K Techara 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
K TECHARA 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
K TECHARA 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.
