Rapid tech expansion creates 'chaos'

Software AG has identified a common challenge caused by the rapid expansion of technology in today’s businesses. A new study reveals that 89% of organisations have rapidly expanded their technology in the past few years and three quarters (76%) say it’s brought with it increased ‘chaos’ that they have to manage. This situation makes governance efforts more complex, organisations less agile and can harm core activities including service delivery and productivity.

Dr Stefan Sigg, Chief Product Officer at Software AG, commented: “The complexity that organisations face in today’s world of disruption, risk and rapid technology change is greater than ever. It’s difficult to get a grip on all of this and be a successful organisation. We see our customers overcoming these challenges by finding the right tools to manage this technology related disorder. What those tools are depends on how the challenges manifest – but there is an answer out there. And for those that find it, they can become more competitive, more efficient, and more resilient.”

The three types of chaos identified as part of this research are:

Operational Chaos – where a maze of different processes and systems slow down, duplicate or disrupt day-to-day operations. Overcoming these operational barriers allows organisations to be more competitive, better controlled and more agile. Operational resilience is the prize for organisations that can manage operational chaos.

Chaos of Connectivity – where the expansion of systems is done without a plan to properly connect them together. Overcoming this lack of connectivity allows organisations to become more productive, agile, and better governed.

IT Chaos – where the multiplication of different systems is not done in a coordinated way and technology sprawls uncontrolled and unmanaged. Over-coming this IT threat enables organizations to control costs, plan future development and increase operational resilience.

Dr Stefan Sigg continued: “Finding the right tools to manage the portfolio is key. But we should not be just talking about “managing”. These technology investments are being made as part of a transformation agenda. Organisations are aiming to differentiate themselves, be innovative and grow. Technology is a critical enabler for most of those plans. Greater transparency and control over the technology landscape will better align the tech and business agendas and set these companies up for success.

Key data points:

Impact of expansion:

69% of organisations have a higher number of disparate applications/systems compared to 2 years ago. 71% say that number will be higher in two years’ time

70% of companies have accrued more Technical Debt in the last year

Managing legacy and new systems together is increasingly complex for 44%

Agility issues:

80% say that the size of technology infrastructure makes it harder to be agile and/or productive

The same number (80%) feel complex tech makes them slow to launch new products/services, improve experiences for customers and employees and increase revenue/profitability

Governance issues:

65% feel that tech complexity makes governance issues worse

46% say difficulty moving data out of legacy systems slows down decision making

81% say that a major pain point is not having a clear view/management of all systems

Operational issues:

45% say duplicate process that cause internal conflict slows down action

IT and LoB are in conflict about deploying new apps in 80% of organisations

82% of organisations say Shadow IT is a problem