Inadequate or outdated technology is holding back innovation

NTT DATA has found that 80% of organizations agree that inadequate or outdated technology is holding back organizational progress and innovation efforts. In fact, 94% of C-suite executives believe legacy infrastructure is greatly hindering their business agility.

These findings come from NTT DATA’s inaugural Lifecycle Management Report. The report, which leverages 25 years of data-led insights from NTT DATA, explores the challenges and opportunities that exist for organizations as they navigate infrastructure lifecycle management. The research was conducted over 2022 and 2023, gathering data from over 248 million active assets across 130 countries and supported with responses from up to 1400 senior technology decision makers.

Lifecycle management is a critical enabler of business success. Unfortunately, rapid modernization, and the proliferation of technology consumption models, coupled with an increasingly complicated and fragmented supplier ecosystem, make it difficult for many organizations to adequately maintain their technology infrastructure in a way that fosters business agility and innovation. Compounding issues, the report finds that more than two thirds (69%) of currently active hardware (with scheduled last day of support) will no longer be supported by 2027.

According to the report, just 51% of enterprises have fully aligned their technology approach to their business strategy needs, while 71% of organizations say their network assets are mostly ageing or obsolete. Unfortunately, lifecycle management can also have an even more direct impact on operations. Misaligned lifecycle patterns can result in inappropriate coverage levels, labor-intensive renewals, extended incident resolution times, security breaches, and even costly license violations and compliance issues.

The Lifecycle Management Report offers timely, actionable insight to help IT leaders mitigate these risks, while maximizing the value of their hardware and the software that runs on it, including:

Advice for developing a holistic view of technology assets that allows for the rationalization of potentially misaligned lifecycles.

Support for standardizing procurement practices and streamlining an organization’s multi-vendor environment as the ecosystem becomes increasingly fragmented.

Guidance for optimizing cost while improving service provision, both internally and for external stakeholders and customers.

A greater understanding of the sustainability benefits improved lifecycle management procedures can deliver.

Gary Middleton, Vice President of Networking GTM at NTT DATA, Inc., said: “Infrastructure lifecycles are a critical part of the IT management process. They represent an opportunity and a challenge for leadership, as effective lifecycles can result in huge business benefits – from increased efficiency to fostering greater innovation. However, inefficient lifecycle management can equally be a meaningful operational blocker, posing numerous risks to security and business continuity. Through the Lifecycle Management Report, our aim is to help organizations enhance their infrastructure lifecycle processes and unlock the huge benefits doing so presents.”