Businesses struggle to realise benefits of emerging technologies

Use of emerging technologies is on the rise around the world, but many organisations are failing to capitalise on its benefits, according to the recent Global CIO Survey from Logicalis, the IT solutions and managed services provider.

The study, which questioned 888 CIOs from around the globe including Ireland, found that 61% of businesses are now using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, whilst only 9% believe that they are realising the business advantages.

The survey reveals that IoT technologies are becoming more mainstream within the enterprise and usage has increased by 15% since last year’s survey. The results show that IoT technologies are being used by enterprises to improve several different business processes and also that 41% of organisations are using AI in some way (which has doubled from just 19% last year).

This trend was reflected in Logicalis Ireland’s recent survey, conducted by TechPro magazine and involving more than 100 IT decision-makers. It found that over 60% of Irish businesses plan to use automation in 2020, with 40% planning to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies this year.

The Global CIO Survey also found that the most common uses of such solutions are for creating new products or services (26%), creating operational efficiencies (23%), and enhancing existing products (22%). Under one in ten (9%) of respondents believe that their organisation is very successful at comprehending the advantages of AI technology, whereas 38% believe their organisation is not very successful at all.

The areas in which businesses are having the most success deploying AI technologies are marketing and sales (24%), information technology (28%), and information security and compliance (23%).

Andrew Baird, Managing Director, Logicalis Ireland, commented: “While it’s fantastic to see IoT and AI being used more widely in Ireland and across the globe, it is clear that businesses are both unsure of and unable to capitalise on the advantages of these emerging technologies.

“Organisations that fail to embrace such solutions and digitally transform may find themselves struggling to innovate and stay competitive. Furthermore, they are losing out on benefits such as increased employee productivity and more efficient business processes. The key is to support CIOs in managing such technologies, encourage participation across all departments and measure their impact.

“We are finding, through our engagements with clients, that a prerequisite to any new initiative is an understanding of the interdependencies of existing applications and their capability to support new initiatives – too often, the new innovation like IoT fails as not enough time has been spent on understanding how to integrate it into the core applications of the company. 

“Working with a third-party can also help organisations to effectively use IoT and AI, and embark on this journey, but it’s also vital to understand how they can be integrated to meet business requirements.”