Rethinking IT: Insights into what’s driving IT decision makers today

Before we dive in, I want to go through a few quick housekeeping rules. This webinar is being recorded just like all of our other webinars. A recording of the session will be shared with you via email once the webinar is finished, probably sometime tomorrow. Questions and comments for our presenters should be placed in our Q&A section. I know you guys engage in the chat, but if you really want to add a question that we will address later, please add that in the Q&A section. At the end of this webinar, we’re going to leave some time to have our conversation with you and answer all of your questions. 

Today’s team includes Rachel Ashur, David Shenny, and David Zagorski, both incredible experts and my colleagues. They will be sharing a lot of their insights from the many conversations they have every day, really diving deep into what’s driving the decision-making process for you guys today. So, with no further ado, let’s jump right in. 

I want to ask you guys, and feel free to take this question whoever wants to address it first. From all the conversations you’ve been having, what would you say are the top three trends you’re seeing from decision makers that are being brought up in these conversations? You can address many different topics that we are all aware of, from AI and where it is today, to consolidation, conversations about the cloud, and other topics. I would love to know what exactly is it that you’re hearing today. 

David Zagorski: Hey everyone, this is David Zagorski. So, in no particular order, I would have to say the top three trends are cloud adoption, cybersecurity and data protection, and artificial intelligence and automation. 

Around cloud adoption, I think we’re seeing organizations increasingly adopting cloud-based solutions and services. There’s a real heavy focus with I.T decision makers on implementing hybrid infrastructure models. 

For cybersecurity and data protection, we’re all seeing a rise in cyber threats and data breaches. This places a strong emphasis on advanced security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection, and endpoint protection. 

Regarding artificial intelligence and automation, I.T decision makers are really exploring its potential. It’s exciting to see the evolution of AI and how it’s being embraced by various network engineers. 

Rachel: Sure, I’ll hop in here. Hi, Rachel here. I definitely agree with Dave. Cloud, AI, and cybersecurity/data protection are probably the top three most important trends. Specifically, AI and cybersecurity go hand in hand. With the rise of AI, we are also seeing more potential security breaches that are getting sharper, smarter, more efficient, and quicker. As AI rises, so does the importance of data privacy and cybersecurity. 

Anna: To follow up on that, I know that some of the main topics we covered in past sessions were the serious drive towards efficiency. Efficiency relies on a lot of the things you just mentioned. When 2023 started, there was a huge emphasis on efficiency. Based on your experience, how much impact do you think this focus or refocus actually had on the day-to-day of I.T teams and I.T leaders?

David Shenny: Yes, sure, and I’ll take this. Hi everyone, I’m David as well, nice to meet you all. So, yeah, efficiency is obviously a key principle that has become increasingly important. I.T teams are being left with no other choice but to do more with less. This means reducing costs, finding cheaper alternatives, and managing with lower headcount. 

This has led to I.T teams needing to get creative in finding tools that can cover more than just help desk or remote management or asset management. Finding these kinds of tools has almost become the Holy Grail when it comes to shortlisting an I.T toolstack. AI has been a central theme in every conversation to improve efficiency and automate workflows that were previously done manually. 

You’re seeing AI being looked at as probably one of the top enablers of reaching that stage of efficiency. I’m also wondering because you’ve mentioned this before, you’ve had conversations about tool consolidation. I’m thinking about where folks stand today whenever they have these first conversations with you, looking at their tech stack and calibrating that tech we’ve all been talking about since COVID and up until very recently. What are you hearing in terms of where people are at today? Did they close the gap? Are they looking at AI as the big savior? What are you hearing? 

I’ve almost always been asked if we have any AI features within the platform, and I’m always excited to say that we do. But really, what people are looking for is to make their lives easier. Initially, there’s a trust thing—does the AI really work? Does it do what I need it to do? Once they trust it, it’s a no-brainer because it provides efficiency by handling mundane tasks that take a long time to write scripts for or find the right words to do X, Y, and Z. These things are becoming part of our day-to-day. When it comes to looking at an I.T toolstack, if AI is incorporated, efficiency is ticked right next to it. I see adoption, excitement, and incorporation in day-to-day lives within I.T as well. 

Rachel Ashur: Yeah, and to add to that, Anna, regarding tech debt, in the conversations that my colleagues David and David have every single day, we’re still sort of playing catch-up. The abrupt shift to remote work happened three years ago, but it seems like just yesterday to some of us. Many tools were purchased for quick and dirty fixes for remote access, help desk, asset management, RMM, patching, or whatever it is. Now is the time where the new normal has settled in, and I think a lot of companies or I.T folks are taking stock of what they have. A word I’m hearing a lot is consolidation. Companies are really looking to consolidate. We’ve adopted either a hybrid or a remote work norm in some capacity, and now we need to make it work for us efficiently. Consolidating both from a software perspective and a financial perspective to get everything into an all-in-one system and a single pane of glass, avoiding siloed software that doesn’t communicate well. 

