Fifth Annual NOVIPRO/Léger Survey Reveals the Pandemic has Forced Canadian Businesses to Scale Back on their IT Plans

Cybersecurity and AI investments put on hold in favour of urgent operational needs

MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - COVID-19 has led Canadian companies to completely rethink their IT strategies, according to the fifth annual NOVIPRO/Leger IT Portrait of Canadian Businesses. In 2020, spending plans on security investments dipped to 25% compared to 42% in 2019 and saw many artificial intelligence (AI) projects put on hold. At the peak of the pandemic, IT teams were swamped with operational requests forcing critical security investments, like cybersecurity and AI, to take a back seat, to the detriment of their company's overall development.

"The survey shows that change was the catchword in 2020. Companies had to adapt extremely fast to minimize the effects of the pandemic on their operations," explains Yves Paquette, NOVIPRO co-founder and CEO. "Companies will need to pivot back to a longer-term vision to foster a return to stability."

Decline in Security Investment Plans

An overwhelming majority of businesses (81%) say the pandemic caused serious security issues, primarily due to managing remote workforces. However, despite the higher risks due to working from home, only 25% of businesses plan to invest in solutions to improve security in the next two years—a significant drop compared to 2019 (42%).

Surprisingly, the survey also found that employees account for more than half (53%) of the IT threats. Of that number, more than one-third of attacks (35%) were caused deliberately by someone in-house, and 18% were caused accidentally by employees. Ontario had the highest number of internal security threats with 41% of companies citing a malicious internal resource, such as an employee as their main source of computer threats, compared to Quebec companies at 21%.

"The figures are alarming, especially because only two in five businesses feel they are very well protected against data loss or theft, intrusions, and viruses," says Dominique Derrier, CISO at NOVIPRO and President of Metropolitan Montreal Security and Computer Association. "With telework booming, businesses would do well to invest in security, and do it soon," he adds.

Dialing Back on AI Investments

Contrary to the trend observed over the past four years, investment plans in AI also declined in 2020 as businesses refocused on other IT projects. Only 29% of Canadian businesses plan to invest in AI in the next two years, compared to 36% in 2019. Although, 87% of respondents say AI is an important lever for their organization, obstacles such as cost (52%) and lack of dedicated resources (36%) are causes for not investing in this solution.

Luckily, it's not all bad news. Of the Canadian companies that did implement AI solutions, 87% say they are reaping the benefits, particularly when it comes to lowering risk of errors and creating higher quality products and services (40%). In Ontario, businesses saw a 44% increase in company performance and financial gains using AI. 

"Artificial intelligence can be a huge budget item for companies. However, it pays off in the long term through more efficient operations and a higher level of security," says Éric Cothenet, technology solutions director at NOVIPRO.

A Shift in Perception

While the role and importance of IT at large and medium-sized Canadian companies had been growing over the past four years, there was a major shift in 2020. Companies began to see their IT as functional rather than innovative. In 2020, a mere 29% of respondents viewed their IT infrastructure as "state-of-the-art" compared to 41% in 2019. What's more, IT is now seen as an investment rather than a strategic partner. Compared to 2019, IT teams also seem to be playing a less influential role in business strategies. Only 37% of companies say they have full confidence in their IT team's security capabilities, a slight drop compared to 2019 (42%).

About the 2021 NOVIPRO/Léger Survey
For the past five years, NOVIPRO has been surveying Canadian businesses about their IT priorities and challenges. These annual surveys have revealed trends in the deployment of new artificial intelligence initiatives, cybersecurity solutions, cloud computing, and IT investments.

Data for the fifth NOVIPRO/Léger portrait of IT in large and medium-sized Canadian companies comes from an online survey conducted between September 8 and October 23, 2020, among 300 IT decision makers, 75 managers who don't work in IT, 78 decision makers who are neither directors nor IT specialists, and 31 NOVIPRO clients.

About NOVIPRO
A technology partner since 1993, NOVIPRO's mission is to guide companies in achieving their business objectives by leveraging its wealth of human capital, its range of expertise and the power of its network. With a team of over 135 employees, NOVIPRO stands out for the excellence of its business, technology, and cloud solutions.

SOURCE NOVIPRO

Media Contact: Niki Javdan, CASACOM, [email protected], 647-801-2325