New research from AppDynamics‘ COVID-19 Special Edition report was conducted to understand in greater detail how technology professionals and IT departments are grappling with surging demand and mounting pressures to accelerate digital transformation strategies in response to COVID-19. 

This year’s study surveyed 1000 IT professionals across 10 countries including Australia.   

“These findings really shed light on the pressure Australian technologists and their teams are under,” Steven Long, Regional CTO at AppDynamics.

“With COVID-19 creating the biggest technology pressures their organisations have ever experienced, it’s no surprise that many IT professionals might be feeling overwhelmed.

“But now is the opportunity to really step up and demonstrate their value, becoming Agents of Transformation and championing the need for autonomy, accountability and the freedom to reimagine applications, secure data, transform infrastructures and empower their teams.

“83% of Aussie respondents have already experienced a positive shift in perception during this time, of the integral role that IT plays within their organisation. It will be the skill and vision of Australian Agents of Transformation that will determine whether their businesses can successfully navigate this period and emerge stronger on the other side.”

Key findings:  

• 92 percent of Australian organisations have changed their technology priorities during the pandemic. 
• 75 percent of Aussie technologists state that COVID-19 has created the biggest technology pressure for their organisation they have ever experienced.
• 61 percent of IT professionals globally feel under more pressure at work than ever before. In Australia, 55% of IT professionals state the same.
• Two thirds of technologists in Australia (66%) are now being asked to perform tasks and activities they have never done before. 
• 72 percent of Australian technologists confirm that the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in their digital strategies, creating an urgent need to push through initiatives that were once part of multi-year digital transformation programs. This is much higher than globally – 66%.
• 63 percent of Aussie IT professionals say digital transformation projects in their organisation have been implemented within weeks rather than the months or years it would have taken before the pandemic.  

This is the second time AppDynamics has commissioned its Agents of Transformation report. You can read the first report published in 2018 here.