How to best invest IT dollars in 2024

IT services are constantly evolving but the areas of growth tend to vary. Organisations are looking to IT leaders to navigate challenges, and to explore new revenue opportunities to drive innovation for their organisations. As technology spending in the APAC region is expected to reach 5.7 per cent this year, outpacing the global trajectory of 5.3 per cent, where should technology leaders direct their focus and expenditure?

In Australia, two key areas are emerging as central points for IT investment – cloud and cyber security. The Australian Information Industry Association Tech Index found these areas will dominate buying decisions among IT leaders in 2024.  Recent research from Gartner revealed 87 per cent of CIOs will place their largest investment in cyber security, followed by 79 per cent directing funding towards cloud platforms.

With this in mind, we sat down with Interactive’s Chief Information Security Officer, Fred Thiele and Chief Technology Officer, Dan Cox to find out more about the factors that are influencing how IT leaders will spend their technology budgets in 2024.

Q1: What will be the key challenges faced by IT leaders in 2024?

Dan: Cost and the need for efficiency will remain high. This puts technology leaders in a precarious position as they must leverage technology to optimise productivity. At the same time, knowing how to invest appropriately without blowing costs is a headwind facing many IT leaders. This is where Interactive comes in to help leaders optimise and consolidate costs.

Q2: Why have IT services become the strongest growing technology segment in Australia?

Fred: Organisations and their customers expect single touchpoint to interact with each other, making it easy to get things done. Australia’s landscape is vast, with an overall small population and a massive land area. Populations are concentrated in capital cities but sparse population means public services can be difficult to come by.

Service NSW is a good example of the importance of IT services to Australian organisations. While you might say the government has taken digital transformation to the extreme, citizens can access these services from anywhere in the country via an app.  For the government, this saves time and money which can be redeployed into strategic initiatives.

Dan: It’s simple – every organisation is a software organisation. There isn’t a segment that isn’t digitising, and the demand for IT services is very high.

Q3: What is driving IT leaders to invest more in cyber security?

Fred: There is uncertainty around cyber-related risks and it is now a board level issue. This stems from the growing risks of cyber-attacks in recent years and the potential for reputational and financial damage.

Dan: Cyber security is simply table stakes. As organisations continue to digitise customer engagement models, they open themselves to cyber risk. It’s no longer a question of why cyber security is important, but how to improve cyber security posture.

Q4: What advice would you provide to IT leaders about their technology investments this year?

Fred: Focus on one or two things that really matter and do them well. Whether it’s implementing a cloud solution to allow your organisation to scale, or harnessing AI to drive efficiencies; this approach will set your team up for future success.

Dan: Platforms and tools are now so advanced they are no longer the limiting factor. Nine times out of 10 it’s hearts and minds of people that can hinder processes. Strong executive sponsorship, a clear north star and managing organisational change effectively are the best skills of a modern IT leader.

Looking ahead

Overall, it’s clear that among other trends, IT investment in cloud and cyber security will continue to grow. Partnering with an all-encompassing managed services provider (MSP), will help ensure organisations are well positioned to get the most out of their IT services this year, no matter where they are on their technology journey.

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