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2024 Reality Check:
A Chaos of Connectivity Is Putting Businesses at Risk

Our 3rd annual Reality Check finds enterprises dealing with risk born of rapid tech stack expansion. It started with a sharp rise in digital transformation investment in 2020 leading to the build-up of technical debt. Add to that the explosion of Generative AI over the last year, and businesses are entering technology overload.  

With each new system added and each new investment made, the risk of extending the Chaos of Connectivity increases—particularly since investing heavily in technology without a clear integration plan is far too common. When technologies aren’t integrated, organizations face elevated risk in security, compliance, productivity, decision making and competitiveness. 

For the 2024 Reality Check, we surveyed CEOs worldwide to find out how they’re faring with today’s snowballing technology expansions and risk challenges. Read on for the top report takeaways and read the full report for an in-depth exploration of each topic. 

1. There’s a Chaos of Connectivity.
Aside from rapid tech stack expansion, most survey respondents say they have accrued more technical debt in the last 12 months than they have in previous years. And with almost half saying they invested heavily without a clear IT integration plan, it’s no wonder businesses are facing a Chaos of Connectivity. 
2. Shadow IT adds to the chaos — and it’s getting worse.
44%say the divide between business and IT is getting worse. 

44%While business users and citizen developers have been known to go around IT for some time, Generative AI is taking this challenge to a whole new level. Suddenly, technology is easier to use than ever. With the immense pressure on every department to prove its value, it’s unsurprising that teams start doing things on their own when IT is not immediately responsive. 

3. And don't forget AI.
AI adds enormous complexity to the enterprise integration landscape, raising concerns about privacy, security, resiliency, and compliance. Investment almost tripled between 2020 and 2023 (from $40.16bn to $110.19bn), and it’s expected to continue growing in the near future.1
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The chaos of connectivity
put organizations at risk for commercial, compliance and business problems.

4. Governing disconnected systems is a problem. Organizations can easily slip into non-compliance.
65% feel governance issues are made worse because of technological complexity. 
5. Lack of agility is a problem. It makes it harder for businesses to stay competitive.
80% feel that the size of their tech landscape makes them less agile, slowing the ability to launch new products/services, improve customer/employee experiences and increase revenue/profitability. 
6. Business disruption is a problem. When systems go down, companies can lose customers.
89% experienced disruption or have been forced to shut down services because of technology issues. (22% say it happens often.)
7. Lack of data accessibility is a problem. It slows decision-making.
47% believe that key data is simply inaccessible when they need it.
8. Inefficiency is a problem. Organizations are still mired in data siloes.
81% have duplicate integrations because of siloed working environments and 81% say that a major pain point is not having a clear view/management of all integrated systems.

To fix the chaos of connectivity, organizations must look at their strategy for managing technology in a new way.

The solution is one single integration platform that can be used by everyone across your enterprise and managed centrally by your integration center of excellence.   Answer business requests quickly. Have exacting control over every integration. 
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