IT Leaders Overwhelmed By Tool Management

Uploaded on 2025-08-13 in TECHNOLOGY--Resilience, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

The new IT Trends Report by JumpCloud highlights the growing fragmentation within UK organisations' IT landscapes. Despite years of digital transformation, most businesses still operate with a patchwork of disparate tools, leading to significant security gaps, compliance risks, and escalating costs.

These issues are pushing IT teams towards breaking point, struggling to keep pace with the demands of modern infrastructure.

The findings come from a survey of 828 IT leaders across the US and UK, conducted between May and June 2025 by Redpoint.

IT teams are increasingly stretched, with recent research revealing that an average of over nine tools are now managed per organisation. Alarmingly, 10% of IT departments oversee more than 15 tools, putting enormous pressure on resources, security, and operational efficiency.

Fragmented IT Environments Fuel Risks & Rising Costs

According to the report, security gaps affect 56% of organisations, while 47% face compliance risks, and 45% experience cost inefficiencies. This complex environment hampers their ability to respond effectively to threats and regulatory requirements, exposing vulnerabilities across the enterprise.

The Case For IT Unification

The report emphasises that only 22% of UK organisations have fully unified their IT systems. This indicates a pressing need for greater integration to streamline operations, improve security, and optimise costs. The top benefits cited by IT leaders for merging tools include offering an enhanced user experience (58%), enabling a sharper focus on strategic priorities (56%), and increasing job satisfaction among IT staff (55%).

IT unification not only simplifies management but also fortifies security. Organisations with fragmented environments are more vulnerable to market shifts and operational disruptions. Nearly half (46%) of those with disjointed systems report delays in project delivery, compared to just 25% of organisations with a unified infrastructure.

AI: A Double-Edged Sword for Security

While artificial intelligence adoption accelerates, its security challenges are becoming more evident. Half of UK organisations are actively assessing the risks associated with Agentic AI, and 36% are implementing new identity and access controls tailored to AI agents. As AI becomes a staple of enterprise workflows, managing its threat landscape is a critical priority.

Building Resilience

With growing regulatory uncertainty (47%), supply chain disruptions (43%), and regional price fluctuations, building IT resilience has never been more vital. Fragmented environments leave organisations more exposed to these external pressures. Unification is presented as a key strategy for boosting long-term resilience, allowing organisations to adapt swiftly to change and minimise operational downtime.

The Cost of Chaos

The CEO of JumpCloud, Rajat Bhargava, warns about the risks companies face due to their "chaotic IT systems and incomplete Zero Trust efforts". He states: “Their disorganised infrastructure leaves them vulnerable to rising AI-driven cyberattacks.” Bhargava advocates strategic partnerships - collaboration between internal teams, security leaders, and managed service providers - as essential to creating a simplified, automated, and user-friendly IT environment.

“A unified, automated, and user-centric IT foundation is the way forward, essential for navigating global uncertainty and empowering organisational success.” he concludes.

Next Steps for Organisations

The report illuminates the urgent need for businesses to prioritise IT unification. With a more consolidated infrastructure, organisations can enhance security, reduce costs, and improve operational resilience.

As threats evolve and requirements for compliance tighten, a strategic overhaul of IT environments is no longer optional but essential for future-proofing operations.

Jumpcloud

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