According to research carried out by HPE Aruba, 64% of IT managers They believe cybersecurity concerns are negatively impacting their organizations’ willingness to invest in innovative technology. In Spain the figure is even higher and amounts to 71%. This may not be surprising, as 91% of respondents globally consider emerging technology to be a danger; or they admit to having experienced a security breach due to it, something supported by 94% of the managers who have participated in this study in our country.
But this comes at a time when IT leaders must be empowered to embrace innovations such as generative artificial intelligence, to accelerate critical business transformationsomething 89% say their organization highly requires in the next 12 months to be successful.
The rise of innovation
A large majority (95%) of IT leaders say digitalization is essential to unlocking new revenue streams in the next 12 months. In fact, IT and other organizations are working to implement new technologies that can drive innovation in how the business works and what it offers.
As they seek to increase innovation, organizations are turning to emerging technologies and are currently using or planning to deploy 5G (91%), AI and machine learning solutions (89%), or IoT and smart sensors (88%). %). Although the analysis in our country supports the perception that our executives are closely aligned with their counterparts in other markets, there are small variations in relation to the integration of these same technologies. Thus, the data in Spain reveals that our companies already use, or plan to implement 5G (85%), AI and Machine Learning (84%), and IoT and smart sensors (77%)
Despite this push, only 45% of IT leaders describe their organizations as innovative, and worryingly, even fewer describe them as safe (44%). In Spain we have a better perception of how innovative our organizations are since the number of IT managers who describe their companies this way amounts to 49%. Like their counterparts in other markets, 44% of our executives also describe them as safe. In fact, globally, 64% of IT leaders confirmed that their organizations’ willingness to invest in innovative technologies is negatively affected due to concerns about potential security breaches.
Managing increasing risk
There is also a growing gap between technology demands and the IT team’s ability to manage it all: 66% of IT leaders have concerns about their organization’s ability to keep up to date with the latest technology and digital demands, with 55% saying their IT teams are already stretched to capacity. In Spain this figure is 75% and 36%, respectively.
Combining this increase in technology use with the lack of resources and broader trends around remote work, hybrid cloud and distributed data centers, organizations are exposed more than ever.
“Business needs have evolved, and teams are increasingly implementing new technologies to meet these needs. However, security measures that can support the rise of emerging technology must evolve alongside them,” he explains. Scott Calziavice president of marketing HPE Aruba Networking. “For IT teams, this means realizing that AI Network can support your teams to be more efficient, alleviate time-consuming administrative tasks, and advance your security strategy by offering built-in protection.”
The role of the network
According to this study, there is a growing recognition of the role of the network in business transformation and, in particular, the relationship between the network and security and innovation. In fact, 64% of IT leaders believe the network can support cybersecurity effectiveness and 61% believe it can support greater innovation. This perception in Spain is estimated at 66% and 65%, respectively. And IT leaders are investing accordingly: Organizations are moving forward with network-based security solutions such as Security Service Edge (SSE) or similar edge-to-cloud security (89%), network access control based on policies (88%) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) security (87%).
But the evidence suggests that they still need help to bring these investments together and reap the benefits: Only 47% of IT decision makers believe their current network can deliver or support flexible business security, and even fewer see their role as supporting emerging technologies (37%).
In Spain, 84% of these professionals are actively considering investing in security solutions that range from the edge to the cloud, thus recognizing the importance of protecting their digital assets in an increasingly cyber-exposed business environment.
Likewise, a significant 86% of Spanish IT managers are considering the implementation of policy-based network access control systems. On the other hand, it stands out that a solid 77% of IT professionals are evaluating the possibility of investing in SASE solutions, which supports the trend that in our country a comprehensive approach is sought that combines security and connectivity in a single framework, which simplifies management and ensures network protection at all levels.
“In Spain, 71% of IT managers show growing concern about cybersecurity, which reflects the magnitude of the risks we face in the technological field. While it is true that 85% of our executives consider it essential to embrace innovation, this process is not without challenges,” he explains. Jose Tormo, Regional Director Southern Europe of HPE Aruba Networking. “Safety is an unwavering priority. We are determined to ensure that our organizations are not only innovative, but also secure. “This data shows us that we must work closely with IT teams to close the gap between innovation and security.”
In addition to security, a significant number of Spanish executives recognize the potential of the network as an enabler of emerging technologies. 36% of respondents believe the network can successfully support the implementation of emerging technologies, underscoring the importance of having a flexible and scalable network infrastructure to drive technological innovation in their organizations.
