Managed.IT - issue 59

BULLETIN 8 01732 759725 New competitiveness model highlights value of empathetic leadership Almost half (46%) of UK businesses sit in the lowest quadrant of a new model of competitiveness based on Talent, Technology and Future Readiness, devised by academics at Goldsmiths, University of London in partnership with Microsoft. Economists within a research team led by Dr Chris Brauer at Goldsmiths, University of London estimate that the UK would see an immediate boost to the economy of £48.25 billion if every leader took even basic, low-investment steps to move towards sustainable growth practices. This is more than the Government spent on the first five months of the furlough scheme (£35.4 billion). The new Microsoft report, Creating a Blueprint for UK Competitiveness , identifies two distinct rebuilding strategies employed by UK businesses in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hollow Growth and Sustainable Growth . Firms pursuing a Hollow Growth strategy typically extract as much value as possible from people to reduce costs; offer little support to employees to help them adapt to new conditions; focus technology investments in siloed areas to meet individual challenges; and benchmark future readiness using traditional productivity measures. In contrast, organisations pursuing Sustainable Growth strive to maintain resilience and have a capacity to adapt; provide leadership defined by empathy and decisiveness; nurture a culture of trust, empowerment and inclusivity; and consider the impact of technology across their organisations as part of a wider strategic approach. The report categorises UK organisations as Front Runners, with growth of 5% to 15% in the current climate (15% of the total); Challengers, with steady or low growth of less than 5% (27% of the total); Survivors, experiencing small declines in turnover of less than 5% (12% of the total); and Endangered, facing turnover declines of 5% to 15% (46% of the total). Its analysis identifies a correlation between the strategy adopted by organisations and their current competitiveness levels, with Frontrunners most likely to pursue a Sustainable Growth strategy and have a solid digital infrastructure and Endangered firms most likely to have less diverse talent and be slow to integrate new technology. Businesses to shrink office space to boost IT investment More than half of UK businesses are planning to boost spending on digital skills training (56%) and IT infrastructure (53%) in 2021, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, claims managed IT service provider Transputec. Its survey of 200 decision-makers in medium and large organisations also reveals that 44% of businesses are planning to downsize office space and accelerate remote working in order to cut costs; 60% are planning to increase their use of digital collaboration tools to improve staff well-being and create more cohesive teams. Just under half (49%) expect to grow next year. Three quarters of UK organisations fast-track digitisation Dell Technologies’ third biennial Digital Transformation Index highlights the extent to which organisations have accelerated their digital transformation in response to Covid-19, with 72% of organisations in the UK fast- tracking some programmes this year. While the proportion of UK Digital Leaders has remained consistent at 5%, the second most digitally mature group, the Digital Adopters, has seen a 10 percentage point increase, from 22% in 2018 to 32%. The Top 3 barriers to digital transformation are the same in 2020 as in 2018, namely lack of budget/resources (also number one in 2016); data privacy and cybersecurity concerns (number 4 in 2016); and data overload and an inability to extract insights from data (up from number 11 in 2016). The top UK technology investment priorities for the next three years are cybersecurity, data management tools, hybrid- cloud environment, privacy software and software (containers and serverless). DellTechnologies.com/ DTIndex Creating a blueprint for UK competitiveness Business in the dark when it comes to data Six out of every 10 UK businesses fear that the volume of data is growing faster than their ability to keep up, claims Data-to-Everything Platform provider Splunk in its new report, The Data Age Is Here. Are You Ready? . Two-thirds (67%) of global respondents expect the quantity of data to increase by almost 500% over the next five years, driven by emerging technologies like Edge Computing, 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial intelligence and machine learning, Augmented and virtual reality and blockchain. Two thirds report that at least 50% of their data is dark (i.e. untapped, unknown, unused) – 10% more than last year. The Data Age Is Here. Are You Ready? Splunk,Splunk>,Data-to-Everything,D2EandTurnData IntoDoingare trademarksand registered trademarksofSplunk Inc. in theUnitedStatesandothercountries. Allotherbrandnames,productnames,or trademarksbelong to their respectiveowners.©2020Splunk Inc.All rights reserved. All trademarknamesarepropertyof their respectivecompanies. Informationcontained in thispublicationhasbeenobtainedbysourcesTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup (ESG)considers tobe reliablebut isnotwarrantedbyESG.ThispublicationmaycontainopinionsofESG,whicharesubject tochange from time to time.Thispublication iscopyrightedbyTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup, Inc.Any reproductionor redistributionof thispublication, inwholeor inpart,whether inhard-copy format,electronically, orotherwise topersonsnotauthorized to receive it,without theexpressconsentofTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup, Inc., is inviolationofU.S.copyright lawandwillbe subject toanaction forcivildamagesand, ifapplicable,criminalprosecution.Shouldyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactESGClientRelationsat508.482.0188. EnterpriseStrategyGroup isan ITanalyst, research,validation,andstrategyfirm thatprovidesactionable insightand intelligence to theglobal ITcommunity. ©2020byTheEnterpriseStrategyGroup, Inc.AllRightsReserved. ThisESGResearch InsightPaperwascommissionedbySplunk, Inc. AreYou Ready? Surveyofmore than2,200globalbusinessand IT leaders showshoworganizationscan leverage the technologies drivingadata revolution. The Office lovers in flight to the suburbs IWG, the operator of flexible workspace brands like Regus and Spaces, is bracing itself for a fundamental shift in the location of offices, after buoyant demand for flexible workspaces in the suburbs fuelled a 22% jump in sales during the summer, offsetting a 40% sales decline in London city centre locations. In the three months from June to August, IWG’s centres in Uxbridge and Luton both saw a 74% increase in demand for flexible office space, followed by Croydon (36%) and Harrow (25%). The pattern in the North was similar, if not quite as extreme, with demand for spaces on the outskirts of cities like Manchester growing twice as fast as that for city centre locations (37% compared to 18%). Although a reduction in commuting times is now a top priority for office workers, cited by 70% of Londoners, IWG claims that people still want to spend time at the office, pointing out that 57% of 2,000 workers surveyed want to return to the office when allowed, albeit not all the time – 46% say they would consider quitting their job if they were asked to return to the office five days a week.