--- title: Is your business making the most of technology? Our survey of the top barriers to investing in automation description: Our survey of 500 IT decision makers represents a clear signal from businesses globally that investment in automation is a huge priority. image: https://blog.cognitionhq.com/hubfs/paul-frenzel-MnHQMzC6n-o-unsplash-1024x683.jpg --- [![Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1.png?width=225&height=76&name=Cognition_logo_white_RGB-1.png)](https://www.cognitionhq.com/) [Get in touch](https://www.cognitionhq.com/get-in-touch) ▼ ENG ESP POR - [Services](https://www.cognitionhq.com/#How%20we%20do%20it) - [Clients](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/case-studies) - [News](http://www.cognitionhq.com/content-hub) - [Careers](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/we-are-hiring/we-are-hiring) - [Who we are](http://www.cognitionhq.com/about-us) [Get in touch](https://www.cognitionhq.com/get-in-touch) ▼ ENG ESP POR # Is your business making the most of technology? Our survey of the top barriers to investing in automation [Back to Blog](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog) by Reports | 1 mins read New research conducted by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Emergence Partners has found that 46% of UK businesses have been driven to increase their investment in automation as a result of the recent lockdown. Our survey of 500 IT decision makers across the U.S., U.K., France and Germany, represents a clear signal from businesses globally that investment in automation is a huge priority, with two thirds (66%) of respondents increasing investment in the technology either significantly or slightly. Technology adoption is truly a non-negotiable feature of the modern workplace, and as these results demonstrate it’s also a top priority for business. **Top barriers for successfully automating processes across the business** - Nearly 40% of respondents indicated that **a lack of tech knowledge/skills** has been a barrier to automation investment   - 30% of businesses highlighted** a lack of strategic thinking** as a barrier  - Nearly 30% of respondents indicated that** a complex and commoditised automation ecosystem** is standing in the way of investment  - 21% of businesses reported the largest number of instances where** outdated vendor licensing models** were acting as barriers to investing in automation   - Nearly a quarter of respondents across the board (24%) claimed that a **lack of senior-level buy-in** was directly standing in the way of investment in automation  - 20% of respondents mentioned lack of consultancy/service support from vendors as a barrier to automation processes   Read the [full feature in BusinessCloud.](https://www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/covid-19-drives-up-automation-but-uk-trails-other-nations/) ## Further Reading ### [Is the C-Suite drifting out of touch with employees?](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/is-the-c-suite-drifting-out-of-touch-with-employees) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/is-the-c-suite-drifting-out-of-touch-with-employees) David Poole | 2 mins read Bridging hierarchies within an organisation has always been a delicate cultural challenge, but now that executive teams have been physically separated from their employees, the disconnect in many cases has been exaggerated. As well as the physical separation, a metaphysical divide is threatening to open up too - a 'digit. ### ["Data runs through most organisations like a lazy river." TechKnow guest Mike Hobday on extracting value from data](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/data-runs-through-most-organisations-like-a-lazy-river-techknow-guest-mike-hobday-on-extracting-value-from-data) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/data-runs-through-most-organisations-like-a-lazy-river-techknow-guest-mike-hobday-on-extracting-value-from-data) Joy Poole | 0 mins read According to Gartner, almost 80 percent of the world’s data is unstructured; an ocean of documents, emails, image and audio files residing outside of the traditional rows and columns of databases and spreadsheets. To fully realise the potential of all of this unstructured data, businesses need the tools to order it and d. ### [Insurers are in customers’ bad books. Personalisation is how they turn the page](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/insurers-are-in-customers-bad-books-personalisation-is-how-they-turn-the-page) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/insurers-are-in-customers-bad-books-personalisation-is-how-they-turn-the-page) Chris Main | 4 mins read In this piece Associate Partner Chris Main shows insurers the way towards totally bespoke customer services. Head to our Profit Finder product page to discover the next step. Few industries have emerged from the last year with a spotless copybook, but the insurance industry has taken a particularly bad rap. Whether keepi. ### ["Business people don't need to understand how the algorithm works - just what it can do." AI strategist Andrew Burgess offers a dose of reality on TechKnow](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/business-people-dont-need-to-understand-how-the-algorithm-works-just-what-it-can-do-ai-strategist-andrew-burgess-offers-a-dose-of-reality-on-techknow) [Read](https://blog.cognitionhq.com/blog/business-people-dont-need-to-understand-how-the-algorithm-works-just-what-it-can-do-ai-strategist-andrew-burgess-offers-a-dose-of-reality-on-techknow) Joy Poole | 1 mins read When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, our understanding of the technology has often been at odds with the reality of what it is capable of. This has resulted in a lack of wildly successful use cases. Recent research from IDC found that half of AI projects fail for one in four companies on average, with “unrealistic e. 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