Only one-third confident they can speed up digital operations: Survey
Almost half (48 per cent) of Canadian businesses say they were unprepared for the immediate technological changes necessitated by COVID-19 -- and 48 per cent are concerned they will need to maintain long-term remote operations, according to a survey from OVHcloud and Maru/Blue.
Two-thirds (66 per cent) of employers also believe that the impact of COVID-19 on their organization would have been less severe if they had had a more robust digital strategy in place to manage online operations.
"Many Canadian organizations need immediate support in digitizing their business for the new realities of the modern workforce," says Stéphane Malouin, sales director for Americas at OVHcloud. "What holds true is that the pandemic was a sure indication that businesses not only need to, but want to, optimize their online presence while better protecting and managing their data."
A 2019 report by KPMG found that HR leaders taking a wait-and-see approach to technology is a ‘risky stance’ in disruptive times.
Confidence low for cloud capabilities
Only 32 per cent of Canadian employers feel very confident in their ability to seamlessly scale cloud capabilities for the new realities of work, finds the survey of 355 employers by OVHcloud and Maru/Blue.
And while 90 per cent of organizations would like to speed up their digital operations, only 32 per cent feel very confident they can.
When it comes to cloud operations, only one in three Canadian businesses (33 per cent) strongly believe their cloud service provider is prepared to help them shift workloads to the cloud.
So what are the biggest challenges to scaling up those operations? Cyber security and privacy risks (44 per cent) and cost (37 per cent), finds the survey.
Additionally, 58 per cent of businesses say they are concerned about security as they embrace more robust digital strategies.
"There's no question about it," says Malouin. "As organizations grow digitally, so does the risk of cyber threat, prompting the practice of safeguarding sensitive information no longer a 'nice-to-have' but a 'need-to-have' in today's landscape."
With millions of office workers relocated to home offices during the COVID-19 crisis, IT workers have been scrambling to adjust to a new world of cybersecurity, according to an earlier survey by cybersecurity solutions firm Lenovo.
