Riverbed, a leader in Unified Observability, has announced the results of the Energy and Utilities sector of the 2023 Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Survey, revealing that IT and business leaders in the sector are working to improve digital experiences for employees and customers as an urgent priority. With the evolution of market dynamics, competition is fierce, and a key way to remain competitive is to ensure consistent DEX so that staff can seamlessly collaborate across geographically dispersed workforces. A substantial majority (92%) of respondents agreed that providing a compact DEX is crucial to remaining competitive, at a time when energy companies are shifting towards renewable energy sources and increasing digital transformation and sustainability initiatives.
Energy leaders turning to DEX to retain staff
Identifying ways to provide a strong DEX is vital, as veteran employees retire and “digital natives” – Millennials and Generation Z – become a more important part of the workforce. Specifically, 85% of surveyed energy sector leaders believe they will need to offer more advanced digital experiences to new generations in the next five years, and 65% state that failing to do so could impact the company’s reputation and be detrimental. Additionally, 66% of respondents say that millennial and Gen Z employees would consider leaving the company if their digital needs are not met.
Lagging technology and shortage of skilled personnel holding companies back
Despite knowing that DEX is a vital tool to overcome their challenges and achieve their goals, 98% of decision-makers in the energy sector cited at least one major obstacle or deficiency in providing the smooth digital experiences demanded by their employees and customers. The main obstacles are: inadequate observability tools, talent shortage or lack of skilled personnel, and lack of suitable cloud services and SaaS applications.
Furthermore, 83% said that slow systems and applications and outdated technology directly impact their organization’s growth and performance, while others are hindered by staffing issues. 43% believe they lack personnel, and 34% have enough employees but they lack the fundamental skills to do their jobs. However, 76% of those with employees lacking the necessary skills have set aside a budget to retrain their staff.
Security remains a top concern
Compared to other sectors surveyed in the report, decision-makers in the energy sector are especially concerned about the security of their IT operations. Hybrid infrastructures and legacy technologies can be difficult to monitor and manage. In fact, 48% of respondents stated that security vulnerabilities were their top IT-related concern, and 44% estimated that they would increase their investment in security solutions, the highest among all verticals.
Unified observability reduces IT complexity and delivers comprehensive experiences
Increasingly, CIOs in the energy sector are playing a more essential role not only in the server room but also in the boardroom. In fact, 82% of respondents believe that the relevance of IT teams within the C-suite has changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and 87% of surveyed IT leaders stated that 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 enhance operational efficiency through greater network visibility.
Overwhelmingly, this power is being used to focus the attention and investment of companies on unified observability. 90% of surveyed energy sector executives affirmed the importance of this tool to their company’s ability to deliver comprehensive digital experiences. And of all the verticals surveyed, decision-makers in energy companies were also the most optimistic (92%) about the power of unified observability technology with automation to help bridge the skills gap, demonstrating that technology can help them achieve even their most challenging goals, while offering better experiences for employees and customers.
“Our Global DEX Survey 2023 confirmed that it has never been more critical for IT teams to have complete observability and knowledge of their data in order to deliver a better digital experience for employees,” commented Jim Gargan, CMO at Riverbed. “By leveraging unified observability and AI, leaders in energy companies can make informed decisions that allow them to better meet the digital expectations of their employees, while also retaining customers, maintaining compliance and competitiveness, and improving operations.”
The Riverbed Global Digital Employee Experience Survey 2023 consulted 1,800 IT decision-makers (ITDM) and business decision-makers (BDM) from 10 countries and seven sectors, including 100 leaders from the energy and utilities sector. The survey was conducted by Sapio Research in May 2023 to explore generational expectations, hybrid work, the evolving role of IT, and the challenges and strategies for delivering an exceptional digital experience to employees.