Digital Operations at Turning Point as Security and Skills Concerns MountDigital Operations at Turning Point as Security and Skills Concerns Mount

As organizations navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape, new research from PagerDuty suggests that 2025 will mark a significant shift in how enterprises approach their IT operations.

The company's fourth annual State of Digital Operations Report, based on survey responses from more than 1,100 operations leaders, reveals a business environment where operational resilience, security concerns, and talent management have become inextricably linked.

The comprehensive study, drawing insights from leaders across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) regions, demonstrates how digital operations have matured from basic infrastructure management to become a critical determinant of competitive advantage.

State of Digital Operations Report Key Findings

Key findings from PagerDuty's State of Digital Operations Report include:

According to Tim Armandpour, PagerDuty's chief technology officer, one of the most compelling findings from the survey was the distinct gap between executive and practitioner views on agentic AI adoption. While 53% of CIOs and CTOs believe agentic AI will be core to the future of IT operations, only 29% of practitioners shared this outlook.

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"The gap may be reflective of the broader industry excitement of AI versus the current challenges of getting business value from AI investment," Armandpour told ITPro Today. "Business and technical leaders will need to assess their organizations' needs and determine where agentic AI would be the most applicable to accelerate and improve operations while maximizing ROI."

Growing Skills Gap Threatens Progress

The development of appropriate skills and capabilities has emerged as a critical challenge, ranking as a pressing concern in advancing digital operations. The talent shortage is most acute in North America and the media industry, where fierce competition for skilled professionals coincides with accelerating digital transformation initiatives.

Organizations face a dual challenge: upskilling existing staff while competing for scarce talent in an increasingly competitive market. The report suggests this skills gap could potentially slow the adoption of new technologies and hamper operational advancement if not adequately addressed.

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"The rapid evolution of how AI is being applied to many parts of jobs to be done is unmatched," Armandpour said. "Raising awareness, educating, and fostering a rich learning environment for all employees is essential."

How to Advance Operational Maturity

Organizations report substantial progress in their digital operations capabilities, with 74% citing improvements across key metrics including operational maturity, resilience, and automation effectiveness. The media sector leads this advancement, with 86% reporting increased resilience and 88% noting faster time to market.

According to Armandpour, the operational maturity of the media industry can likely be attributed to their high adoption of DevOps automation.

"With AI and automation, engineers can shift how they are spending their time by automating the lower-priority tasks so they can instead focus their expertise and efforts toward developing products," he said.

Security Takes Center Stage

Data security has emerged as the dominant concern in digital operations, with 35% of leaders identifying it as their top challenge. This concern is even more pronounced among practitioners, where 41% cite security as their primary worry. The gap between leadership and practitioner perspectives suggests a need for better alignment on security strategies.

Industries handling valuable intellectual property show particular sensitivity, with media companies leading at 95% prioritization of security, followed by technology firms at 94%. This heightened focus is driving significant budget allocations, with 71% of respondents planning security and operations budget expansions.

"Service outages today can have a much greater impact due to the interdependencies of modern IT architectures, so security is especially critical," Armandpour said. "Organizations need to recognize security as a critical business imperative that helps power operational resilience, customer trust, and competitive advantage."

What sets successful organizations apart is the prioritization of defining robust security requirements upfront and incorporating security-by-design into product development cycles. He also noted that leading organizations are prioritizing adherence to the rituals that surround security incident response and management. This helps organizations both prepare and act swiftly to minimize the overall risk posture for their companies.

Budget Outlook Remains Strong

Despite economic uncertainties, 64% of organizations expect IT budget increases in 2025, representing a 7 percentage point increase from 2024. This optimistic outlook underscores the strategic importance organizations place on digital operations excellence.

In Armandpour's view, transforming and modernizing operations is a business imperative. He expects that AI and automation will continue to be among the most critical investments with good reason. AI and automation can help free engineers from being bogged down by low-level, repetitive tasks, allowing them to fuel growth by innovating at a faster pace than ever before.

"Organizations should prioritize investments that balance between immediate business needs with long-term strategic value," Armandpour said.