Australian organisations are making progress with cloud migration, but still lag global peers when it comes IT budgets and face talent shortages, with 46 percent of Australian respondents citing lack of talent as their biggest challenge according to the KPMG Global Tech Report 2022.
Overall, the report finds a resilient, forward-looking attitude among technology professionals globally. Companies are enthusiastic about disruptive new tools and are determined to further embrace ongoing digital transformation to enhance the customer experience.
However, 59 percent of Australian respondents (compared to 46 percent of all global respondents) reported that less than 10 percent of their organisation's annual budget is dedicated to tech. Also, both globally and within Australia, businesses' top transformation challenge is the lack of capable talent to carry key roles. This is especially difficult as leaders look to deliver on investment in specialised technology such as Edge and the Internet of Things ("IoT").
This lack of key skills is also impeding cyber security efforts. Remote and hybrid working environments are seen as posing the biggest cyber security challenges, but 47 percent of organisations are held back by a lack of key skills, as well as cultural obstacles and limited funding.
John Munnelly, Chief Digital Officer, KPMG Australia, commented: "Australia's IT leaders are driving strong returns from their projects - with 74 percent of Australian leaders saying that digital transformation efforts have delivered over 6 percent more profitability or performance for their organisation. As they grapple with talent challenges and lower budgets than their global counterparts, they must ensure they are focussing digital investment on the goals, results and real-world outcomes that matter most."
"The skills shortage tops the list of challenges when it comes to technology adoption. Progressive businesses are recalibrating their approaches to hiring and training specialist talent from the ecosystem. Long-term talent strategies should encourage organisations to widen their perspectives and expand the universe of talent. Some technology leaders are also looking to automation to address staff shortages and repair skill gaps. By automating workflows to take on the low-complexity, high-volume tasks, companies can redeploy staff
Key Australian insights
AI and Automation: 45 percent of Australian organisations report progressing and continually evolving their AI and Automation strategy. 55 percent predict AI and machine learning will attract the highest investment three years from now.
Cloud: 70 percent of Australian companies say they are currently migrating strategic workloads to the cloud with 33 percent reporting that they are highly satisfied with their cloud transformation programs. Lack of talent is a top challenge.
Cyber security: 40 percent see improved customer experience as a key driver for cyber security spending. While 47 percent have leadership support, implementation is slower than expected. Again, lack of skills is an issue.
Data & Analytics: 49 percent report progress against their strategy - compared to 53 percent globally.
Customer Experience: 52 percent say that accelerating customer centricity is the key driver of digital transformation and 55 percent will be investing in customer experience over the next 12 months.
Forward investment: Within the next two years, over half of Australian respondents expect to invest in metaverse technology (or have already done so) and 72 percent anticipate investing in quantum computing.
About the KPMG Global Tech Report 2022
KPMG surveyed 2,200 global technology executives in Q2 2022. This quantitative study was complemented by a set of in-depth interviews with seven technology and industry experts.
