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Investment from Outside IT Is Key to Digital Transformation Success

Digital transformation initiatives are more successful when they have buy-in from across the business, according to a new report titled Digital Transformation Trailblazing: A Data-Driven Approach conducted by IDG for Splunk.

Findings from the survey show that adoption of digital transformation initiatives is widespread. When asked where they are in the journey, 55 percent believe they are moving with the masses, while 36 percent believe they are ahead of the curve.

Respondents on average reported 29 percent of their IT budget is dedicated to digital transformation projects, but the research reveals these initiatives are more likely to succeed when funded from outside IT. The organizations that are most mature when it comes to digital-first strategies are more likely to indicate that funding comes from departments such as product development, customer service, sales and marketing.

“Having a digital transformation strategy and executing on it no longer means you have an edge. If the majority of organizations are ‘moving with the masses’ or believe they are ‘ahead of the curve’ then no one is really standing out,” said Doug Merritt, President and CEO, Splunk. “Organizations that rely on machine data to make better decisions gain a strategic advantage over their competitors. It is not surprising that those organizations with the most success are the ones collaborating – and funding – cross-functionally. Data is a key driver in enabling that collaboration and can help companies drive real-time business insights to move faster to differentiate, innovate, raise revenues, reduce costs and mitigate risks.”

Key findings from the report include:

■ Funding for digital transformation initiatives is on the rise: 67 percent of respondents expect digital transformation budgets to increase, while only 8 percent expect a decrease.

■ IT funding is only one of many sources for these initiatives: 69 percent of respondents cite this as a key funding source. Outside the IT department, product development is funding initiatives for a third (34 percent) of respondents, followed by customer service (30 percent), sales (30 percent) and marketing (27 percent).

■ Only 36 percent say security is funding digital transformation, although this is the top driver for these programs: 77 percent of respondents say security was a critical or very important driver, with the top three rounded out by improving customer acquisition and retention (72 percent) and reducing costs through automation and improved efficiency (72 percent).

■ Insight into machine data is key to success: When asked about the ability to derive real-time insights and business value from machine data to achieve their digital business goals, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents say this is a critical or very important priority.

Methodology: IDG surveyed more than 400 organizations in the US, UK and Germany. All of the respondents hold director-level or above IT or business titles, and their companies have revenues of $500 million or more (or at least 1,000 employees for public sector organizations).

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Investment from Outside IT Is Key to Digital Transformation Success

Digital transformation initiatives are more successful when they have buy-in from across the business, according to a new report titled Digital Transformation Trailblazing: A Data-Driven Approach conducted by IDG for Splunk.

Findings from the survey show that adoption of digital transformation initiatives is widespread. When asked where they are in the journey, 55 percent believe they are moving with the masses, while 36 percent believe they are ahead of the curve.

Respondents on average reported 29 percent of their IT budget is dedicated to digital transformation projects, but the research reveals these initiatives are more likely to succeed when funded from outside IT. The organizations that are most mature when it comes to digital-first strategies are more likely to indicate that funding comes from departments such as product development, customer service, sales and marketing.

“Having a digital transformation strategy and executing on it no longer means you have an edge. If the majority of organizations are ‘moving with the masses’ or believe they are ‘ahead of the curve’ then no one is really standing out,” said Doug Merritt, President and CEO, Splunk. “Organizations that rely on machine data to make better decisions gain a strategic advantage over their competitors. It is not surprising that those organizations with the most success are the ones collaborating – and funding – cross-functionally. Data is a key driver in enabling that collaboration and can help companies drive real-time business insights to move faster to differentiate, innovate, raise revenues, reduce costs and mitigate risks.”

Key findings from the report include:

■ Funding for digital transformation initiatives is on the rise: 67 percent of respondents expect digital transformation budgets to increase, while only 8 percent expect a decrease.

■ IT funding is only one of many sources for these initiatives: 69 percent of respondents cite this as a key funding source. Outside the IT department, product development is funding initiatives for a third (34 percent) of respondents, followed by customer service (30 percent), sales (30 percent) and marketing (27 percent).

■ Only 36 percent say security is funding digital transformation, although this is the top driver for these programs: 77 percent of respondents say security was a critical or very important driver, with the top three rounded out by improving customer acquisition and retention (72 percent) and reducing costs through automation and improved efficiency (72 percent).

■ Insight into machine data is key to success: When asked about the ability to derive real-time insights and business value from machine data to achieve their digital business goals, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents say this is a critical or very important priority.

Methodology: IDG surveyed more than 400 organizations in the US, UK and Germany. All of the respondents hold director-level or above IT or business titles, and their companies have revenues of $500 million or more (or at least 1,000 employees for public sector organizations).

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According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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