Business and government executives overwhelmingly expect their organizations to use Cloud computing within the next two years, according to a survey by KPMG LLP.
Ninety percent of the executives and 68 percent of the middle managers said they are using or plan to use Cloud-based services within two years.
Eighty-two percent of all the respondents, which consisted of executives, middle managers and staff, said that migration to the Cloud raises a broad set of issues around business transformation that should be understood and managed across the entire organization.
When asked to rate the importance of four factors driving a company or organization to pursue Cloud-based activities, 84 percent of those surveyed rated "technical" (ie., scalability, security) as important or extremely important, while 78 percent viewed "economics" (cost savings, shifting capital expenditures to operational expenditures) as important or extremely important, and 76 percent placed "functional" (ie., capabilities, accessibility) in that category, with 66 percent rating "strategic" factors (ie., business process transformation, speed to market) as important or extremely important.
In addition, 79 percent of executives, middle managers and staff said that Cloud is a viable option for enterprises to be more agile and cost competitive and 74 percent said that organizations adopting Cloud can experience long-term competitive advantages.
Comment from Steve Hill, KPMG's National Innovation Leader: The survey results reflect wide acceptance of Cloud-based services among executives, who are increasingly recognizing the Cloud's strategic, business value. Those surveyed also said that experimentation will be required to fully understand the value of Cloud-based operations, and this approach, they noted, will bring challenges that need to be addressed. Those surveyed clearly recognize that in the migration to Cloud computing, strategic business considerations today decisively trump yesterday's technology discussion. Cloud-enabled environments, particularly community models, may facilitate paradigm changes in business models and in the core drivers of competitive differentiation.
About the survey: KPMG's survey sample comprised 174 executives, middle managers and staff from business, government and academia who completed surveys onsite at the Oracle OpenWorld 2010 trade show in September.
Contact: http://www.us.kpmg.com
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Cloud Adopters Say Cloud Solutions Are Better Than Their On-Premise Counterparts
Experienced cloud adopters see public cloud solutions as a significant improvement from their traditional on-premise counterparts, and cite the cloud's positive and strategic impact on their business and IT organization, according to a new survey:
-- More than 60 percent of cloud adopters say cloud solutions are better than on-premise in terms of availability, total cost of ownership, ease-of-integration, ease-of-deployment and time-to-value.
-- 83 percent agreed that cloud solutions have helped them respond faster to the needs of their business.
-- 29 percent strongly agreed that cloud solutions have changed the way they run their business.
-- Nearly 40 percent say future cloud adoption will be part of an overall business transformation, 65 percent say it will be part of an IT transformation.
Given the positive experience of cloud adopters, it may not be surprising to see that adopters label many of the most common fears about cloud solutions as "misconceptions." Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents say that cloud security is the number one misconception about cloud solutions, with integration challenges (15 percent) and lock-in (13 percent) coming in a distant second and third choice. More than 35 percent of respondents said IT leadership is the primary driver of cloud misconceptions, more than triple the number who called out traditional vendors (10 percent) or media and analysts (6 percent) as the driver.
Cloud adopters are more aggressive in their near-term and long-term adoption plans than what general market data indicates. Today, 22 percent of cloud adopters said they had more than 50 percent of their IT in the public cloud; and 68 percent expect to have the majority of their IT in the public cloud within three years. While nearly every analyst group predicts tremendous growth for cloud computing in the next three years, they're typically much more conservative about how much of IT moves to the public cloud in that timeframe.
IT has often been portrayed as on the sidelines when it comes to cloud adoption, with business leaders using cloud applications as a way to get around IT. However, cloud adopters paint a much different picture:
-- 70 percent of cloud adopters say IT was a driver in the decision-making process to move to the cloud, and nearly 80 percent expect IT will be a driver in the future.
-- 70 percent agree that cloud solutions have "changed the role of IT within the business -- IT is now seen as a true business enabler," and 40 percent strongly agree with this statement.
Security, compliance and manageability remain priorities for improving cloud applications, just as they continue to be priorities for existing, on-premise IT solutions. However, a new set of challenges are beginning to emerge with cloud adopters, including cloud-to-cloud integration, bringing information to mobile devices, and reducing SaaS silos. More than 73 percent of respondents selected each of these three areas as an important or very important priority. Overall, more than 65 percent of respondents said enhancing their cloud applications was a high or essential priority in the context of their broader objectives. Only 3 percent rated it a low or non-priority.
Comment from Chris Barbin, CEO of Appirio: Companies leading the charge on cloud computing can teach the broader market a lot about what's real, what's hype and what to expect when you move more of your IT to the cloud. Cloud computing is a highly valuable but disruptive technology, and the enterprises that will be most successful with the transition are those who can learn from the experience of others and look beyond the challenges of today.
