Investment and infrastructure

Investing for advantage

Digital transformation for businesses increasingly depends on resilient, modern and secure infrastructure.

Yet many organisations are struggling to upgrade the foundations they need to compete. Our research shows that cost remains the biggest obstacle, cited by 38% of decision makers, closely followed by the challenges of integrating new tools with legacy systems (30%).

Despite this pressure, forward-thinking businesses are growing their investment plans. 68% of organisations expect to invest in digital infrastructure over the next 12–24 months, focusing on practical technologies that strengthen operational resilience and support growth. Top priorities include cybersecurity (44%), AI and automation (32%), and data analytics platforms (22%).

These priorities reflect a shift toward infrastructure that not only protects the organisation but enables better, faster decision making.

For UK businesses, the message is clear: digital enablement is no longer a back office concern. It has become essential for competitiveness, innovation and regulatory confidence. As organisations look to modernise, they must balance ambition with the practical and legal considerations that come with upgrading core systems, especially where risk, compliance and long-term scalability are at stake.

Of the following what are your top 3 priorities for digital infrastructure investment over the next 12-24 months?

Getting the foundations right

The UK’s wider digital development strategy 2024-2030 is helping to shape the investment environment. 37% of decision makers expect UK digital infrastructure initiatives to have a moderate or high impact on their organisation’s digital enablement plans.

Skills shortages

But progress is also tempered by growing pressures. Alongside rising operating costs, organisations continue to face skills shortages (24%) and regulatory concerns (22%) that complicate modernisation efforts.

Regulatory concerns

These issues make it essential for businesses to take a strategic, legally informed approach to infrastructure investment that anticipates compliance needs, contractual risks, supply chain obligations and data governance considerations from day one.

What is undeniable is the strategic importance of digital foundations. 52% of leaders now view digital infrastructure as a key competitive differentiator for the next three years. As the regulatory environment evolves and scrutiny of data resilience intensifies, organisations will increasingly be judged by the strength, stability and scalability of the systems underpinning their operations.

Cost and system integration: the biggest barriers to progress

Which of the following, if any, are your main concerns when driving the adoption of a digital enablement strategy within your business?

Cost pressures continue to dominate digital infrastructure decisions. Nearly half of the key decision makers who responded to our survey cite budget constraints as the primary obstacle to upgrading legacy systems, and 38% identified cost as a leading concern when planning digital enablement strategies.

Rising technical debt, fragmented supplier arrangements and the complexity of integrating older platforms with modern tools all contribute to increased transformation risk and operational drag.  

From a legal standpoint, these challenges often surface in the form of contractual risk, unclear responsibilities between technology suppliers, and uncertainty around service level commitments during migration. Organisations must be confident that procurement decisions, data handling arrangements and regulatory obligations are fully mapped across their transformation journey.

Where organisations are prioritising investment

Despite these barriers, organisations are investing with purpose. The top priorities of cybersecurity, AI and automation, and data analytics platforms all point to a drive for resilience, efficiency and actionable insight.

These technologies offer not only operational uplift but also long-term value, supporting improved governance, reduced risk exposure and better compliance outcomes. For many sectors, investment in secure, scalable digital enablement infrastructure is becoming central to regulatory readiness and market competitiveness.

Infrastructure as a differentiator

The strategic value of digital foundations is becoming clearer. With many organisations viewing infrastructure as a competitive differentiator, leaders increasingly recognise that stability, scalability and data driven decision making are central to growth.

Investments in core systems can unlock new service models, improve customer experience, and strengthen resilience against cyber threats and operational disruption.

The influence of national digital growth plans

National programmes are providing a backdrop for modernisation across sectors, bolstered by strategic government initiatives including Project Gigabit supporting the nationwide fibre rollout, and investments in emerging AI growth zones encouraged by the Government’s 10 Year UK Infrastructure Strategy. The private sector is swiftly capitalising on these opportunities, with investments such as Nvidia’s collaboration on significant data centre projects in the UK being announced at a rapid pace.  

37% of organisations expect these initiatives to have a material impact on their digital enablement strategies, underscoring the importance of aligning infrastructure decisions with evolving regional and national frameworks.

For heavily regulated sectors, this includes navigating emerging obligations around data protection, AI governance, supply chain security and critical infrastructure standards.

From investment to impact

The data paints a clear picture: organisations must treat infrastructure not as a technical upgrade but as a strategic business decision with legal, operational and commercial implications. Addressing cost pressures begins with creating a clear roadmap that balances short term investment with long term value. This includes auditing legacy systems, identifying contractual constraints, and ensuring suppliers can meet evolving regulatory requirements.

Integration challenges highlight the need for careful planning around data migration, interoperability and vendor accountability. Robust contracting covering service levels, liability, IP, data protection, resilience and exit rights can help organisations avoid costly pitfalls during modernisation.

At the same time, investment in cybersecurity, automation and analytics requires strong governance. Organisations should ensure their digital infrastructure strategy aligns with duties under data protection law, sector specific regulation, AI assurance expectations and emerging cyber standards.

Ultimately, the solution lies in combining strategic, evidence based decision making with informed legal guidance. This integrated approach reduces risk, protects investment and ensures organisations are resilient, future ready and positioned for growth.

“Strong legal foundations are an enabler of successful digital change programmes. By planning infrastructure change through both a technical and legal lens, businesses can modernise with confidence – reducing risk, strengthening resilience and building a platform that supports innovation for years to come.”

Lucy Pegler Partner, Burges Salmon

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Workforce and skills transformation
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