Digital transformation is a top priority and source of anxiety for enterprises, but most IT decision makers have not completed technology deployments to address the initiatives that are critical to making the shift. That is according to The State of Digital Transformation Report 2016, by a digital identity product company. Security and identity access management were respectively ranked the top two initiatives critical to digital transformation, says Ping Identity.
Andre Durand, CEO of Ping Identity, said: “Above cloud, mobile and IoT, enterprises view security and Identity and Access Management as the make-or-break factors for winning in the digital economy. This research reveals how a company’s ability to succeed at everything from delivering personal, convenient and trusted mobile customer experiences to moving infrastructure to the more cost-efficient cloud hinges on having the right security measures in place, including secure access for employees, partners and customers.”
Building businesses that are fast, always-on and inherently digital is becoming the new norm across every industry due to the rise of SaaS, cloud and mobile technology. Companies are eliminating their data centres and moving their apps to Software-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service like AWS and Microsoft Azure. 100 year-old banks are rolling out mobile apps to compete with cloud- and mobile-first disruptors like Square and Stripe.
Ping Identity surveyed IT decision makers based in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States for a comprehensive report that details how the enterprises are prioritising initiatives to support digital transformation, including:
Creating a consistent customer experience across devices and/or channels
Providing mobile apps to customers and employees
Using cloud services for saving documents rather than on-premises servers or VPNs
Replacing legacy software with SaaS applications
Migrating on-premises applications to Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Engaging customers via smart, connected IoT services
Moving the internal manufacturing supply chain online
Onboarding partner organisations seamlessly
The research found that cloud adoption is still nascent within the enterprise, but moving infrastructure to the cloud is a top digital transformation priority. Fewer than one in ten have fully migrated to the cloud. Half have started migrating to cloud infrastructure (either private or public). Some 86 percent say cloud adoption is important to their company’s success in digital transformation; and 83 percent believe that moving infrastructure to the cloud should be a board level priority, and 81 percent believe moving infrastructure to the cloud should be a top priority for most companies.
IT decision-makers view security as the most important element to successfully making the digital transformation, but also the greatest roadblock to adopting cloud infrastructure, another critical digital enabler. Consequently, IT decision makers report that they are allocating more resources to security with the rise of cloud adoption.
– 91 percent say security is very important to their company’s success in digital transformation, and half point to security as the most important factor.
– 82 percent say security is more challenging as they’ve moved to the cloud.
– 67 percent have purchased more security tools as they’ve implemented cloud.
The study showed that IT decision makers view identity and access management technology as a key enabler of digital transformation. Some 90 percent say identity and access management technologies are critical to succeeding at digital transformation. After security, IAM was ranked the second most important factor in their company’s success in digital transformation. And 84 percent of respondents’ senior leadership think IAM is critical to adoption of cloud, and 89 percent agree that IAM is critical to mobility initiatives.
Methodology
Ping Identity surveyed 200 IT decision makers in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany who are responsible for overseeing technology deployments. Respondents come from enterprises with at least 500 employees in the United States, and at least 200 employees in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. The survey of 200 IT decision makers was conducted by Regina Corso Consulting online between August 26 and September 8, 2016. Visit www.pingidentity.com.