About the survey: Appirio's State of the Public Cloud Survey targeted more than 150 IT decision makers at mid-to-large sized companies that had already implemented at least one of the leading SaaS applications or cloud platforms. Conducted by a third-party firm, the survey uncovered valuable insights from companies that have already begun their move to the cloud.
Contact: A free copy of Appirio's State of the Public Cloud report, including full data and commentary, can be downloaded here.
Contact: http://www.appirio.com
-- More than 60 percent of cloud adopters say cloud solutions are better than on-premise in terms of availability, total cost of ownership, ease-of-integration, ease-of-deployment and time-to-value.
-- 83 percent agreed that cloud solutions have helped them respond faster to the needs of their business.
-- 29 percent strongly agreed that cloud solutions have changed the way they run their business.
-- Nearly 40 percent say future cloud adoption will be part of an overall business transformation, 65 percent say it will be part of an IT transformation.
Given the positive experience of cloud adopters, it may not be surprising to see that adopters label many of the most common fears about cloud solutions as "misconceptions." Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents say that cloud security is the number one misconception about cloud solutions, with integration challenges (15 percent) and lock-in (13 percent) coming in a distant second and third choice. More than 35 percent of respondents said IT leadership is the primary driver of cloud misconceptions, more than triple the number who called out traditional vendors (10 percent) or media and analysts (6 percent) as the driver.
Cloud adopters are more aggressive in their near-term and long-term adoption plans than what general market data indicates. Today, 22 percent of cloud adopters said they had more than 50 percent of their IT in the public cloud; and 68 percent expect to have the majority of their IT in the public cloud within three years. While nearly every analyst group predicts tremendous growth for cloud computing in the next three years, they're typically much more conservative about how much of IT moves to the public cloud in that timeframe.
IT has often been portrayed as on the sidelines when it comes to cloud adoption, with business leaders using cloud applications as a way to get around IT. However, cloud adopters paint a much different picture:
-- 70 percent of cloud adopters say IT was a driver in the decision-making process to move to the cloud, and nearly 80 percent expect IT will be a driver in the future.
-- 70 percent agree that cloud solutions have "changed the role of IT within the business -- IT is now seen as a true business enabler," and 40 percent strongly agree with this statement.
Security, compliance and manageability remain priorities for improving cloud applications, just as they continue to be priorities for existing, on-premise IT solutions. However, a new set of challenges are beginning to emerge with cloud adopters, including cloud-to-cloud integration, bringing information to mobile devices, and reducing SaaS silos. More than 73 percent of respondents selected each of these three areas as an important or very important priority. Overall, more than 65 percent of respondents said enhancing their cloud applications was a high or essential priority in the context of their broader objectives. Only 3 percent rated it a low or non-priority.
Comment from Chris Barbin, CEO of Appirio: Companies leading the charge on cloud computing can teach the broader market a lot about what's real, what's hype and what to expect when you move more of your IT to the cloud. Cloud computing is a highly valuable but disruptive technology, and the enterprises that will be most successful with the transition are those who can learn from the experience of others and look beyond the challenges of today.
About the survey: Appirio's State of the Public Cloud Survey targeted more than 150 IT decision makers at mid-to-large sized companies that had already implemented at least one of the leading SaaS applications or cloud platforms. Conducted by a third-party firm, the survey uncovered valuable insights from companies that have already begun their move to the cloud.
Contact: A free copy of Appirio's State of the Public Cloud report, including full data and commentary, can be downloaded here.
Contact: http://www.appirio.com
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sixty-Four Percent Of Enterprises Admit They Would Not Pass an Audit Verifying Appropriate Access to Cloud Data
The Cloud is still akin to the Wild West when it comes to the security of the data hosted there, according to new survey findings.
In fact, one in seven companies admit that they know there are potential access violations in their Cloud applications, but they don't know how to find them. The survey also found that there is widespread confusion about who is responsible for securing Cloud data: 78.4 percent of respondents could not identify the single party responsible. As enterprises increasingly leverage Cloud solutions amid this confusion, more data is at risk of unauthorized access.
Cloud adoption may be outpacing commensurate security controls. Even more startling, the lack of knowledge about which systems or applications employees have access to is actually increasing, up nearly 10 percent from last year's figures. This indicates an alarming growth in the lack of control enterprises have over user access, which is only exacerbated by the use of Cloud solutions.
Key cloud-related results from the survey include:
-- Nearly half (48.1 percent) of respondents said they are not confident that a compliance audit of their Cloud-based applications would show that all user access is appropriate. An additional 15.7 percent admitted they are aware that potential access violations exist, but they don't know how to find them. Confusion abounds about Cloud data security - more than three quarters of respondents cannot say who they believe should be responsible for data housed in a Cloud environment.
-- While 65.4 percent said that the company from which the data originates, the application provider and the Cloud service provider are all responsible, another 13 percent said they were not sure. There is no consensus on who the single party should be that protects that data.
