Research

Abstract:

Edge computing is now a top IT priority in organizations as they look to gain real-time business insights from data. Ideally, they're able to achieve that while minimizing the IT infrastructure deployed at edge locations. But our research shows that the number of applications run at a location can have a big impact on the required IT resources. The amount of time data is retained there is another key factor to consider in planning edge deployments.

Abstract:

Organizations increasingly are deploying edge applications to gain business insights from data as it’s generated. But our research shows that they face various challenges: security issues, high infrastructure costs, a lack of skills, management complexity, and more. Being aware of the biggest application challenges and ways to address them before starting a deployment is crucial to ensuring that edge initiatives deliver the expected business value.

Abstract:

Strong network connectivity is needed in edge computing environments to extract business value from edge applications. 5G technology could be key to that, and the research shows that most organizations are bullish about using it at the edge. Adoption of both public and private 5G is expected to increase as a result, but organizations should watch deployments closely to make sure the technology is appropriate for their edge use cases.

Abstract:

The complexity of gathering, maintaining, and interpreting huge volumes of data continues to plague organizations. It’s challenging to clean, integrate, and maintain data with goal of gaining rapid insight to help the business. But it’s not slowing down organizations in their prioritization of data initiatives. They recognize the value and game-changing potential of harnessing the power of data. It starts by properly defining objectives and desired outcomes and ends with data driving decision making and action to fuel innovation.

Abstract:

While organizations can have altruistic reasons for embracing and implementing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, there are also more self-serving drivers. Indeed, not only is improved brand development the most commonly cited ESG objective, nearly half of early adopters identify it as a benefit they have already realized as a result of implementing these initiatives.

Abstract:

The principles of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives increasingly matter as a technology brand attribute and are subsequently new and important evaluation factors for IT buyers. It follows then that the vast majority of organizations will pay a price premium for products and/or services from vendors that demonstrate a firm commitment to ESG, a trend that is even more pronounced among younger organizations.

Research Objectives

This research report explores important unified communications market factors, such as:

• Unified communication and collaboration (UCC) strategy drivers
• Buying team dynamics
• Unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) platform benefits
• Contact center-as-a-service (CCaaS) limitations
• The role and importance of networking

Research Objectives

Organizations are increasingly reliant on SaaS for many of their mission-critical applications and workflows. This means that a significant amount of business-critical data associated with these applications is now also cloud-resident. As a result, it is more important than ever that this data is available or at least recoverable. However, there is (still) a problematic misunderstanding about the responsibility for protecting SaaS data. While maintaining application uptime is the responsibility of individual SaaS providers, the onus for the availability and protection of data typically falls on IT organizations. This data protection gap exposes organizations to potential data loss, compliance and governance violations, and general operational risks.

In order to gain further insight into these trends, ESG surveyed 398 IT professionals at organizations in North America (US and Canada) personally familiar with and/or responsible for SaaS data protection technology decisions, specifically around those data protection and production technologies that may leverage cloud services as part of the solution.

This study sought to answer the following questions:

What steps, if any, do organizations take to protect the data associated with the SaaS applications they currently use?

Have organizations experienced any data losses or corruption with any of the SaaS applications they use over the past 12 months?

What are the most common causes of data loss or corruption for SaaS-based applications?

What benefits have organization realized as the result of using a solution to protect SaaS application solutions?

What are the biggest challenges organizations have experienced with the data protection solution(s) they use for SaaS applications?

What are the most important characteristics or considerations of a data protection solution, whether third-party or internally developed, for SaaS applications?

How do organizations characterize the mission criticality of the major SaaS applications they currently use?

What are the recovery time objectives (i.e., downtime tolerance) for the SaaS applications and workloads organizations protect today?

What are the recovery point objectives (i.e., transaction or data loss tolerance) for the SaaS applications and workloads organizations protect today?

Over the next 12-24 months, what level of IT priority do organizations expect to give to protecting SaaS applications, customizations, and associated data?

How do organizations typically fund the data protection solutions used to protect their SaaS-based applications?

Survey participants represented a wide range of industries including manufacturing, technology, financial services, and retail/wholesale. For more details, please see the Research Methodology and Respondent Demographics sections of this report.