If you know where B2B tech buyers are planning to
invest their budget, you are in a strong position for identifying in-market
buyers and the optimal time to target them. But this data is often hard to come
by…
Our
first party research does just that through providing timely insights into where and how much B2B buyers are looking
to invest in tech solutions over the next 18 months.
This
article covers:
§ Key insights that reveal strong in-market tendencies
§ How to interpret these findings to improve your 2022 planning
Read
on as we take a deeper dive into the tech solutions captivating the attention
of tech buyers right now.
Reading time: 6
minutes
How can we validate the reliability and
credibility of our data?
The
data in this article comes from our own research panel of senior professionals,
all with informed consent. This allows us to present you with the latest first
party research from those of the highest relevance. Reliable conclusions can be
drawn knowing that our data is up-to-date, accurate and has been captured from
those who resonate with your target audience.
IT Tech Buyers
What areas of Cloud Management do IT
professionals plan to invest in?
32.43% of senior IT professionals intend to invest between
$250,000 and $500,000 on Cloud
Management in the next 18 months, while almost 30%
plan on spending more than $500,000. Only 4.95% say they’ll invest up to $50k,
highlighting the tendency for significant resource to be put into Cloud
Management for businesses moving into 2022.
Cloud Security is
the top area of intended investment with 81.53% of respondents selecting this. 98% of organizations now
hold some form of sensitive data in the cloud, especially since the COVID-19
pandemic began causing remote working to take off so rapidly. This creates high
vulnerability to cyberattacks, so it’s no wonder ensuring data in your cloud is
secure and protected from cybercriminals is a top priority.
While
cited by nearly half of senior IT professionals, Managed
Hosting and Services (49.10%) is further down the
list for IT professionals in their investment intentions. As Managed Hosting
provides support for operating system and application infrastructure, it seems
that the concern for tightened security outweighs the need for infrastructure
improvements. Infrastructure in the tech world has become highly advanced over
the years, so over half of senior professionals clearly believe that what they
are currently using is in fact substantial for the time being.
So how do these key B2B tech buyer insights
relate to you?
You’re
leading the way in the tech solutions market, but you’re unsure how to attract
the attention of in-market buyers?
Just
by considering our above insights, it is clear that you need to highlight how
your solutions predominantly help to counteract the increasing threats on cloud
security. Reassure buyers that you know how to protect the sensitive data
stored in their clouds by providing them with evidence in numbers:
§ Why your Cloud Management solution stands out
above all others – what is your USP?
§ How many cloud networks does your tech solution
currently support?
§ What procedures do you have in place to ensure
tight security?
§ How often are they reviewed?
Cybersecurity: What do tech buyers consider
the top areas for planned investment?
Over a third (37.07%) of IT professionals plan to
invest between $250,000-$500,000 on Cybersecurity, with 30.73% looking
to spend above this. Only 13.66% look to invest up to $100,000. Similar to Cloud
Management, it is clear that expenditure on Cybersecurity
is just as prominent as both show a significant result in the $250,000-$500,000
category and above. In fact, looking at the increments of the graphs, they show
very similar patterns when it comes to investment amounts.
The
main focus for the next 18 months is Data
Protection (84.88%) followed by Encryption (74.15%) and Malware (71.22%). As with Cloud
Security, Data Protection is crucial as cybercriminals develop more
sophisticated hacking techniques and software which businesses need to protect
themselves from. Otherwise, they face drastic consequences in light of GDPR
regulations tightening the need for data to remain safeguarded.
Encryption
is a way of scrambling data by converting it into secret code that conceals the
information’s true meaning to anyone other than authorized parties. This is
effectively a way of protecting data, the top obstacle, so it’s no wonder we
see this a close second. Malware refers to any form of malicious software such
as viruses, spyware and ransomware. Developed by cybercriminals, it is
intrusive software used to steal data and damage computer systems.
There
is a clear pattern emerging when it comes to the top investment areas in
Cybersecurity; that of protecting data from hackers. Interestingly, Phishing
comes out bottom of the investment choices (56.59%) suggesting that data
protection of the more modern, heavily relied upon tech solutions such as the
cloud are now a greater concern for cyberattacks than the threat of a phishing
attack.
What do these IT buyer investment plans mean
for you?
Data
protection has been a hot topic for many years and clearly still remains a big
focus point for tech buyers over the next 18 months. That’s why you need to
ensure you are targeting buyers in the cybersecurity market with evidence that
your data protection solutions are incredibly reliable, given the serious
nature of personal data involved. Successfully target buyers with:
§ Why your data protection software stands out
above all others – what is your USP?
§ What level of encryption do your offerings
provide?
§ How accurately can you predict and mitigate risk?
§ How many breaches have you prevented?
What are the most prevalent areas of Data
Management to invest in over the next 18 months?
