Emerging technology like generative AI is ushering
in an era of innovation for businesses who must
evolve their networks to ensure secure trailblazing
According to research by HPE Aruba Networking, 64% of IT leaders believe that cybersecurity concerns are negatively impacting their organization’s willingness to invest in innovative tech. This is perhaps unsurprising as 91% either consider emerging tech a danger or admit to having already experienced a breach because of it. But this comes at a time when IT leaders must be empowered to embrace innovation such as generative AI to accelerate business-critical transformation – something 89% say their organization requires high levels of over the next 12 months to succeed.
With headlines full of the promise of the latest technologies, the research, which features responses from 2,100 IT leaders across 21 countries, examined how organizations are currently approaching the interplay between innovation and risk. The report also sheds light on the role IT leaders and the network have to play in facilitating safer innovation.
The rise of innovation
A vast majority (95%) of IT leaders state that digitization is fundamentally important to unlocking new revenue streams in the next 12 months. In fact, both IT and the broader business are pushing to bring in new technologies that can boost innovation in terms of how the business functions and what it offers. As they look to increase innovation, organizations are turning to emerging technology, and are currently using or planning to bring in 5G (91%), AI and machine learning (ML) solutions (89%), or IoT and smart sensors (88%).
Despite this push, only 45% of IT leaders describe their organization as innovative – and worryingly, even less describe it as secure (44%).
Managing the growing risk
There is also a growing gulf between tech demands and the IT team’s capability to manage it all – 66% of IT leaders have concerns about their organization’s ability to keep up with the latest tech and digital demands, and 55% say their IT teams are already stretched to capacity.
Combining this rise in technology use with the lack of resource and broader trends around remote working, hybrid cloud, and distributed centers of data, organizations are facing greater exposure than ever.
“Business needs have evolved, and teams are increasingly deploying new technologies to meet these needs. However, security measures that can support the rise of emerging tech must evolve alongside them,” said Scott Calzia, vice president marketing, HPE Aruba Networking. “For IT teams, this means realizing that AI networking –– can support their teams in being more efficient, alleviate laborious admin tasks, and further their security strategy by delivering built-in protection.”