Riverbed announced the Energy and Utilities industry results from the Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Survey 2023, revealing that IT and business decision-makers in the sector are working to improve digital experiences for employees and customers as an urgent priority. With evolving market dynamics, competition is fierce, and a key way to remain competitive is to ensure a strong DEX so staff can collaborate seamlessly across a geographically dispersed workforce. A substantial majority (93%) of survey respondents agreed that providing a seamless DEX is crucial to remaining competitive, at a time when energy companies are shifting toward renewable energy sources and increasing digital transformation and sustainability initiatives.
Energy Decision-Makers Look to DEX to Retain Staff
Identifying ways to deliver a strong DEX is vital as long-standing employees are retiring, and ‘digital natives’ – Millennials and Gen Z – are becoming a larger part of the workforce. In particular, 85% of Energy leaders surveyed believe they’ll need to deliver more advanced digital experiences for new generations in the next five years, and 65% say failing to do so could impact the company’s reputation and be disruptive. Additionally, 66% of survey respondents say that Millennial and Gen Z employees would consider leaving the company if their digital needs were not met.
Legacy Tech and Skills Shortages are Holding Businesses Back
Despite knowing DEX is a vital tool to overcome their challenges and achieve their goals, 98% of Energy decision-makers surveyed cite at least one major obstacle or gap – such as delivering the seamless digital experiences their workforce and customers demand. Top obstacles include inadequate observability tools, talent shortage or lack of skilled personnel, and lack of appropriate cloud services and SaaS apps.
Additionally, 83% say slow-running systems and applications and outdated technology are directly impacting the growth and performance of their organisation, while others are being hamstrung by staffing concerns. Forty-three percent believe they are understaffed, and 34% have enough employees, but those employees lack the fundamental skills to do their jobs. However, 76% of those with employees lacking the correct skills have set budgets aside to retrain people.
Security Remains a Top Concern
Compared to other industries surveyed in the report, Energy decision-makers were especially concerned with the security of their IT operations. Hybrid infrastructure and legacy technologies can be difficult to monitor and manage. 48% of respondents said security vulnerabilities were their greatest IT-related concern, with 44% estimating they’ll increase their investment in security solutions – the greatest across all verticals.
Unified Observability Cuts IT Complexity and Delivers Seamless Experiences
Increasingly, CIOs in the Energy industry find themselves playing a more essential role not just in the server room, but also in the boardroom. 82% of respondents have found that IT teams’ relevance within the C-suite has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 87% of IT leaders surveyed said they have a seat at the C-Suite table. This is because CIOs and IT teams have the power to improve employee experiences, mitigate security risks, and improve operational efficiency through greater network visibility.
Overwhelmingly, this power is being used to focus businesses’ attention and investment on unified observability. Ninety per cent of Energy leaders surveyed said they recognise the importance of the tool in their company’s ability to provide seamless digital experiences. And of all the verticals surveyed, Energy decision-makers were also the most optimistic (92%) about the power of unified observability technology with automation to help bridge the skills gap, demonstrating that the technology can help them meet even their most challenging goals – while delivering better experiences for employees and customers.
“Our Global DEX Survey 2023 confirmed that it’s never been more critical for IT teams to have complete observability and insights into their data, in order to deliver a better digital employee experience,” explains Mena Migally, Regional Vice President – Emerging EMEA at Riverbed. “By leveraging unified observability and AI, Energy leaders can make informed decisions that allow them to better satisfy digital expectations of their employees, while at the same time keeping customers loyal, staying compliant and competitive, and improving operations.”
The Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience Survey 2023 polled 1,800 global IT decision-makers (ITDMs) and business decision-makers (BDMs) across 10 countries and seven industries, including 100 Energy and Utilities leaders. The survey was conducted by Sapio Research in May 2023 to explore generational expectations, hybrid work, the evolving role of IT, and challenges and strategies to delivering an exceptional digital employee experience.
