Almost Three in Ten UK Public Sector IT Professionals Are Concerned About Potential Security Risks Associated with Adopting AI, SolarWinds Report Finds

Digital transformation is a work in progress for most organisations, with privacy, security concerns, AI adoption and the complexity of integrating new systems remaining key barriers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI), a leading provider of simple, powerful, and secure IT management software, today announced its Next-Gen Government IT: AI and Observability Insights Report, identifying the challenges faced by public sector IT professionals and the sources of IT security threats. For UK respondents, key findings include budget constraints as the most significant obstacle to maintaining or improving IT security (23%) and the main source of IT security threats being careless/untrained insiders (56%).

Surveying 100 IT decision-makers and influencers from the public sector including local and central government, the report found that for most organisations, digital transformation is a work in progress, with privacy, security concerns, and the complexity of integrating new systems remaining key barriers.

Few respondents (6%) report having fully completed their digital transformation journey while most indicate they are somewhere along the journey, with efforts either well underway (42%) or beginning implementation in some areas with limited progress (40%).

The most pressing security challenges today include vulnerabilities in monitoring systems and the critical need to safeguard sensitive information from cyber threats. The survey found that 55% of the general hacking community and 56% of careless/untrained insiders are the top-ranked security threats, emphasising the need for stronger security awareness training, enhanced tools, and better access control mechanisms.

While AI adoption is gaining momentum, with predictive analytics and issue detection as top benefits, concerns still linger. Over 23% of respondents leverage AI to automate tasks related to IT operations and enhance IT observability, with many more planning to adopt it soon. Yet almost three in 10 (29%) of respondents are extremely or very concerned about potential risks associated with adopting AI, such as data privacy and compliance, making full-scale implementation a cautious process.

“It’s clear that UK public sector organisations are shifting operations and workloads to the cloud and embracing hybrid IT environments now more than ever,” said Richard Giblin, SolarWinds Head of UK Public Sector and Defence. “But this evolution, along with increased AI adoption, brings added complexity in maintaining data security and regulatory compliance, all while navigating increasingly tight budgets. SolarWinds remains committed to identifying key trends and solutions, helping those that work for organisations like the MoD, our schools and the NHS.

“It is only by providing with the right tools with full visibility that we ensure the security and resilience of our nation’s critical services.”

SolarWinds partnered with Market Connections to conduct an online survey in December 2024, targeting 100 UK and 200 U.S IT decision-makers and influencers from Federal, State, Local, and Education sectors. The report assessed the confidence levels and concerns related to managing IT environments while exploring barriers to achieving digital modernization, the current state of visibility and observability, and the usage and implementation of AI by organisations.

For the full U.K. Public Sector Cybersecurity Survey Report, please visit: https://try.solarwinds.com/report/uk-next-gen-government-it/delivery.

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About SolarWinds
SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) is a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software built to enable customers to accelerate their digital transformation. Our solutions provide organizations worldwide—regardless of type, size, or complexity—with a comprehensive and unified view of today’s modern, distributed, and hybrid network environments. We continuously engage with IT service and operations professionals, DevOps and SecOps professionals, and database administrators (DBAs) to understand the challenges they face in maintaining high-performing and highly available hybrid IT infrastructures, applications, and environments. The insights we gain from them, in places like our THWACK community, allow us to address customers’ needs now and in the future. Our focus on the user and our commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT management have established SolarWinds as a worldwide leader in solutions for observability, IT service management, application performance, and database management. Learn more today at www.solarwinds.com.

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Source: SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC.