asia Pacific, 95% of 225 corporate organisations are showing high levels of concern for all aspects of enterprise digital resilience, according to A10 Networks.
A10 Networks’ Enterprise Perspectives 2022 research finds that overall levels of concern were highest around optimisation of security tools to ensure competitive advantage and delivering superior user experience with customers accessing their ecosystem both easily and securely.
Further, organisations were also extremely concerned about their internal capability to service IPv4 and migrate to IPv6 as well as demonstrating awareness of the importance of balancing security and efficiency.
The Enterprise Perspectives 2022 study was conducted by independent research organisation Opinion Matters with 2,425 senior application and networking professionals from the United Kingdom, Germany, Southern Europe (Italy and France), Benelux, Eastern Europe, Nordics, the United States, India, Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Increased network traffic has compounded the challenges faced by respondents, with 81% of Asia Pacific business organisations reporting an increase in network traffic volumes over the past 12 months. This increase was 39% on averaged compared to the global average of 47%.
When asked about the expected breakdown of their future network environment, 75% of Asia Pacific business organisations said it would be cloud-based, with 33% indicating private cloud as their preferred environment. However, they are not reassured by their cloud service providers, with 48% stating that they cannot meet their SLAs.
The intensifying threat landscape is causing many concerns. Compared to other areas, Asia Pacific respondents were more concerned about the loss of data and sensitive assets in the event of a data breach due to a cyberattack.
Other concerns include ransomware, potential downtime or lockdown in the event of a DDoS attack, and the impact this would have on brand and reputation.
In response to these concerns, the research showed a clear shift towards Zero Trust approaches, with 39% of Asia Pacific business organisations saying they had already adopted a Zero Trust model in the last 12 months.
Although there has been an infrastructure shift to support distributed home and remote working, 63% of Asia Pacific business organisations say that all or most employees will work in the office in the long term, compared to an average of 62% across all regions surveyed.
There is a clear need to help employees work in the way they feel most comfortable. And we are seeing a gradual shift to Zero Trust models.
The return to the office environment may be due to the strong anxiety IT professionals have about security, the cloud and aspects of digital resilience and continuity, as well as the ability of their IT systems to cope with it.”
In terms of investment priorities, artificial intelligence and machine learning have undoubtedly come of age, with 52% of Asia Pacific enterprise organisations saying they have deployed these technologies in the last 12 months.
Further, 45% say they have implemented blockchain technologies, as well 42% say they have deployed IoT devices to help business functions.
Interestingly, when asked which technology is the most critical for business resilience in the coming year, metaverse technologies scored the highest, followed by artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technologies.