Citrix recently released a blog post highlighting what their customers informed them were their top five business challenges throughout 2023. Before we get straight into them, it's important to note that 2023 was a very challenging year for the economy, as well as the channel space. Increasing costs, disrupted supply chains (leading to increasing costs), inflation (leading to increasing costs), and so on...
Let's hope 2024 is much brighter for all!
So, what were the top 5 challenges?
Cyber security
Security remains a major concern for businesses across various sectors, and this is not without good reason. According to Gartner, one of the most pressing cybersecurity trends of 2022 is the expansion of the attack surface, which is largely attributed to the prevalence of hybrid work arrangements. The increased complexity associated with hybrid work and infrastructure poses a significant challenge for IT, particularly in enabling users to access corporate resources outside of traditional office settings.
While some companies provide corporate-managed devices, such programs have become increasingly costly, and a whopping 85% of firms offer such devices only to select employees or none at all. This situation has necessitated that many employees use their devices to access work resources, and implementing a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy can be a more affordable option. However, BYOD policies are not without their risks, as they can compromise the security of company data and credentials.
Employee experience
Retaining top talent is a top concern so providing a high-quality employee experience needs to be a top priority. If your employees work in a hybrid environment, or if you have employees in different offices around the globe, you need technology that can deliver applications and desktops anywhere, so your employees stay productive no matter where they’re located. Providing a holistic experience to your employees starts with a positive digital experience for all employees, including full-time, third-party, contract, and acquired employees. Positive employee experiences can make a huge difference, especially considering that 50 million workers in the US quit their jobs in 2022.
Rising costs
The issue of spending has been weighing heavily on the minds of CIOs, as highlighted in a recent survey conducted by EY. It revealed that a staggering 35% of businesses have experienced setbacks in their digital transformation journey due to the costs associated with cloud and infrastructure. In response to these concerns, IT professionals are exploring alternative approaches to cost control, such as leveraging hybrid cloud models to prevent being tied down to a single vendor, optimizing their existing on-premises infrastructure investments, and deploying automated controls.
IT automation
The prioritisation of digital transformation and modernization projects continues to be a key focus for many businesses. However, IT departments are faced with the challenge of balancing their support for daily operational tasks with the deployment of new projects. Furthermore, hiring talented individuals for IT roles has become increasingly difficult, as reported by 41% of CIOs. These challenges are compounded by an overall decrease in IT budgets reported by 35% of CIOs and an IT hiring freeze reported by 29%, according to a study conducted by Gartner. As businesses strive to increase staff productivity, automation remains underutilised in IT. Only 9% of IT work is currently automated or AI-augmented, based on research by Gartner. This suggests that many IT departments still rely heavily on manual work methods, leading to employee time being spent on manual workflows instead of more valuable, value-added projects.
Operational efficiency
In today's increasingly complex environments, ensuring smooth operations and monitoring them is a challenging task for IT teams. The emergence of augmented workforces and generative AI has only added to the difficulty. The absence of effective oversight over operational health can lead to unexpected downtimes and consequential losses for your business. Streamlining and simplifying operations is the key to enhancing IT efficiency across all types of deployments, whether hybrid, cloud-based, or on-premises.
