Meet our cohorts:

We surveyed 3,300 professionals working worldwide in IT and in other business functions. In the UK and Ireland, 300 decision-makers (DMs) across IT, and other key business functions were surveyed from a range of private sector organisations. We've divided them into two broad categories: IT decision-makers (ITDMs), and business decision-makers (BDMs).

163

IT decision-makers (ITDMs)

137

Business decision-makers (BDMs)

The role of the IT department and leadership

IT and business teams are working together.

82%

of all DMs (both ITDMs and BDMs) in the UK and Ireland say that collaboration between their IT teams and other departments has increased over the last two years.

IT leaders are mostly being included in major decisions.

19%

of IT leaders felt they were not consulted at all or consulted inadequately about adopting a flexible working model.This is lower than the global average of 32%.

IT teams are in charge of security, but
other employees share some responsibility, too.

Most decision-makers hold their IT and security teams and chief security officers responsible
for securing the organisation against cyberattacks.

Whose responsibility should it be to protect your organisation from cyberattacks?

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However, in a refreshing change from the global trend, 23% of them also believe that everyone in the organisation plays a role in securing the organisation from cyberattacks. More decision-makers in the UK hold everyone at their organisation accountable for cyberattacks than any other cohort across the globe.

IT is also expected to play a greater role in innovation.

89%

of all decision-makers believe that IT is more responsible for business innovation than ever before.

But IT lacks a significant presence at the leadership level.

Even as the people's expectations of the IT team rise, its ability to innovate or support innovation may be stifled by its limited voice at the leadership level.

79%

of all decision-makers believe that IT could drive greater innovation if it had a stronger leadership position.

No democracy in our IT

UK and Ireland buck the global trend when it comes to decentralization of IT.

48%

of ITDMs say their organisation has successfully decentralized their IT structure. This is much lower than the global average of 64%.

31%

of ITDMs say their organisations are NOT attempting to decentralize their IT. This is five times more than the global average of 6%.

Still, many perceive benefits to decentralization.

Decision-makers in this region (both ITDMs and BDMs) believe that decentralization of IT structures could help drive more innovation and help the IT team's role be acknowledged more prominently.

Perceived benefits of decentralizing organisations' IT structures:

Increased scope for innovation
56%
The importance of IT's role in the business will become more recognized/acknowledged
39%

Based on the responses of all decision-makers (ITDMs and BDMs)

What's driving this aversion to decentralization?

IT sovereignty is what seems to be holding back firms in the UK and Ireland from the global trend of decentralization. Additionally, ITDMs with decentralized (or soon-to-be decentralized) IT structures in the UK are more concerned about regulatory structure and ensuring support.

47%

of these ITDMs reported challenges related to security. Globally, this number is 56%.

41%

each reported challenges with:

  • maintaining regulatory structure (the global average is 39%)
  • maintaining reliability of ongoing support (the global average is 38%)

What challenges will your organisation face if it continues to decentralize its IT functions?

Chart

Based on responses from ITDMs who said their organisation has, or is attempting to decentralize their IT structure

These differences are minor (except in the case of security), but indicate that regulatory concerns in these countries might act as a roadblock as well when it comes to decentralizing IT.

Are organisations at risk of
losing tech talent?

Loyalty is dropping a bit.

53%

of ITDMs disagree with the statement that they feel less loyalty to their employers than they did 2 years ago. This is marginally higher than the global average of 51%.

This drop could be driven by a perceived lack of support.

62%

of ITDMs in the UK and Ireland believe that their organisation should have supported them more in the last two years. This is a significant number, but on the bright side, it's 8% lower than the global average of 70%.

Don't mend what isn't broken.

Only 6% of ITDMs said that nothing will make them leave their current organisation.

Flexible working models and inflation-linked pay increases are the top two current benefits that ITDMs value most. Eliminating these benefits could prompt them to quit.

Which of these would drive you to resign from your current organisation if it was no longer offered?

Chart

Wrapping it up

IT teams in the UK and Ireland have seen more collaboration with other departments. As a result, there's been an increase in their importance across the organisation. However, even as expectations of IT teams rise, these teams are being stifled by insufficient representation at the leadership level.

Loyalty is also flagging for a significant number of IT leaders. Organisations need to ensure they don't take away key benefits like flexible work. Doing so may cost them valuable tech talent.

Wrapping it up

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