Change is coming to tech in the UK
The GDPR demands compliance, and the outcome of Brexit could impact the tech industry in various ways. To better understand the state of tech in modern Britain, Sungard Availability Services conducted research and found a disconnect between employers and employees in UK companies.
Sungard AS’s research suggests that 70 percent of UK employees feel their companies and bosses are not providing them with the training and tools needed for business challenges of the future. More than one in four UK employees state that insufficient training has prevented them from utilizing digital work practices. Only 30 percent of respondents stated that their employer has given them the tools needed to overcome forthcoming challenges. The problem, suggests Eddie Curzon, Regional Director at the CBI, is that ” businesses are not making their staff a priority”.
A good business thrives off people, processes and technology and need to place equal emphasis on each to avoid going off course.
Priorities
Sungard AS’s data suggests that companies aren’t prioritizing their employees, as the three lowest priorities for decision makers over the next two years all relate to employees. Only 19 percent of respondents stated that improving employee retention was a priority, while 23 percent stated the same about increasing staff mobility and 32 percent stated likewise about increasing employee satisfaction.
When asked which technologies will help them deal with future changes, 75 percent of respondents pointed to the cloud. Following closely behind, at 69 percent, was the Internet of Things, further underlining IoT’s recent growth. Big Data scored high as well, at 64 percent. Despite recent hype surrounding artificial intelligence, however, it was only pointed to by 49 percent of respondents, showing that the AI revolution is perhaps still in a fairly early stage for businesses in the real world.
Nevertheless, AI technology fuels a number of technologies businesses pointed to, as it’s crucial for cloud managers and IoT infrastructure, and it’s central to rise of Big Data analytics. Still, the concept of AI replacing human workers remains a distant one, so employees shouldn’t yet be concerned and employers shouldn’t expect to make up for skill gaps by waiting for future AI systems.
In our latest podcast, we were lucky to talk to Kathy Schneider, CMO at Sungard AS about the “digital disconnect”. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
