Security credentials, the depth of technical expertise and ability to deliver outcomes aligned to the business goals, are promising attributes for service providers as businesses seek to recover and respond to a changing environment in the wake of COVID-19.
According to NTT’s 2020 Global Managed Services report, the delivery of platform-enabled solutions at speed, across the entire technology stack becomes even more important over the next 18 months.
From cloud to networking, data centre to security and more, breadth and depth of capability is essential to recover and restore operations and position organisations strongly for the coming years.
Based on research from IDG, the report covered a survey of 1,250 business and IT leaders conducted across 29 countries in five regions.
The report finds that reducing security risks is not only the biggest challenge faced by IT teams globally, it is the top reason for service provider consideration.
Almost half (48%) of business leaders already acknowledge a need to optimise the workplace environment.
Technical expertise is the top driver for selection of a service provider, with cloud infrastructure and security leading the demands.
To enable firms globally to recover and readapt to the new macroeconomic environment they operate in, smart sourcing plays a vital role. It’s about providers who can deliver business outcomes aligned to the goals of the entire organisation.
About three in every five (57%) respondents cited security risks as a key challenge of managing IT in-house, rating the highest among all factors considered. The prevalence of security on the business agenda is further heightened by the explosion of endpoints into remote environments, coupled with an uptick in BYOD.
Additionally, the report highlights that 84% of organisations believe that managed service partnerships will provide value (44% of which see extreme value provided) over the next three to five years through their security capabilities.
Also, 48% of firms already recognise a need to optimise the workplace environment to meet the demands of an evolving workforce.
This drive in the consideration for new services is likely reflected in the rise in the number of organisations who expect to outsource more of their IT than they insource — almost doubles from 23% currently, to 45% in 18 months’ time.
Further, firms primarily look for technical and industry expertise when selecting a service provider (44% and 30%, respectively).
Specifically, expertise in cloud infrastructure (73%) and security (53%) lead the way in terms of technologies currently outsourced to service providers. Those numbers are set to increase in 18 months to 77% and 64%, respectively.
