Australian organisations are lagging behind their global peers in IT budgets and are also facing significant skills shortages, according to the new KPMG Global Tech Report.
While Australian organisations are making progress with cloud migration, the report found many are still lagging behind their global peers when it comes to IT budgets and talent shortages.
According to the report, 46% of Australian respondents cited lack of talent as their biggest challenge, and only 59% of Australian respondents (compared to 46% of all global respondents) reported that less than 10% of their organisation's annual budget is dedicated to tech.
Despite the challenges faced, overall, the report found a resilient, forward-looking attitude among technology professionals globally. Companies are said to be enthusiastic about disruptive new tools and are determined to further embrace ongoing digital transformation to enhance the customer experience.
Both globally and within Australia, businesses' top transformation challenge was found to be 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").
These skill shortages are also creating security ramifications. Remote and hybrid working environments are seen as posing the biggest cyber security challenges, but 47% of organisations say they are held back by a lack of key skills, as well as cultural obstacles and limited funding.
"Australia's IT leaders are driving strong returns from their projects – with 74% of Australian leaders saying that digital transformation efforts have delivered over 6% more profitability or performance for their organisation," says John Munnelly, Chief Digital Officer, KPMG Australia.
"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."
45% of Australian organisations reported progressing and continually evolving their AI and Automation strategy, and 55% predict AI and machine learning will attract the highest investment three years from now. Munnelly says that it is better for organisations to focus on the long-term outlook while also taking into account those key things like automation and upskilling.
"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," he says.
"By automating workflows to take on the low-complexity, high-volume tasks, companies can redeploy staff and upskill teams to fill more strategic gaps elsewhere in the business."
As part of the research, KPMG surveyed 2,200 global technology executives in Q2 2022. The quantitative study was complemented by a set of in-depth interviews with seven technology and industry experts.
