INTERVIEW Lal Hussain - Insight UK
“Despite these concerns over providing a good customer experience are prevalent, just 10 percent of IT leaders
said marketing influences technology decisions in their company.”
Lal Hussain, Director of IT Applications at Insight UK
What Keeps IT Leaders
Up at Night?
From customer experience
and engagement to data
privacy and the pressure
to constantly adopt new
technology, IT leaders have a
lot to worry about. e 2018
Insight Intelligent Technology
Index reveals that 79 percent of
IT leaders believe the reason IT
is being set up to fail, is because
of competing demands from
di erent lines of business, as well
as a lack of resources to e ectively
support the organisation.
Lal Hussain, Director of IT
Applications at Insight UK, says
that research by his organisation
has uncovered the top three
concerns that are keeping IT
leaders up at night.
DATA PRIVACY
e top headache amongst IT
leaders was data privacy, with
94 percent admitting they were
concerned about it. But how can
they address this concern? It was
found that just 24 percent use
a bimodal IT talent approach,
with one group focused on
predictability and operations,
while another IT Team focused
on innovation.
Allocating resource in this way
could be the answer to ensuring
data privacy is maintained.
One group focused on ensuring
operational excellence and an
innovation group examining new
ways technology could be used to
enhance security – for example,
strategies for engaging employees
in the day-by-day e ort to
correctly store and protect data.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Improving customer experience
came in a close second (87
percent), and a further 84
percent highlighted the need
to provide consistent customer
engagement as vital to addressing
this. e research also highlights
an opportunity to create
better connections with lines
of business, particularly the
marketing department who place
customer relationships at the
heart of everything they do.
Despite these concerns over
providing a good customer
experience are prevalent, just
10 percent of IT leaders said
marketing in uences technology
decisions in their company.
STATE OF TECHNOLOGY
e state of their current
technology, and having the
ability to adopt new technology
were each prime concerns for
7-in-10 IT leaders. is has
implications across the business
in terms of being as productive
as possible, driving e ciencies
and driving innovation, but also
in being an attractive employer.
With 77 percent of IT leaders
concerned about talent retention
and attraction, o ering the
Lal Hussain, Director of IT Applications at Insight UK, says
that data privacy, customer experience and the state of
technology are amongst top concerns for IT leaders
best technology
to existing and
prospective
employees is a
powerful means
of keeping them
happy and feeling
like they have the
right tools to get
their job done.
Hussain says,
“IT is now taking
on a central
strategic role that
touches every facet
of the business.
With data breaches
making daily
news headlines,
increasing
customer demands and the
consumerisation of IT, IT
leaders have more responsibility
than ever before. at’s why
working with a trusted partner
who understand these pressures,
as well as the technological
capabilities, regulations and
budget restrictions faced
by organisations today is so
Lal Hussain, Director of IT
Applications at Insight UK
important. By working in
collaboration with the right
partners, IT leaders can ensure
they develop an overall strategy
with cross-departmental solutions
that meet their business needs
and customers’ expectations.”
ED SAYS…
A couple of points here; it was very interesting to hear that three-quarters of IT
leaders were concerned over their ability to retain existing and fi nd new talent and
that they believed having the best technology was one of their key attractions of
their employment – a useful conversation starter for resellers and a probable result of
millennials now being ever present across the enterprise.
What about compliance? A year ago, I’m sure that issues such as GDPR would have
forced compliance to take a place on the podium but now you could be forgiven for
thinking that it’s all under control.
And Artifi cial Intelligence? Also not in the top 3, AI has garnered a majority of
the hyperbole lately and predicted to impact business modelling, decision making,
market strategising, customer experience and other spheres. As per a survey by
Gartner, 59% of companies are already working on their strategies for implementing
AI. Perhaps that too is just more hype?
36 | Comms Business Magazine | February 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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