Australian orgs investing more in IT amid economic crunch

Despite — or perhaps because of — the current economic headwinds, nearly two in three Australian businesses are planning to invest more in ICT infrastructure, according to Rackspace Technology.

A survey of IT professionals conducted by the multicloud vendor found that 64% of Australian respondents say the current economic climate is leading them to invest more in IT infrastructure.

But the remainder plan to reduce their overall investment, the research found.

Nearly half (49%) of respondents directly stated that inflation and rising energy costs have stimulated more investment in IT, with 29% maintaining the same level of investment.

According to the research, Australian respondents highlighted cloud operations as the most important strategic IT priority, at 80%. The economic challenges are contributing to an increased focus on cloud projects that can drive efficiencies (62%), as well as investments in innovation projects (58%).

Meanwhile, more than a third of Australian respondents report having already moved or are planning to move all of their IT infrastructure to the cloud, with a further 43% only expecting to retain between 1% and 10% of their IT infrastructure outside of the cloud.

Even amid the current economic uncertainty, 61% of respondents report struggling to fill technical vacancies, with particularly acute shortages in the areas of cybersecurity (62%), machine learning (57%), data analytics (55%), data engineering (46%), cloud architecture (38%) and network engineering (36%).

But at the same time, 57% of Australian organisations are downsizing employees, and 85% are looking for ways to use technology to perform work traditionally performed by humans.

“Though economic conditions have shifted, it’s clear that organisations are still fighting against a very challenging market for talent, especially in key priority areas,” Rackspace Technology Chief Technology Evangelist Jeff DeVerter said.

“Finding new ways to leverage technology to address some of these shortfalls can help companies navigate the next 12–18 months, as will strategic use of outside resources.”

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