You'd need to have been hibernating under a very large rock or locked away from the outside world, not to have heard of, or tested, ChatGPT this year.

For 2023 will be remembered in the history books as the year that generative and conversational AI really came to the fore, capturing the public's imagination.

In his keynote presentation at FourNet's recent Digital Transformation Summit, Bryan Glick, Editor in Chief of Computer Weekly, considered "The Trends Driving IT Spending in Europe" and pointed out that this has been the year of automation, from ChatGPT to business and IT automation.

In this blog, we highlight some of the key stats outlined by Bryan.

Highest concentration of projects across the board in EMEA

According to the 2023 IT Priorities Pulse Survey by TechTarget, around 75% of organisations across the EMEA region are increasing their use of automation this year, with 44% of them describing themselves as "Cloud First" and 83% considering using Managed Service Providers (MSPs), like FourNet, for the first time.

Good news for FourNet, and certainly good news for those customers choosing FourNet as their MSP, as our CEO Richard Pennington pointed out at the end of Bryan's presentation.

When it comes to broad tech initiatives, some have become significantly more important – cybersecurity, cloud, data management and governance (up 57% on the 2022 priorities of Chief Information Officers) and business or IT automation are at the top of the list of priorities for many organisations.

New entrants to the list this year are quantum computing, ESG and ransomware protection.

Which of the following broad technology initiatives have become significantly more important to your organisation’s future over the past 2 years?

Overall, most organisations expect an increase in tech budgets this year. More buyers are increasing their budgets in 2023 – 44% compared to 40% in 2022. Organisations with 500-1000 employees are, according to Bryan, increasing budgets the most (54%).

Future of Work initiatives – or hybrid working, and digital-ready workplaces, post-pandemic are an increasingly important budgetary consideration, with 84% of organisations investing, and those in EMEA investing more than in any other region of the world.

In terms of IT buying priorities, Bryan summed up the current state of affairs like this:

• In many ways, we're back to where we would have been, were it not for the pandemic​.
• The shift to cloud continues, and cloud-adjacent technologies are accelerating - data, automation, AI, ML, advanced analytics.
• ​The migration of business software applications to the cloud is a priority​.
• Hybrid working is here to stay - but organisations are looking to optimise and improve collaboration​.
• Sustainability is firmly on the corporate agenda.​
• But there's a serious shortage of IT & digital skills available - a risk and an opportunity to bring in good suppliers.

If you want to know more about how FourNet can help your organisation with hybrid working solutions, digital transformation, cybersecurity or as your award-winning MSP, please get in touch.