IT Expenses are Falling Behind in Australia, According to KPMG

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.

FREMONT, CA:According to the latest KPMG Global Tech Report, Australian organisations are falling behind their international counterparts in terms of IT budgets and are also experiencing severe skill shortages. While Australian businesses are moving toward the cloud, the survey revealed that many are still falling behind their international counterparts in terms of IT spending and talent shortages.

According to the survey, only 59 per cent of Australian respondents compared to 46 per cent of all global respondents) claimed that less than 10 per cent of their organization's yearly budget is devoted to technology. In addition, 46 per cent of Australian respondents named a lack of talent as their main difficulty.

Despite the difficulties encountered, the researchers discovered an optimistic, resilient attitude among technology professionals worldwide. Businesses are eager to embrace ongoing digital transformation to improve the customer experience and disruptive new tools.

The absence of qualified candidates for important positions has been identified as businesses' top transformation challenge internationally and inside Australia. This is particularly challenging for CEOs who want to maximise returns on investments made in specialised technologies like Edge and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Security implications result from these talent gaps. The biggest cyber security concerns come from remote and hybrid working settings, but 47 per cent of organisations claim that they are hampered by a lack of crucial skills, cultural barriers, and a lack of finance.

According to the Chief Digital Officer of KPMG Australia, Australia's IT executives are driving high returns from their projects, with 74 per cent of Australian leaders indicating that digital transformation efforts have provided over six per cent more profitability or performance for their organisation.

In Australia, 45 per cent of businesses said they were making progress with their automation and AI strategies, and 55 per cent believe that in three years, AI and machine learning will draw the most investment. Organisations should concentrate on the long-term vision while also considering important factors like automation and upskilling.

Long-term talent strategies should motivate organisations to broaden their horizons and increase the available talent pool. Some technology leaders are turning to automation to fill skill gaps and deal with staff shortages. Companies can redistribute people and upskill teams to fill more strategic shortfalls in other areas of the business by automating workflows to handle the low-complexity, high-volume jobs. KPMG polled 2,200 international technology leaders as part of the research in Q2 2022. A series of in-depth interviews with seven technological and business professionals were conducted in addition to the quantitative investigation.