Anna: A lot of people are still working from home, but many companies are bringing people back into the office. It’s almost shifting again. We all know that hybrid is probably the majority of formats out there right now. Would you say that has an additional impact on I.T teams and organizations, preparing to receive people back into offices? Also, considering the costs, folks spent so much money on getting everything ready for remote work, and now people are going back into offices. Are you hearing any sentiments about that in your conversations? 

David Shenny: I’ll step in here. Again, I think I’m going to go back to consolidation. We kind of just got used to working remotely, integrated all these new tools, and now we’re back at the office. Organizations are looking again at how they can consolidate. Do we really need all these tools? Is it better to have a centralized platform, a single source of truth, rather than scattering our eggs everywhere? We’re reformulating and trying to understand what that stack looks like. 

Rachel Ashur: I agree. To add on, companies now are evaluating tools they want to grow with. They’re not just looking for quick fixes anymore. I’m hearing a lot more multi-year agreements, locking in prices for three or five years. They want tools they trust, that are innovative, and will take them over the next few years, rather than short-term solutions. We’re looking more long-term in terms of the I.T tools that folks are taking on. 

Anna: That’s really interesting. Naturally, expectations on the other side begin rising. When looking at a new platform or tool to roll out, we’re expecting it to tick all the boxes. Are you hearing any insights into questions about compliance and security, especially with folks going through transitions or working from home and then being rolled back into the office? Are there any interesting things you can share with us? Does the industry or size of the organization affect where the conversation goes? 

David Shenny: Yes, I can take this one. Return to office won’t be what it was pre-pandemic. Many of the workforce realized they can be just as efficient from home. For I.T departments, especially in highly regulated industries like banks and hospitals, they had to act quickly to find solutions for remote work. This fast-tracked the move to cloud and digital transformation. Compliance and security are as important as ever. When looking for consolidated solutions that are ahead of the curve, that’s a crucial place to be. Compliance and security are at the forefront of everyone’s mind, expedited by the hybrid situation we’ve discussed. 

Anna: With that tension in conversations, bringing up AI generally but also as it pertains to compliance, privacy, cybersecurity, and job security, what are you guys hearing? Is AI going to replace everyone, or is it a tool we need to learn to work with? 

David Shenny: AI is here to stay, but it’s going to be a complementary tool. It’s not going to replace us, at least not yet. We need to embrace it and understand it’s the new way. It’s here to enhance our jobs and make our lives easier. Embrace the complementary fact and work with it. 

Rachel Ashur: Right, David. Yeah, I’m just going to hop in on that as well. To sort of go along with what Dave is saying, I think that in many of the conversations that I have day-to-day with I.T folks, both in the I.T sphere and in the MSP sphere, there’s an intrigue surrounding AI and also a sort of fear of being left behind if other people are embracing it. They feel the need to see what’s out there and understand it because nobody wants to be the one that doesn’t have the edge or gets left in the dust. Many software solutions are now incorporating AI as part of their offering, as we do, but many others as well. So, it’s going to come across, and if you’re not going to embrace it at some point, either specifically on the MSP level or within an internal I.T department, it can eventually leave people behind the curve. That’s what the big push is right now for everyone to get out there and understand it. That’s a lot of the feedback I’m hearing in my day-to-day conversations. 

Anna: That’s great. Let’s move into a little bit of the conversation about how the world has changed when it comes to evaluating tech stacks. Has the entire process, as far as influencer committees and the folks involved from day one until a decision is made, changed over the last couple of years? Has it changed? I’d love to hear that. 

David Zagorski: Yeah, I can jump in on that one. I’ve actually found a real shift in the last year or two, maybe since sort of post-pandemic if we can call it that yet. When it comes to buying committees, they are definitely still there, but I think companies are going through an evaluation process for various tools, and the evaluators are becoming more and more important. The people who are actually going to be using the software at the end of the day are having a much bigger influence than previously when it comes to choosing the right stack for their company. I’m hearing a lot of conversations where, when you get to the decision-maker stage, they are always bringing in the evaluators into the conversation. They are having a much bigger influence than they were previously with regards to the actual tools that they’re deciding on deploying. 

It didn’t always used to be like that. Whether that’s part of where the world is going today, an intuitive tool is very important. Previously, it was just about getting the job done. Today, it’s all about how easy a tool is to use, how intuitive it is, how quickly you can achieve time to value, and how quickly you can get tasks done. Automation is obviously important, and all of those aspects make it really important that the evaluator feels comfortable with the tool. That’s why this shift is happening where companies are saying, “Find a tool that you like, that’s easy to use, intuitive, ahead of the curve,” and they’ll base a lot of their decision not just on the price and consolidation side of things, which are obviously all super important, but on how they are going to be using the tool day-to-day. 

Rachel Ashur: Right, and I want to add one thing I heard in a specific conversation. How much time is the training going to take? How much time can I train the rest of my staff to use this particular platform? Speaking about a different tool, the turnover of staff was so high that by the time they were trained to use the tool, which took about four to five months, there was already some turnover, and they were losing money effectively. The tool was not intuitive enough, so it was a huge money waster when a tool is not quick to use, easy, and implementable from day one. If from day one you can’t get in and perform certain actions, it’s going to be a hard sell in this day and age, especially coming from that bottom-up approach where we really need to get the buy-in from all of the staff. Whereas before, it was a higher-level decision. 

