We can’t deny the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted IT trends worldwide. The acceleration of digital transformation and telecommuting have prompted organizations to review their I&O strategies to adapt to the changing needs of both customers and employees. Sure, IT budgets have been impacted, but the good news is IT monitoring will see an increase in allocated budgets.
We explain why (IT monitoring budgets are increasing) and how (monitoring helps optimize IT budgets).
Argument #1: when it comes to post-COVID-19 budgets, IT is the big winner!
It’s a well-known fact: “In times of crisis, budget cuts are expected”. However, where IT is concerned, it seems the exception proves the rule! In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, IT budgets tend to be on the rise. Well, this is what 52% of organizations surveyed in the State of IT Monitoring believe.
According to Gartner, global IT expenses are even expected to increase by 4% in 2021, compared to this year.
When it comes to IT budgets in 2020, not everyone is in the same boat. Some expenses have increased due to the current context. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have suddenly been deploying telework on a large scale. These organizations have acknowledged that investments were needed to support the transition in order to provide employees with all the IT tools and services they need to work efficiently and securely.
Argument #2: IT monitoring budgets are part of post COVID-19 recovery efforts
This trend was confirmed by a survey conducted with Vanson Bourne among 600 IT managers in North America and in Europe.
50% of businesses say that IT and monitoring budgets have increased following the COVID-19 pandemic.
While IT supports remote working, organizations need to extend the scope of IT monitoring to increase visibility. Many organizations have been investing to ensure that this is actually the case. In fact, 80% of organizations increasing IT budgets have opted for an increase in IT monitoring budgets. It makes sense!
However, there are some differences between the two sides of the Atlantic. In North America, IT budgets have increased faster than in Europe (57% vs. 48%) as have IT monitoring budgets (54% vs. 44%).
In France, IT budgets (53%) and monitoring budgets (54%) have increased at a similar rate. In contrast, in the UK, 50% of businesses have chosen to increase their IT budget, while only 42% have increased their IT monitoring budget, with a risk of losing visibility over their IT infrastructure.
Argument #3: IT monitoring is a key budget priority (and here’s the proof)
Beyond budget increases, it’s interesting to point out that another COVID-19 effect has been IT monitoring remaining a top budget priority, particularly in North America, where it stands at number one.
Budgets have been completely reviewed with the COVID-19 pandemic and IT monitoring has profited from the changes made since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the State of IT Monitoring, some topics which used to be priorities have been downgraded, such as the customer experience, which was among the top three priorities at the beginning of 2020 (for 38% of businesses). By the end of 2020, only 31% of respondents were ranking this topic among the top three IT budget priorities.
It should be noted that optimizing IT monitoring tools remains a priority for 45% of businesses. As it was pointed out by the I&O surveyed, the changes incurred by the growing resort to telework and the contactless economy need to be supported by IT monitoring in order to maintain visibility on the IT system.
Argument #4: IT monitoring is also a priority to reduce costs (and that is priceless!)
While organizations are not fully satisfied with their monitoring tools and do not always take full advantage of them, they do recognize the benefits.
With regard to IT monitoring remaining in the top budget priorities, something in particular caught our eye:
48% of organizations believe that one of the top benefits brought by IT monitoring is optimizing IT budgets, just behind optimizing team efficiency (50%) and ahead of improving the service provided (47%).
As you can see, by implementing efficient IT monitoring, IT teams will become more efficient and proactive in their work, helping to identify savings opportunities in terms of IT usage with appropriate reporting and relevant KPIs.
Do you want even more reasons to make a rise in your 2021 IT monitoring budget a logical choice? Download our State of IT Monitoring now and read all the key figures on monitoring trends. Based on an international survey commissioned by Centreon, this study conducted by Vanson Bourne was carried out among 600 IT professionals in organizations over 500 employees, in the following countries: the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain.
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