Acronis’ 2025 FOMO Report Exposes The Global Gender Perception Gap

Launching October 22 at MSP Global in Tarragona, Spain, the international survey surfaces the misalignment between perception and progress for women in tech.

Acronis unveils its “2025 FOMO at Work: The Opportunity Gap Between Men and Women in Tech” report on Oct. 22 at MSP Global in Spain. Presenting more than numbers the report offers a global mirror showing how intent and impact diverge for women in technology. Across more than 650 respondents spanning eight countries, the survey exposes how differing perceptions around leadership, career opportunity, and inclusion still shape who advances and who remains unseen.

A Global Canvas Of Gendered Perception

This year’s report expands Acronis’ research footprint, capturing voices from the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Japan, and Switzerland. It embeds the survey in the real demographics of tech where women account for approximately 29 percent of the workforce globally.

While policies and pledges toward equity are common across regions, the lived experience of women diverges. In many markets, men are more likely to believe opportunities for advancement are equal, while women point to systemic barriers tied to visibility, bias, and work-life constraints.

In Spain’s region of Catalonia and across southern Europe, respondents cited cultural expectations and institutional norms as persistent friction points. Meanwhile, in northern Europe and Asia, the perception gap often hinges on leadership pipelines and unwritten promotion pathways. These variations underscore that equity isn’t one-size-fits-all; it must be contextual and adaptable.

A Global Shift From Mentorship To Advocacy

The report reveals how women now prioritize advocacy over legacy mentorship. While advice and coaching remain valuable, they alone do not dismantle structural obstacles. Women, according to the survey, increasingly want leaders, specifically men who serve as allies, to use influence, power, and sponsorship to open doors.

In industries like cybersecurity and cloud services, where influence and network access often define who leads, advocacy has outsized impact. A mentor may guide; an advocate will put your name on the short list, push for your seat, and ensure you don’t remain invisible. The report suggests that organizations that build structured advocacy frameworks and couple them with transparent promotion metrics are poised to close opportunity gaps faster.

Equity As A Business Imperative

Beyond the equity narrative, the “FOMO at Work” report doubles as a call for inclusive infrastructure. For channel organizations, MSPs, vendors, and systems integrators, the findings validate what many have sensed for years: representation is only part of the path. Lasting change comes when inclusion becomes operationally baked into talent systems, leadership pipelines, compensation bands, and internal norms.

In the fast-evolving domains of AI, hybrid cloud, and cybersecurity, companies that embed equity into their architecture will see stronger retention, deeper innovation, and better alignment across global teams. The channel’s future depends not only on service excellence, but on who is empowered to architect it.

The Channel’s Role In Rewriting The Playbook

As a community, the channel ecosystem has often been a proving ground for shift-making: new earning models for technology distribution and implementation, and now we shift to leadership. Acronis’ “FOMO at Work” report offers global validation of many emerging best practices, while also exposing unexpected blind spots.

More women in leadership tracks correlate with stronger culture, better decision-making, and less attrition. Yet change cannot rely on the resilience of underrepresented creators alone. It must come from system design: who gets visibility, who owns agenda-setting, and who holds power.

As Alona Geckler, Acronis’ SVP of business operations, affirms. “Closing the gender gap requires more than awareness,” Geckler told CRN in an interview with CRN, “it requires infrastructure. The kind that embeds equity into how we operate everyday.”

The “FOMO at Work” findings don’t simply describe what’s wrong. They sketch a path toward what’s possible: a tech landscape where inclusion, not exclusion, is coded into leadership. And for the international channel ecosystem, that shift may begin in Tarragona.

The “FOMO at Work” survey by Acronis has been released. Read the full findings here.

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