Report reveals new technology priorities to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact businesses, enterprises are beginning to shift their priorities. A new report revealed 95% of organizations are changing technology priorities, and 87% of technologists are using this as an opportunity to display their value to the business. 
AppDynamics, a Cisco company, released “The Agents of Transformation Report,” which looks at how organizations are dealing with the pressures of COVID-19 and the accelerating rate of digital transformation.
“Our world changed almost overnight. With no chance to prepare, IT departments are facing a brand new set of priorities and challenges, and technologists are suddenly under immense pressure to deliver the infrastructure, applications and security required to maintain world-class digital experiences, both internally and externally. And they’re having to do this in real-time, through a period of massive change, often while working remotely,” the company wrote in a blog post. 
Respondents report the pandemic has highlighted some weaknesses in their digital strategies causing enterprises to speed up digital transformation projects.

“Organizations are urgently having to adapt their go-to-market strategies, as well as create and launch new digital services and applications in the current environment. As a result, technologists are being asked to deliver major transformation projects in previously unthinkable timeframes – all the while ensuring flawless customer experience,” the company wrote.
According to the report, digital customer experience is now the business priority with 88% of technologists agreeing. The problem is getting the resources and support to make that priority shift. The biggest challenges teams have faced in the wake of the pandemic include managing spikes in website traffic, lack of unified visibility and insight into performance, and managing mean time to resolution. In order to get the support and resources they need, technologists pointed to needing clear goals and objectives, real time data at the point of need, autonomy and accountability, and the freedom to experiment and take risks. 
Eighty percent of technologists stated that the ability to quickly respond has positively changed the perception of IT within their organization. 
Other key findings of the report include: 81% believe COVID-19 is the biggest technology pressure they have ever had to deal with; 61% feel under more pressure than ever before; and about 64% are being asked to perform tasks they never had to before.