Increasing workloads through artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud applications have meant modern networks must be smarter, more secure and more adaptive – but outages are on the rise, and an IDC InfoBrief study commissioned by Expereo has found network instability is taking a serious toll on UK businesses, with over a quarter (33%) reporting revenue losses of up to £4m due to network outages or poor performance, and an additional 18% experiencing losses exceeding £4m.
The study, Enterprise horizons 2025, analyses technology leaders’ challenges – including the macroeconomic scenario, business priorities, AI and networking investments, digital skills gaps, enterprise sustainability, and the evolving role of technology leadership – in building a resilient and competitive organisation.
It highlighted the fact that following a series of high-profile IT disruptions over the past year, ranging from cyber security breaches to connectivity failures, nearly half (50%) of UK businesses have been compelled to re-evaluate their technology infrastructure, and 35% of UK tech leaders say it’s caused networking and connectivity to rise higher up the C-suite agenda.
Perhaps as a result, the report suggested, networking and connectivity now comes out on top in terms of the technologies UK businesses will prioritise in terms of financial investment over the next 12 months (40%). This was followed by cyber security (39%) and AI (35%). Last year, AI took the top spot (42%), followed by cyber security (37%), and networking and connectivity (35%). This, said the study, highlights that AI is no longer the most urgent technology priority, beaten by networking and security.
The urgency is well founded. More than a quarter of UK organisations (27%) say that inadequate network and connectivity performance is actively threatening their growth plans for the coming year, and nearly half (49%) report that network limitations are holding back their ability to support large-scale data and AI initiatives. However, just 5% of businesses in the UK believe their networks are fully prepared to support AI without any barriers.
Indeed, networks are seen as evolving into an AI bottleneck. Some 94% of companies say their networks limit their ability to run large data and AI projects in some aspect. Scalability, flexibility and network performance are the biggest issues, and are becoming bigger over time.
Having the right talent in place was also seen as critical for building and maintaining the robust network and connectivity infrastructure businesses need to thrive. However, the research suggested this may be easier said than done. Cyber security headed the list of areas where organisations struggle to find or retain skilled professionals (44%), closely followed by networking (40%). As a result, 40% of UK businesses say they plan to increase their reliance on external partners, such as vendors or managed service providers, to help bridge the networking skills gap.
Assessing the trends revealed, Expereo says companies need new networks able to scale up capacity where and when it’s needed to support variable and unpredictable large data workloads.
“To drive a sustainable competitive advantage, connectivity is no longer an IT concern – it’s a strategic business imperative,” said Ben Elms, CEO of Expereo.
“This research confirms what many technology leaders are already experiencing firsthand: connectivity is now the backbone of business. As organisations race to adopt new AI solutions, the C-suite must treat network performance with the same urgency as cyber security and AI itself, because without it, businesses simply cannot succeed.”