29.54% of senior IT professionals intend to invest
between $250,000-$500,000 on Data
Management, with 24.05% aiming to spend above this.
Compared to Cloud Management and Cybersecurity, there is more weight
towards the $100,000-$250,000 category (24.89%) here and slightly less for over
$500,000 (24.05%) than we’ve seen with the previous two. This indicates that
while it’s still significant, Data Management will see a marginally less
investment heading into 2022.
63.29%
of respondents say the top areas of expenditure will be Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS),
closely followed by Data Centre Management (62.03%).
The
link between data management expenditure and the management of data centres
goes hand in hand, as expected. Ensuring the right infrastructure to maximize
the capabilities of data centres and how they are able to manage and store data
is crucial to effective data management, which again confirms why this is a top
area of interest for the next 18 months.
What do these B2B tech buyer insights reveal
for you?
Do
your data centre management solutions offer unrivalled accessibility?
Best-in-class data tools? Unparalleled scalability? Well, you need to let your
potential buyers know this!
Infrastructure
as a Service (IaaS) and Data Centre Management can be difficult for you to
prove you’re excelling in without allowing prospects to try out first hand, so
consider:
§ Short free trials of infrastructure to showcase
capabilities
§ 1:1 demos to walk through your data centre
management solutions
§ Sending existing client reviews to tech buyers
to provide unbiased feedback from those actually using your products and/or
services.
Where do tech buyers look to focus their
investment on DevOps?
The planned investment on DevOps is far more
intermittent than the previous areas of investment indications have shown. 25%
of tech buyers plan on investing between $250,000-$500,000, followed by 18.75%
for both $50,000-$100,000 and $500,000-$1,000,000. This indicates a disparity towards
how much is the right amount to invest, yet it is evident that DevOps does hold
significance across the board at some level.
Similar
to Cloud Management, Cybersecurity and Data Management, the top choice by a
notable way is the $250k-$500k bracket. Investing up to half a million dollars
should be considered a worthy investment, confirming that tech buyers are
taking these areas seriously and are indicating strong in-market tendencies
towards them.
CI/CD Tools are
the top area of investment for the next 18 months according to over two thirds
of the IT community (69.44%). They connect processes and eliminate manual
tasks, making it clear why they are in high demand for the increased efficiency
they can achieve. Following this, 63.89% chose Application
Release Orchestration tools, which are leveraged by
DevOps teams and developers to manage and facilitate application release
processes. These two areas are closely interlinked and both aid the smooth and
effective running of DevOps, making them obvious winners in the investment
stakes.
How should you interpret these tech buyer
investment intentions?
You
need to show in-market buyers that your CI/CD tools will make their job easier
and can be relied upon by the whole DevOps team. You also need to prove that
your Application Release Orchestration is capable of overseeing release
processes effectively and efficiently. So, what are your next steps?
§ Find out which CI/CD tools they are currently
using, if any
§ Provide a clear map of what processes your CI/CD
tools connect and which manual tasks they eradicate
§ Present the time, cost and any additional
resource savings that your solution offers and compare to current provider
where applicable.
Digital Transformation: Where are senior IT
professionals planning to invest?
The top bracket of planned investment over the next 18
months for Digital Transformation is $100,000-$250,000
(26.8%), making it the only area where $250,000-$500,000 has not come out as
the winner – though it is a close second (25.26%). This suggests that there is
a slight difference in opinion when it comes to allocating budget towards
Digital Transformation, however it is clearly of considerable importance
nonetheless and 26.29% would even invest between $500,000 and $1 million.
Digital Technology Integration (73.71%) is the area where the majority
of senior professionals look to invest in. As Digital Transformation involves
businesses shifting to new operating models, requiring the successful
integration of diverse technology to do so, it is evident why Digital
Technology Integration comes out top for the requirement to aid the
transformation process and ensure it runs smoothly.
Interestingly, Culture and Leadership (47.94%)
are bottom of the pick, highlighting how Digital Transformation is concerned
less about the culture in which it is being performed and more about the way it
is integrated. It focuses on technical processes over actual people – possibly
due to the somewhat automated nature of this area, placing people further down
the focus line.
How do these B2B tech buyer insights relate
to your own success?
Successfully
integrating digital technology can be tricky and requires the right knowledge,
which is why you need to draw attention to the fact that your solutions master
it! Inform in-market buyers that your applications, data and processes work
towards their business agility and growth by highlighting:
§ Easy-to-use, seamless experiences
§ Faultless implementation of modern integration
technology
§ How you can help build them a more connected
business
Final Thoughts
You
should now be fully up-to-date with how much and where IT tech buyers are
planning to invest their resource over the next 18 months. These key insights
reveal their top areas of focus, allowing you to target in-market buyers with
suitable tech solutions that resonate with their evidential needs. By
understanding where they are weighting their attention across a representative
range of tech areas you can better plan for the coming year.