Half of UK tech leaders say outages threaten revenue

Research published by Zen Internet found that half of UK technology leaders believe network outages threaten revenue. The study surveyed 500 senior technology decision-makers across the UK.

The findings point to wider concern about the role of network resilience in business performance. More than half of respondents, 51%, said resilience was business-critical and that outages would significantly affect revenue, operations or customers. A further 94% said resilience was important to their organisation's success.

Many technology leaders also said complexity within their IT estates was slowing change. Zen found that 78% said technology complexity was holding back transformation, with multiple vendors, platforms and contracts cited as major obstacles.

That pressure is shaping investment priorities. More than a third, 36%, said network modernisation and connectivity would be among their biggest technology investments over the next three years.

The survey suggests companies are dealing not only with technical issues but also with internal decision-making. Nearly half of respondents, 49%, said the biggest barrier to longer-term technology decisions was a lack of support from leaders outside IT.

Complex estates

Supplier management emerged as another source of delay. Some 47% said multiple suppliers slowed projects and complicated change, while 31% said they consistently slow or block change.

The research reflects the growing importance of network reliability as businesses rely more heavily on cloud services, distributed working and digital customer channels. In that context, network interruptions can quickly spread beyond the IT department and affect sales, service delivery and day-to-day operations.

Zen linked that shift to rising interest in software-defined wide area networking, or SD-WAN, and broader secure access service edge, or SASE, models. These approaches aim to bring networking and security functions together while reducing the number of systems and providers companies must manage.

Jon Nowell, managing director of Zen Business, said: "Businesses no longer question whether resilient networks matter. Outages and cyber threats directly threaten revenue, yet most organisations are still battling complex technology environments that slow progress. SD-WAN, combined with a SASE approach to networking and security, offers a way to simplify connectivity, strengthen protection, improve resilience and support future digital transformation."

The survey focused on mid-market organisations and larger businesses, covering companies with revenue of about £10 million or more and at least 50 employees. Respondents were director-level and above and had influence over technology investment and operating model decisions.

Leadership gap

The findings highlight a disconnect between recognising the need for resilient networks and securing the internal backing to act on it. While senior technology leaders see resilience as central to business continuity, many still struggle to win support for longer-term projects from the wider leadership team.

That gap may help explain why network upgrades remain difficult even when they are prioritised in spending plans. With several providers, overlapping contracts and separate security tools in place, changing one part of the estate can create knock-on effects elsewhere.

Nowell said businesses were spending too much time managing fragmented systems and provider relationships. "Too many organisations are spending valuable time managing multiple suppliers, disconnected systems and separate security solutions when they should be focused on innovation and delivering value to customers. The challenge isn't simply keeping businesses connected. It's giving them confidence that their network can support growth, cloud adoption, AI initiatives and new ways of working, while ensuring users, applications and data remain secure without adding more complexity."

The results indicate that, for many companies, network resilience has become as much a board-level concern as a technical one. The combination of outage risk, cyber threats and slow-moving transformation is pushing connectivity and network design closer to core commercial decision-making.

Nowell said: "Organisations don't need more technology to manage, they need technology that reduces complexity. A fully managed Zen SD-WAN service with integrated security and a clear path to SASE helps create a resilient network that's easier to operate today and ready for tomorrow."