11:11 Systems survey finds ANZ IT costs and cyber risk rising

11:11 Systems has released findings from its 2027 State of IT Infrastructure Resilience study, drawn from a global survey of more than 700 IT leaders. The results point to rising costs, greater complexity and heavier cyber risk as forces prompting organisations to rethink how they build, protect and recover critical infrastructure.

In Australia and New Zealand, IT leaders are weighing infrastructure and budget decisions against two persistent pressures: costs keep climbing and cyber threats continue. 93% of respondents reported higher total data centre infrastructure costs over the past 12 months, averaging a 14% year-over-year increase. Identity platforms and production environments rank among the leading data centre concerns, while hybrid complexity and inconsistent data protection make a reliable recovery plan hard to maintain.

Investment in AI is moving ahead of readiness. Nearly all ANZ respondents are investing in or evaluating AI-enhanced IT and security tools, yet fewer than one in five report operational AI-enhanced backup or disaster recovery capabilities. Cyberattacks are also common, with 76% of IT leaders facing one or more attacks in the past 12 months and 43% putting the average cost of an hour of downtime from a cyberattack above $250,000.

The study was commissioned by 11:11 Systems and conducted by Data Protection Matters, an independent analyst firm that specialises in data protection, backup, cyber resilience, business continuity, disaster recovery and BaaS/DRaaS. The survey covered more than 700 IT leaders at organisations across EMEA, the Americas and APAC, including decision-makers and implementers responsible for IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, or backup and disaster recovery.

“This research quantifies what IT leaders are already feeling; the challenges are stacking up faster than the budgets,” said Jason Buffington, principal analyst and founder of Data Protection Matters, which conducted the research.

Marc Beder, Executive General Manager, EMEA and APAC at 11:11 Systems, said, “Resilience requires more than investing in new technology.” Nearly three-quarters of respondents (74%) expect data protection, backup and recovery budgets to increase in 2027.