Workforce and IT Professionals in Saudi Arabia Positive about Organisations Embracing Network-Driven Transformation, Juniper Networks Research Finds

An organization’s network and digital platform are fundamentally important to meet business needs.

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, September 13, 2022 – Juniper Networks, a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced the initial findings of an international research project that shows a highly positive mindset and attitude amongst IT decision-makers and the workforce in Saudi Arabia towards networking technology’s strategic influence in leading the experience-first digital economy.

The research, conducted by Vanson Bourne* on Juniper’s behalf, surveyed 650 IT decision makers and 1,200 office workers from mainstay sectors of the economy across eight countries, including Saudi Arabia. The IT decision-maker respondents are directly involved in their organization’s digital strategy, technology investment plans, and development. The research gauges the sentiment and perceptions of IT decision-makers and the workforce in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030 prioritizing digitization.

The findings provide insights into three themes: intelligent networking, security challenges, and sustainability in networking.

Intelligent Network in building a resilient digital strategy:

Emphasizing the strategic importance of an organization’s network in successful digital transformation is viewed as critically important/important by 92 percent of respondents in Saudi Arabia. In comparison, 84 percent highlighted their views on this are very likely/likely to change in the next two years. Regarding elements that drive investment in developing a network-driven digital strategy, 32 percent said organizations in other industry sectors succeeding via digital influence their leadership. In comparison, 30 percent agree that the Saudi Government’s digital vision and guidelines are the main drivers.

Narrowing it down to whether the leadership of an organization is willing to embrace network-driven digital transformation, 92 percent of IT decision-maker respondents in Saudi Arabia said their organization’s leadership would be able to do so in the next five years. In addition, 98 percent of these respondents believe that networking technology approaches will need to evolve within the same timeframe radically.

However, only 25 percent of KSA respondents believe that the single greatest opportunity a digital strategy provides is competitor differentiation. Twenty-three percent of respondents said the digital strategy is important to stay fully relevant to their customers in their market. In comparison, 20 percent highlighted it helps to create and deliver exciting new service offerings.

Security in the era of the experience-first economy:

As new workplace trends emerge, so do new security challenges. The research found that 60 percent of IT decision-maker respondents in Saudi Arabia consider keeping company data and assets secure over non-corporate networks as a top networking challenge for hybrid working. Furthermore, 67 percent of office workers expect a conflict between the need for increasingly stringent security policies and having seamless access to the network. While there are challenges to building a resilient security framework and sustaining new technology trends and pressures, network-driven technology and security transformation are top of mind for many Saudi organizations.

Sustainability in networking:

Expressing their viewpoint on environmental sustainability, 88 percent of respondents in Saudi Arabia feel networking is important to contribute toward climate change measures. Ninety-five percent of respondents also want to see more action from their organization in the next two to five years.

“In the face of fierce regional competition, Saudi Arabia is increasing the pace of the economy’s diversification, with investment in progressive technologies now considered a strategic priority for many industry sectors. This research confirms that there is a strong appetite within organizations and the workforce in Saudi Arabia to align technology with business objectives and realize the digital priorities of Vision 2030 as strategic imperatives. In parallel, IT decision-makers and the workforce in the Kingdom show a high level of technology awareness in terms of its impact, benefit, and gaps. This underlines the value added by intelligent networks in optimizing digital strategies and improving employee and customer experience alike.”