The world has become a digital hub. From retail to banking to higher education, consumers now demand seamless digital interactions as a minimum. Indeed, the majority (84%) of consumers expect brands to adopt new digital solutions in the next year. Businesses can’t afford to ignore customer demands for a digitally enhanced offering and must establish their own digital strategy to create a competitive advantage through technology.

As businesses rise to meet the challenge of the always on digital workspace, the pressure on IT staff is growing. With more people working from home and using their personal devices, businesses are exposed to greater levels of risk. Indeed, given that 91% of all cyberattacks originate with email, it’s critical for businesses to balance the need for empowering employees in their work lives, whilst mitigating security risks that this way of working presents.

Zero Trust is very topical and most IT vendors and analysts will tell you it’s something that you need to address. So, what is Zero Trust, why is it better and how to you build it?

Workplaces have been in a constant state of evolution as far back as the industrial revolution, but the pace of change in the workplace has accelerated rapidly over the last few years.

Cloud adoption skyrocketed throughout the pandemic, and Gartner forecasts spending on public cloud to increase over 18% this year as organisations continue migrating to more agile, flexible, and secure environments.

The talent acquisition landscape has never been more competitive. Digital skills shortages, access to a wider digital pool, and remote recruitment processes have left businesses grappling to get suitable candidates through the door.

IT investment has historically meant ploughing capital into datacentres, often for unclear direct business benefit, with periodic technology refreshes that can only be justified in terms of avoiding technical risk.

A staggering 97% of IT directors said their companies invested in digital transformation efforts last year, with the same number of directors expecting that investment to continue in 2021. However, despite this acceleration of digital transformation, over 79% of executives admit they do not review internal processes or set objectives before a transformation process begins.

Perfect harmony between processes, data and IT – business Utopia? What makes a perfect business? Of course, your answer depends on whether you’re looking at it from a customer, shareholder, finance or sales, HR or IT perspective. Regardless of that, though, I suggest perfect harmony between business processes, IT and data is a feature.