Tag Archives: mid-market

News

Node4’s New Independent Research Finds Over Half Of Mid-Market IT Budgets Have Already Been Impacted by Higher Fuel Prices, Rising Energy Costs and Inflation

New independent research from Node4, the cloud-led digital transformation Managed Services Provider (MSP), reveals that over half the UK’s mid-market businesses are starting 2023 with pressure on already stretched IT budgets due to rising energy costs, fuel price increases and across-the-board inflation. That’s just one of the key findings from the company’s Mid-Market IT Priorities Report 2022/2023, which was officially launched earlier today.

This year’s edition of the report — which features multi-year benchmarked data analysis on IT budgets and investment drivers — also uncovers that around nine out of ten IT decision-makers expect the increased costs of doing business to have an even greater impact on their budgets over the next 12 months. This is particularly concerning as the research found that around a third of UK businesses think their current IT budgets are insufficient. Furthermore, close to one in ten don’t expect to see a funding increase during 2023.

The report’s findings also suggest that, despite the many benefits of public and private cloud adoption, inflationary pressures have led to a re-examination of these models and a desire to access more predictable, stable costs — as well as a wider choice of pricing models. This could explain why, year-on-year, 11% more IT decision-makers have adopted a hybrid cloud model — underpinning its credentials as a viable long-term and potentially more flexible option that combines the best aspects of public and private cloud.

Looking at the four market sectors covered in the report — healthcare, transport & logistics, insurance, and online retail — healthcare has seen the biggest comparative uptake in hybrid cloud over the last 12 months, with 19% more companies having adopted the strategy. In addition, online retail companies are most likely to reduce their public cloud investment during 2023.

Commenting on the findings, Paul Bryce, Managing Director at Node4, says: “Investment in public, private and hybrid cloud — as well as managed and colocation services — was central to facilitating the pivot to remote working during the pandemic. And those companies that were further along their cloud transformation journey when COVID hit, coped better. The same is true this year; those with more mature cloud transformation strategies, such as those that have led the way with hybrid cloud consumption models, may be better placed to cope with the uncertainties surrounding the rising costs of fuel, energy, goods and services.”

The research also suggests that over the last 12 months, mid-market companies have reprioritised a range of other IT investment plans to deal with challenges posed by the rising cost of doing business and adjusting to long-term hybrid working. For example, last year, respondents said delivering access to additional tools and services was their top driver for IT infrastructure investment, but this year, productivity and security are in joint first place.

While IT security concerns also dominated last year’s report, it’s clear that mid-market companies are acutely aware that a hybrid workforce will present an even bigger security challenge this year. As such, any vulnerabilities resulting from the speed at which remote working was introduced during the pandemic must now be addressed as a key priority.

“Since publishing our Mid-Market IT Priorities 2021/2022 Report last year, the impact of COVID continues to diminish for most businesses,” explains Paul Bryce. “Where last year, it was a case of getting remote working up and running quickly — and, in some instances, at almost any cost — the current economic climate has brought value for money, productivity and a push for rapid growth into sharp focus — all without compromising IT security or compliance directives.”

He concludes: “A lot of mid-market businesses will be trying to drive productivity improvements through the additional tools and services they delivered to enable homeworking during the pandemic. This will go some way to ensure that hybrid working doesn’t hamper long-term growth targets or shorter-term productivity — which, given the financial pressures faced by businesses right now, has never been more important.”

To download a full copy of the report, please visit https://node4.co.uk/resource/mid-market-it-priorities-report-2022-23/.

Business

The C-Suite Innovation Club launched to help mid-sized businesses thrive

New space for the C-suite to network and share insight into an all-too-often forgotten space in the market

A new networking and innovation platform for C-Suite and IT leaders of mid-to-large sized enterprises has been launched by the CEO and founder of a leading managed-IT company. The platform will be used by its members to share advice and insight on how the mid-market can navigate today’s greatest challenges and use technology to scale effectively.

The C-Suite Innovation Club is available through invitation or application – and only to individuals who identify as C-Suite, as well as IT leaders, and will provide an opportunity for both online and in-person discussion and resource-sharing.

