11 October 2018

Political uncertainty and the challenges posed by growing costs are considered the biggest threats to the IT industry, according to Uninterruptible Power Supplies Limited (UPSL).

UPSL director Tim Wilkes says the research results reveal how the UK’s IT and data centre business landscape has shifted in just two years.

As part of the 2018 version of its biennial industry survey, the Hampshire-based UPS specialist questioned more than 800 senior IT and data centre professionals across the UK and Ireland.

More than 35 per cent of respondents said political uncertainty represents the biggest threat to their business over the coming 12 months. This was closely followed by rising costs (including energy costs), which received almost 32 per cent of the vote.

Increasing regulatory burden came in third with nearly 13 per cent, with increased competition from new and existing players completing the top five responses.

“When comparing the latest results to those from 2016, it is clear there’s been a significant shift in attitudes,” says UPSL sales and marketing director Tim Wilkes. “Political uncertainty didn’t register as a top ten response back then but that was before the Brexit vote and the impact that it’s had on the value of the pound.”

Wilkes reckons the latest results says a lot about how the UK’s IT and data centre business landscape has shifted in just two years – in 2016, rising energy costs was the top concern for more than 77 per cent of respondents.

When asked what impact Brexit will have on their business, more than 60 per cent stated that will have a negative effect, while 15.10 per cent felt Britain’s departure from the EU would be commercially positive.