From changing IT and security priorities overnight, to establishing secure connections to enable your remote workforce, you navigated endless complexities and obstacles during the pandemic, ensuring business continuity.

Now, as organizations see some light at the end of the tunnel, redefined priorities and strategies are necessary to guide businesses to the next phase.

To help offer strategic foresight as organizations prepare for a post-pandemic "new normal," Axonius partnered with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) for a global survey of IT and cybersecurity professionals.

We set out to explore how the past year impacted priorities for security and IT teams, and the challenges they're up against as they begin devising their return-to-work plans.

According to data from the just-released survey report, "Cybersecurity Asset Management Trends 2021: How the Rapid Shift to Remote Work Impacted IT Complexity and Post-pandemic Security Priorities," IT and security teams are facing more challenges than ever before. In fact, 72% of survey respondents report increased complexity in their IT environments over the past two years.

The report provides insight into industry trends, including how last year's monumental shift to work-from-home further exacerbated IT complexity and reshaped cybersecurity priorities.

Some key highlights include:

You'll also learn why more organizations are looking to improve asset management to alleviate IT infrastructure visibility woes and bolster their security posture.

Mind the Gap: We Can't Defend What We Can't See

With a hybrid work environment expected to be the new norm in 2021 — respondents expect 40% of their workforce to continue to work remotely even after the pandemic — organizations will need to devise longer-term operating and security plans to secure and scale their businesses.

Continuous visibility into all aspects of IT infrastructure — beginning with an accurate asset inventory of devices and workloads — will be foundational to this effort.

However, organizations continue to report challenges in keeping up with visibility and asset inventory: 64% report asset inventory as an event, only updating inventories monthly or quarterly.

Increased IT complexity — coupled with a remote work-driven rise in device and operating diversity — is only worsening the problem. Half of organizations reported visibility and management challenges associated with data sprawl.

The good news? The research clearly shows that addressing visibility gaps minimizes security incidents.

As organizations set return-to-work plans in motion, a renewed focus on asset inventory will free up security and IT resources, allowing these teams to focus on more pressing tasks.

Explore the report to see why:

• The move to remote work required most organizations to reprioritize plans, delaying some initiatives while accelerating others
• Gaining visibility into cloud, IoT, and end-user devices remains a challenge
• Focusing on asset inventory will be a key priority for most organizations

Download "Cybersecurity Asset Management Trends 2021: How the Rapid Shift to Remote Work Impacted IT Complexity and Post-pandemic Security Priorities" to explore the findings now.