ASI Report: How Australian IT Leaders Achieve Growth and Resilience in 2025
▼ Summary
– ASI Solutions’ 2025 report reveals Australian organizations are reshaping IT strategies to balance growth with resilience, based on a survey of 500+ decision-makers.
– 40% of organizations admit they are not fully prepared for current cyber threats, highlighting a significant security gap despite increasing threats.
– 54% of leaders expect AI to reshape their IT and data strategies within two years, while skills shortages remain the top barrier to execution.
– Organizations are prioritizing investments in security, AI-driven transformation, and upskilling while increasingly adopting co-managed service models to accelerate change.
– The report shows clear industry differences, with government focusing on talent, education on GenAI governance, and commercial sectors on modernization and cost optimization.
A new industry report reveals that Australian organizations are fundamentally reshaping their technology strategies to achieve sustainable growth while building greater operational resilience. The 2025 Growth and Resiliency Report from ASI Solutions, developed alongside Tech Research Asia, surveyed more than 500 IT and business leaders across government, education, and commercial sectors, uncovering critical trends and strategic shifts.
The findings indicate that leaders are navigating a complex balancing act. While 42 percent of organizations are actively pursuing transformation initiatives, a nearly equal 43 percent are concentrating on achieving operational excellence. This dual focus reflects the challenging environment where companies must innovate while simultaneously strengthening their foundational operations.
A significant 40 percent of surveyed leaders acknowledge they are not fully prepared for the current cybersecurity threat landscape, highlighting a critical vulnerability as cyber incidents grow in both frequency and sophistication. This awareness is driving a strategic pivot from reactive security measures toward building proactive, organization-wide resilience where governance, capability, and culture form the bedrock of every technology decision.
The influence of artificial intelligence is becoming impossible to ignore. More than half (54 percent) of organizations anticipate AI will fundamentally reshape their IT and data strategies within the next two years. However, realizing this potential faces substantial headwinds, with half of all organizations reporting difficulties in hiring qualified IT staff and an additional 20 percent grappling with employee retention.
Nathan Lowe, Managing Director at ASI Solutions, observed that the most successful leaders are those transforming IT from a traditional cost center into a powerful driver of business resilience. He emphasized that technology is increasingly used to mitigate risk, enhance productivity, and deliver measurable business value in a pressured economic climate.
The research identifies a clear need for disciplined prioritization among technology leaders, who cited 28 distinct technology sub-priorities. In response, many organizations are now narrowing their strategic focus to the two or three areas most directly linked to tangible business outcomes.
Artificial intelligence and cloud computing continue to dominate strategic conversations, with hybrid cloud emerging as the preferred model for balancing performance requirements with compliance obligations and cost considerations. Skills shortages remain the most significant barrier to execution, particularly within cybersecurity and AI specializations.
Industry-specific variations reveal distinct strategic emphases. Government agencies are prioritizing talent acquisition and disaster recovery readiness, educational institutions are investing in generative AI governance frameworks, while commercial enterprises are focusing heavily on modernization and cost optimization initiatives. These differences demonstrate how each sector is pursuing growth through a resilience-focused lens, balancing capability, compliance, and innovation according to their unique operational contexts.
The research also highlights a growing reliance on collaborative service models to accelerate digital transformation. Organizations are forming deeper partnerships with technology providers to manage complex workloads, enhance cybersecurity operations, and modernize infrastructure as internal teams struggle to maintain pace with rapid technological change. This co-managed approach helps enterprises sustain transformation momentum while simultaneously developing long-term internal capabilities.
Trevor Clarke, Chief Analyst at Tech Research Asia, pointed to a concerning disconnect between organizational confidence and actual capability. While many businesses believe they can rapidly recover from major system outages, data suggests a significant number would require more than a full day to restore critical operations. He challenges organizations to regularly test, measure, and validate their recovery plans, noting that true resilience is demonstrated not by policy documents but by actual recovery speed when disruption occurs.
The technology landscape emerging from the research is notably pragmatic, with leaders concentrating on efficiency and measurable outcomes. Nearly half of respondents are consolidating operations to improve resilience, while making strategic investments in security (14 percent), digital technologies (13 percent), and scalable IT platforms (16 percent).
Looking forward, Nathan Lowe highlighted that AI is transforming how organizations approach strategy, governance, and risk management. The current opportunity lies in responsibly harnessing this potential, ensuring innovation is guided by strong frameworks and delivers measurable business outcomes. He emphasized that now is the time for leaders to translate strategic intent into concrete action, building the digital foundations necessary for future success.
(Source: ITWire Australia)
