More than half of UK technology leaders now consider network resilience a business-critical issue, with outages expected to hit revenue, operations, or customers, according to research from internet provider Zen Business. The survey of 500 senior technology decision-makers, conducted by Censuswide, found that 51 percent describe network resilience as business critical and 94 percent say it matters to their organization’s success.
The research also shows a gap between concern and action. Some 78 percent of respondents say technology complexity is slowing transformation, with multiple vendors, platforms, and contracts cited as significant obstacles. Supplier sprawl is a particular drag: 47 percent say multiple suppliers delay projects and complicate change, and 31 percent say suppliers consistently slow or block change. Nearly half, 49 percent, identify the biggest barrier to longer-term technology decisions as a lack of buy-in from leadership outside IT.
Investment intentions remain strong despite the friction. More than a third of respondents, 36 percent, say network modernization and connectivity will rank among their biggest technology investments over the next three years. According to Zen, organizations recognize the need but struggle to execute because of the very complexity they are trying to reduce.
Zen links the findings to growing interest in software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and secure access service edge (SASE) models, which converge networking and security into fewer managed systems. Jon Nowell, the company’s managing director for its business arm, argued that businesses no longer question whether resilient networks matter, since outages and cyber threats directly threaten revenue, but that most organizations still fight complex environments that slow progress. He framed the challenge as one of simplification: organizations need technology that reduces complexity rather than more technology to manage, with a fully managed SD-WAN service and a clear path to SASE as the answer.
The survey covered mid-market and larger organizations, defined as companies with roughly £10 million or more in revenue and at least 50 employees, and respondents were director-level and above with influence over technology investment and operating model decisions.
Sources: Most UK tech leaders say network outages are becoming a critical business problem (TechRadar, Aug 13, 2026); Half of UK tech leaders say outages threaten revenue (IT Brief UK, Aug 12, 2026); Survey: 78% UK tech leaders say IT complexity slowing transformation (Advanced Television, Aug 11, 2026)