Advania has seen a significant shift among Europe’s mid-market: a growing move toward technological self-reliance stemming from vendor distrust and embracing of AI tools. While this new-found confidence enables greater agility, companies are risking falling into a “bunker mentality” leaving them vulnerable to threats outside their walls.
Building on our ‘Engage the core‘ report, we’ve broken down the latest challenges facing mid-market IT buyers across cyber resilience, the adoption of AI, and the growing cost and complexity inherent to modern IT infrastructure.
Cyber confidence is on the rise, with 73% of mid-market IT leaders now developing strategies internally with little external help. But there are concerns over whether this confidence is justified, with 55% of organisations failing to implement basic protections, and regular internal training declining across several key areas.
“Security awareness is a constant practice, woven into how we work every day. Real-time guidance and positive nudges at risky moments build confidence and change behaviour far more effectively than periodic training and testing alone.”
Pravesh Kara, Security & Compliance Product Director
ADVANIA uk
AI has become a cornerstone of mid-market operations, with 71% of respondents viewing its impact as net positive. It is fundamentally disrupting the “build vs. buy” debate; with AI-derived code now accounts for 47% of new organisational code.
“Measuring impact by value, not just effort, is the new standard, and it’s how we ensure AI delivers tangible, sustainable growth.”
Chris O’Brien, CTO
ADVANIA uk
Budget allocations for Cloud Services dropped by 13%, and cybersecurity budgets halved since our research two years previously. Software licensing fees have emerged as the primary budgetary pain point, with 49% of respondents believing they spend too much in this area, but with significant variance across the different countries of Northern Europe.
Download the latest mid-market tech challenges report now to find out.