Tarek Meliti, Interim Chair, commented: “The past few years have been without the hardest for many in business. Leadership – from the IT department through to finance– have lost vital insight as many of the traditional routes to gaining knowledge have either withered on the vine, or simply seized up. We believe that the power of experience and insight is one of the most important learning tools business leaders can turn to.

“IT teams, the businesses that rely on them, as well as the strategists that define their direction, have faced a myriad of problems over the last few years. Covid-19 and hybrid working have both supercharged the rate in which private and public organisations have had to digitally transform, and economic turbulence has made scaling a vital yet unpredictable undertaking.”

Tarek Meliti, the CEO of TDM Group, identified the deficiency in the market and bought together a number of his peers to form the group.

“I felt that the one market so often overlooked is what I would define as the mid-market, those businesses with 100 to 1,000 employees, often owner-run and founded. As with many businesses in this bracket, the question of who to turn to for advice and guidance is often blurred. For many business owners the solution is to turn to colleagues through networking and other such face-to-face forums.

“With the pandemic looking like it is evolving into an endemic, my peers and I felt the time was right to launch the C-Suite Innovation Club for business leaders to come and share ideas and experiences, as well as looking for help and guidance from those who have been through a particular experience themselves,” added Meliti.

The Club itself will only be available to the most dynamic of mid-to-large scale organisations and registration or invitation is via LinkedIn, providing the ideal online platform to meet and network.

“The aim has always been to create a space for continuous innovation and collaboration – and we soon hope to do this both in-person at networking events as well as on LinkedIn. This is firmly a members led organisation so we will be looking for active members who can form part of a management board, as well as make recommendations for events and speakers,” concluded Meliti.

The Club, as well as the details on how to apply for membership, can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7407369/

Business

The C-Suite Innovation Club launched to help mid-sized businesses thrive

New space for the C-suite to network and share insight into an all-too-often forgotten space in the market

A new networking and innovation platform for C-Suite and IT leaders of mid-to-large sized enterprises has been launched by the CEO and founder of a leading managed-IT company. The platform will be used by its members to share advice and insight on how the mid-market can navigate today’s greatest challenges and use technology to scale effectively.

The C-Suite Innovation Club is available through invitation or application – and only to individuals who identify as C-Suite, as well as IT leaders, and will provide an opportunity for both online and in-person discussion and resource-sharing.

Tarek Meliti, Interim Chair, commented: “The past few years have been without the hardest for many in business. Leadership – from the IT department through to finance– have lost vital insight as many of the traditional routes to gaining knowledge have either withered on the vine, or simply seized up. We believe that the power of experience and insight is one of the most important learning tools business leaders can turn to.

“IT teams, the businesses that rely on them, as well as the strategists that define their direction, have faced a myriad of problems over the last few years. Covid-19 and hybrid working have both supercharged the rate in which private and public organisations have had to digitally transform, and economic turbulence has made scaling a vital yet unpredictable undertaking.”

Tarek Meliti, the CEO of TDM Group, identified the deficiency in the market and bought together a number of his peers to form the group.

“I felt that the one market so often overlooked is what I would define as the mid-market, those businesses with 100 to 1,000 employees, often owner-run and founded. As with many businesses in this bracket, the question of who to turn to for advice and guidance is often blurred. For many business owners the solution is to turn to colleagues through networking and other such face-to-face forums.

“With the pandemic looking like it is evolving into an endemic, my peers and I felt the time was right to launch the C-Suite Innovation Club for business leaders to come and share ideas and experiences, as well as looking for help and guidance from those who have been through a particular experience themselves,” added Meliti.

The Club itself will only be available to the most dynamic of mid-to-large scale organisations and registration or invitation is via LinkedIn, providing the ideal online platform to meet and network.

“The aim has always been to create a space for continuous innovation and collaboration – and we soon hope to do this both in-person at networking events as well as on LinkedIn. This is firmly a members led organisation so we will be looking for active members who can form part of a management board, as well as make recommendations for events and speakers,” concluded Meliti.

The Club, as well as the details on how to apply for membership, can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7407369/