Anna: It makes a lot of sense to put the power back in the hands of the folks actually using the tools day-to-day. I’ve heard you guys share that C-level decision-makers often say that if their employees love a tool, then that’s what they’ll go with because it’s super important to keep them happy. They understand that day-to-day expertise comes from those using the tools. Do you have more insights to share about who the first approachers are? Does it start with someone evaluating the tools, experimenting with products, and then bringing it back to their bigger team? Or is it still something handed down where someone says, “Go out and test tool number one, two, and three, and tell us what you think about them?” 

David Zagorski: I think it’s a bit of both still. The underlying factor is that the influence of the decision is based on the person evaluating it. Whether it’s starting from a trial or from top-down or bottom-up, it’s about the team and the people using it day-to-day. Companies are looking to future-proof their tech stack. If a tool takes six months to implement, with the turnover happening, that is not future-proofing a product. You need something with a quick time to value so that any new person can be up and running quickly. This is business-critical software that needs to be quick to adopt. Future-proofing your I.T stack is super important, and that’s a key factor. 

Rachel Ashur: Very important and very insightful.

Anna: Thank you, guys. I’m just going to remind everybody here that if you want to ask a question, now is the time. We’re going to have about 10 minutes, and we would love to have our experts here answer your questions. I think this is a good segue to talk a little bit about what we’re seeing at Atera and where we are today with everything you’ve mentioned, especially with AI taking center stage in all these discussions and being the driving force behind the race towards efficiency. 

What can you share with us about where we are today with AI and some of the comments and feedback you’ve been receiving from the I.T folks you’ve been talking to? 

David Zagorski: I can jump in here. I’m having a lot of conversations, just like Rachel and David as well. People are really embracing this new Microsoft OpenAI and just want to see if it works. David mentioned earlier, does it really do what I need it to do? With what’s being pushed out, it’s in initial phases, but it is working, and it’s only going to get better through every iteration. AI is here to stay; we just need to learn to embrace it. I haven’t had any negative feedback around that. It’s all been positive, with people saying these are great ways to save time and focus on business-centric activities and really get ahead of what’s important on their side. 

Anna: Can one of you touch on the actual capabilities that we see opening up right now, especially with the integration we’ve had and where we’re at today within the platform? 

Rachel Ashur: Before we get to that, I want to take one step back to answer the question Dave was addressing. There is a general feeling of desiring to embrace AI and inquisitiveness surrounding it. But there’s also concern about security and compliance—where is the data going, where is it living, and where is it being fed to? That’s probably the number one question I’m getting when introducing AI capabilities. Yes, functionality is important, and some people are leery about whether AI will replace or supplement their work. But the big question is about data security. With all the compliance we have at Atera surrounding our AI to protect our data, it’s super important to reassure people that the data is living in its own closed model and isn’t being leaked out. This is important to keep in mind when speaking with I.T folks regarding AI. I’ll let someone else take the other question about the capabilities. 

David Shenny: Super important, Rachel. Also, Microsoft comes up a lot in conversations. We have a strong strategic relationship with Microsoft, and all our AI developments are supported by one of the most compliant organizations out there. Great points. David, do you want to add anything? 

David Zagorski: I’m speaking about AI every day, as are Rachel and David. It excites me to talk about something so innovative. When I discuss AI capabilities with someone, I’m as excited as they are every time. AI within an I.T toolstack complements what you’re doing, not replacing it. It makes your job easier, and it’s here to stay. Atera is adding features to the AI piece regularly. It’s getting cleverer, making our customers’ jobs easier, and even my job easier. 

Anna: Very much agreed. I see we have a question that came in. It was answered in the chat, but I’ll ask you, David. Does Atera offer solutions aimed at companies providing shared services to many different companies? If so, are there any tools that aid in acquisitions? 

David Zagorski: I think a clarification would be important here. The first part of the question sounds like a hybrid I.T MSP situation. Feel free to clarify your question if you’re still here, and we’ll answer it. If anyone else has questions, now would be a great time to ask them. 

Anna: If not, I’ll let everyone think about it for another minute or two. We’ll be mindful of everyone’s time and prepare for final words. One last question for you guys: with everything you’ve been seeing and hearing, do you think there’s a next big trend coming in 2024, or is AI really taking over along with other things we’ve been discussing? 

David Shenny: I think the big hot trend for 2023-2024 is still going to be AI. I’ll throw in consolidation as well, with the hybrid model of work from home and office. AI is wonderful, and unless anyone has something we haven’t figured out yet, AI is the key trend. 

Anna: I don’t see any more questions coming in. I really want to thank you for joining me today. This was an extremely insightful conversation. We’ll be sending the recordings out probably by tomorrow, so watch for that in your inbox. If you have any more questions after we’re done, feel free to reach out through our social media or by email. We would love to hear from you. With that, I wish everybody a great day wherever you are in the world. Thank you so much for joining us, and we’ll see you on the next one.