HPE Aruba Networking: IT leaders lack awareness of how networking can enhance the employee experience

At present, the demand for hybrid office continues to increase, but global IT leaders are not fully aware of the close relationship between the enterprise network they use and the employee experience. According to the latest research report released by HPE Aruba Networking, although three-quarters of the respondents said that digitalization is crucial in helping employees do their jobs well and attracting and retaining talent, only 55% of the respondents believe that the network has a strong correlation with these areas.

The study surveyed 2,100 IT leaders in 21 countries and regions around the world to examine their views on current enterprise networks and assess their and their companies' awareness of "network as an asset to drive business development" and the expected future impact.

The key role played by the network

On the positive side, enterprise IT and business leaders have a deeper understanding of the impact of the network in terms of breadth and scope. According to research, 44% of enterprise IT leaders said that their enterprise leadership has regarded the network as a tool for digital transformation, and 33% of respondents said that their companies believe that the network plays an important role in the broader business transformation. In contrast, only 23% of respondents said that their companies believe that the network only plays a role in connection.

However, the results of this study also indicate that business leaders still lack awareness of the key role of the network in enterprise digital transformation, especially in enhancing employee experience.

Leveraging connectivity to improve employee experience

Three-quarters of IT leaders surveyed believe that digitalization is critical to attracting talent and enabling employees to complete their jobs. However, when it comes to attracting and retaining employees, the network ranks lowest among all business-related options, which confirms that enterprise IT leaders believe that the network has a negligible impact in this regard, or that the network has no positive impact at all.

In addition, if we consider today's complex office environment, the network will have a more obvious impact. The survey shows that only 43% of IT leaders said that their enterprise network enables employees to work anywhere, but only 34% of respondents said that their enterprise network can provide seamless network connectivity. At the same time, considering the personalized digital experience, only 29% of respondents pointed out that the enterprise network they use can provide employees with BYOD services.

“Given the popularity of flexible work and the widespread demand for it, business leaders are dangerously lacking understanding of how the network can enhance the employee experience,” said Sylvia Hooks , chief marketing officer, HPE Aruba Networking . “It’s no secret that no one can do their job without a network. However, while many organizations now recognize that the network is a critical business resource to drive their digital transformation, in today’s workplace, the demands on the network go far beyond connectivity. A more seamless, efficient, intelligent and secure networking experience is essential.”

What returns have businesses achieved on their investments in the Internet?

In the view of enterprise IT leaders, the correlation between the network and various businesses lies mainly in IT efficiency, operation and maintenance efficiency, and network security, which is also the core of most digital transformation projects.

At the same time, the results of the interview also show that enterprise IT leaders regard these three elements as the areas where the network can have the greatest impact. More importantly, it is precisely because enterprise IT leaders have increased their investment in network infrastructure in the past two years that enterprises have achieved more fruitful business results in IT efficiency, operation and maintenance efficiency, and network security. In contrast, in this survey, those companies that failed to invest in the network saw an average reduction of 21% in the positive impact of all business areas.

Although investment is essential to deepening the return on investment of the network, it is clear that the potential of the network to promote other business of the enterprise has yet to be tapped. Therefore, in order to unleash the true potential of the network for the enterprise, enterprises should invest their IT budget in building a new type of network infrastructure to meet the needs of modern network operation and maintenance of the enterprise.

“Modernizing networks not only helps companies improve the employee experience and attract more talented people, but also has a positive impact on the business,” said Larry Lunetta, vice president of product solutions marketing, HPE Aruba Networking. “However, to achieve deeper transformation, IT leaders need to rethink their network and think in terms of business outcomes rather than technical specifications. Only by doing so can IT leaders prove to management that investing in the network can have a positive impact and help the company achieve greater business value.”