Juniper Networks, a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, has announced initial findings of an international research project that shows a highly positive mindset and attitude among IT decision makers and the workforce in Saudi Arabia towards networking technology’s strategic influence in leading the experience-first digital economy.
The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne on Juniper’s behalf, surveyed 650 IT decision makers and 1,200 office workers from mainstay sectors of the economy across eight countries, including Saudi Arabia.
The IT decision maker respondents are directly involved in their organisation’s digital strategy, technology investment plans and development. The research gauges the sentiment and perceptions of IT decision makers and the workforce in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030 prioritising digitisation.
The findings provide insights into three themes: intelligent networking, security challenges and sustainability in networking.
Intelligent Network in building a resilient digital strategy:
Emphasising the strategic importance of an organisation’s network in successful Digital Transformation is viewed as critically important/important by 92% of respondents in Saudi Arabia, while 84% highlighted their views on this are very likely/likely to change in the next two years.
In terms of elements that drive investment in developing a network-driven digital strategy, 32% said organisations in other industry sectors succeeding via digital, influences their leadership, while 30% agree that the Saudi Government’s digital vision and guidelines are the main drivers.
Narrowing it down to whether leadership of an organisation is willing to embrace network-driven Digital Transformation, 92% of IT decision maker respondents in Saudi Arabia said their organisation’s leadership will be able to do so in the next five years. In addition, 98% of these respondents believe that networking technology approaches will need to radically evolve within the same timeframe.
However, only 25% of KSA respondents believe that the single greatest opportunity a digital strategy provides is competitor differentiation. Twenty three percent of respondents said digital strategy is important to stay fully relevant to their customers in their market, while 20% highlighted it helps to create and deliver exciting new service offerings.
Security in the era of experience-first economy:
As new workplace trends emerge, so do new security challenges. The research found that 60% of IT decision maker respondents in Saudi Arabia consider keeping company data and assets secure over non-corporate networks as a top networking challenge for hybrid working. Furthermore, 67% of office workers expect a conflict between the need for increasingly stringent security policies and having seamless access to the network. Notably, while there are challenges to build a resilient security framework, sustaining new technology trends and pressures, network-driven technology and security transformation is top of mind for a significant number of Saudi organisations.
Sustainability in networking:
Expressing their viewpoint on environmental sustainability, 88% of respondents in Saudi Arabia feel networking is important to contribute towards climate change measures and 95% of respondents also want to see more action from their organisation in the next two to five years.
“In the face of fierce regional competition, Saudi Arabia is increasing the pace of the economy’s diversification, with investment in progressive technologies now considered a strategic priority for many industry sectors,” said Mohammad Almahdi, Enterprise Lead, META North at Juniper Networks.
“This research confirms that there is a strong appetite within organisations and the workforce in Saudi Arabia to align technology with business objectives and realise the digital priorities of Vision 2030 as strategic imperatives.
“In parallel, IT decision makers and the workforce in the Kingdom show a high level of technology awareness in terms of its impact, benefit and gaps. This underlines the value added by intelligent networks in optimising digital strategies and improving employee and customer experience alike.”
