As many as two thirds of network managers see digital strategy as important to remain competitive yet, almost half say that legacy systems are holding them back, according to a new report.
The survey, conducted by Axians UK through Arlington Research found that of the 250 network managers surveyed, 67% believe that a digital strategy is a necessity to beat the competition. However, 49% believed that ageing technology is preventing them from achieving these goals.
In addition to this 42% of managers believe that there businesses network does not meet their needs, whilst 44% agree that customers complain about a slow experience at least once a week.
Russell Crampin, UK Managing Director at Axians UK, comments: “Organisations are currently risking reputation and can’t always obtain the adequate skills in the network, causing disparity between the long-term vision of the business, and the reality of the here and now for network managers. CIO’s must look beyond software and focus on utilising people internally and externally to truly address the digital strategy and secure long term success.”
These words are echoed by many network managers, as 62% reported that there company would be more profitable if steps were taken to invest in new technology. Where 67% believed that digital strategy would reduce costs for the business in the long run.
The report explains how reputation is important to a business’s long term prospects and if legacy IT is negatively impacting consumer experience then it can only damage the company, long term.
Crampin said: “By investing in Axians’ experience in the network, and supporting the investment in next generation networking like Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), organisations can build a solution to fit their own business challenges.”
“By doing so, companies can scale, be flexible and agile, while making the changes necessary to implement a digital strategy which will ultimately enable them to continue to address and improve the customer experience – but with fewer casualties along the way.”
The move towards digital is only going to continue and businesses should be wary of the affects that an outdated network can have.
