90% of IT buyers admit to buying tech their infrastructure could not support

Pure Storage, the IT pioneer that delivers the world’s most advanced data storage technology and services, in partnership with Wakefield Research, released a new report identifying the obstacles organizations across industries face in today’s digital economy while on the path to modernization, and the investment priorities they are focused on to support business growth. 

The new report, “IT Leader Insights: The State of IT Modernization Priorities and Challenges Amid Economic Headwinds,” reveals the need to evolve from legacy infrastructure in order to reap the full benefits of emerging technologies investments.

Survey Highlights:

The survey, fielded among 500 IT buyers at companies of 500+ employees, found that:

• More Than Half of IT Buyers are Prioritizing AI/Machine Learning and Sustainability Technology Investments: IT buyers have cited that their top investments planned for the next five years are AI/machine learning (52%) and sustainable technology (51%). While less than half (46%) predict they’ll invest in infrastructure automation or orchestration.

• Nine in 10 IT Buyers Admit to Buying Tech Their Infrastructure Could Not Support: An overwhelming 90% of IT buyers stated that the pressure of their digital transformation agenda led them to buy technology their infrastructure could not support—and 74% say this resulted in being unable to deploy new technology to leadership’s full expectations.

• IT Buyers Continue to Feel Pressured to Invest in New Technologies: More than 3 in 5 IT buyers (62%) feel pressured all the time or often to make decisions on purchasing technology based on current needs without fully exploring the consequences of these decisions in the longer term. Seventy-six percent expect increased scrutiny on purchasing decisions over the next five years.

• Nearly All IT Buyers Plan to Modernize IT Infrastructure to Drive Meaningful Outcomes: Nearly all survey respondents (99%) plan to modernize their IT infrastructure to better support future technology investments over the next five years, of which 73% are planning significant upgrades. The top areas of IT infrastructure in need of updates to better support adopting new technology include network and security (58%), data management or storage (52%) and data center facilities (50%).

Digital transformation has accelerated at lightning speed, bringing an unprecedented need for IT modernization. In the face of economic headwinds, IT teams are still focused on operationalizing and supporting new digital initiatives, but with the added pressure of tighter budgets and lower staffing levels. 

Amidst current inflation and recessionary concerns, IT teams must strike a complex balance between supporting critical IT services for their organization and setting up a foundation on which future initiatives can thrive. With thoughtful investments, organizations can keep vital systems running efficiently while accelerating their ability to keep pace with digital transformation. 

“Investments in emerging technology such as AI and Machine Learning are exciting ventures for organizations interested in gaining a competitive edge, but without a modern IT infrastructure foundation the long-term success of these investments is at critical risk. The findings in our report show how agile IT leadership will need to continue to challenge legacy infrastructure solutions in order to simplify their core structure, in turn driving significant efficiency and flexibility to fuel their future,” commented Shawn Rosemarin, Vice President, R&D and Customer Engineering, Pure Storage.