Korean IT leaders shy of expansion, investment: survey

South Korean corporate decision makers in the field of information technology have shown a lackluster appetite for expansion and investment compared with the global peers, a survey showed Wednesday.

Fifty-five out of 100 Korean decision makers responded that their organizations are planning to expand in a new city, country or region within the next 12 months, which was lower than the global average of 72 percent, according to Nasdaq-listed digital infrastructure investment firm Equinix.

Those who indicated that they had no expansion plan within a year amounted to 40 percent of all respondents, nearly double that of global peers.

As to the IT-related budget, only 40 percent of Korean IT decision makers said they have seen an increase in their budget, and the figure was lower than the average of 54 percent globally.

Rather, trimming IT-related expenses was considered a top priority among IT leaders in what is considered one of the world's most wired countries, the survey result showed. This overshadowed other priorities such as "compliance with data protection rules" and "improvement of customer experience."

Moreover, only half of Korean respondents indicated that sustainability is a top agenda item, lower than the global average of 69 percent.

Chris Jang, managing director of Korea at Equinix, called on Korean IT leaders to "push ahead with multifaceted efforts for digital transformation and sustainability," at a press conference held Wednesday,

The survey result branched out of one based on 2,900 respondents across 29 countries in the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey, first released in July.

Equinix is the world's largest real estate investment trust by market cap, dedicated to global enterprise networks and cloud computing through data centers.

(consnow@heraldcorp.com)