-- 61.2 percent of respondents said they have limited or no knowledge of which systems or applications employees have access to. This number spiked from 52.8 percent in 2009, demonstrating an increasing risk of "zombie" accounts -- accounts that remain active after employees have left the company or changed roles, which can lead to data breaches. Fittingly, enterprises are less confident this year than in 2009 that they can prevent terminated employees from accessing one or more IT systems.
-- 64.3 percent said they are not completely confident, compared with 57.9 percent last year. There was a slight increase in the percentage of companies who were more concerned with external IT security threats than internal ones. 56.5 percent of respondents said that external threats were still the biggest concern, compared with 54 percent last year.
Comment from Courion: These results show that many organizations are not currently doing the proper due diligence to ensure that sensitive data is being accessed by the right employees on-premise, not to mention when data is housed by a third party provider. The responses indicate that the problem is getting worse, and is only being exacerbated by the increasing use of Cloud-based applications, which creates more access violation risk. Courion recommends careful inspection of Access Assurance policies that define, verify and enforce that the right users have the right access to the right resources and are doing the right things, and also that companies deliberate on which applications are best-suited for Cloud environments and which are best kept on-premise.
About the survey: Courion Corporation conducted the 2010 Access Assurance Survey in October 2010 among 384 business managers from large enterprises, 86 percent of which had at least 1,000 employees.
Contact: http://www.courion.com
In fact, one in seven companies admit that they know there are potential access violations in their Cloud applications, but they don't know how to find them. The survey also found that there is widespread confusion about who is responsible for securing Cloud data: 78.4 percent of respondents could not identify the single party responsible. As enterprises increasingly leverage Cloud solutions amid this confusion, more data is at risk of unauthorized access.
Cloud adoption may be outpacing commensurate security controls. Even more startling, the lack of knowledge about which systems or applications employees have access to is actually increasing, up nearly 10 percent from last year's figures. This indicates an alarming growth in the lack of control enterprises have over user access, which is only exacerbated by the use of Cloud solutions.
Key cloud-related results from the survey include:
-- Nearly half (48.1 percent) of respondents said they are not confident that a compliance audit of their Cloud-based applications would show that all user access is appropriate. An additional 15.7 percent admitted they are aware that potential access violations exist, but they don't know how to find them. Confusion abounds about Cloud data security - more than three quarters of respondents cannot say who they believe should be responsible for data housed in a Cloud environment.
-- While 65.4 percent said that the company from which the data originates, the application provider and the Cloud service provider are all responsible, another 13 percent said they were not sure. There is no consensus on who the single party should be that protects that data.
-- 61.2 percent of respondents said they have limited or no knowledge of which systems or applications employees have access to. This number spiked from 52.8 percent in 2009, demonstrating an increasing risk of "zombie" accounts -- accounts that remain active after employees have left the company or changed roles, which can lead to data breaches. Fittingly, enterprises are less confident this year than in 2009 that they can prevent terminated employees from accessing one or more IT systems.
-- 64.3 percent said they are not completely confident, compared with 57.9 percent last year. There was a slight increase in the percentage of companies who were more concerned with external IT security threats than internal ones. 56.5 percent of respondents said that external threats were still the biggest concern, compared with 54 percent last year.
Comment from Courion: These results show that many organizations are not currently doing the proper due diligence to ensure that sensitive data is being accessed by the right employees on-premise, not to mention when data is housed by a third party provider. The responses indicate that the problem is getting worse, and is only being exacerbated by the increasing use of Cloud-based applications, which creates more access violation risk. Courion recommends careful inspection of Access Assurance policies that define, verify and enforce that the right users have the right access to the right resources and are doing the right things, and also that companies deliberate on which applications are best-suited for Cloud environments and which are best kept on-premise.
About the survey: Courion Corporation conducted the 2010 Access Assurance Survey in October 2010 among 384 business managers from large enterprises, 86 percent of which had at least 1,000 employees.
Contact: http://www.courion.com
Friday, October 22, 2010
Exponential Growth Expected For SaaS In The U.S. SMB Market
Small and medium business (SMB) spending in the U.S. on software-as-a-service (SaaS) will increase exponentially over the next five years, eclipsing growth in investments in on-premise software by a significant margin, according to data from AMI-Partners, which forecasts a 25 percent CAGR in hosted business application services spending through 2014.
This will come against a modest five percent uptick for all other categories of on-premise software combined. However, this growth will not be uniformly spread across all hosted applications. Mature applications such as ERP, SCM, procurement, finance, and core HR will turn over more slowly than those that are less saturated and have lower switching costs.
Comment from Helen Rosen, a Vice President with AMI-Partners: There is an entire marketplace trained on and running PC-based applications that will not disappear overnight. Much of these investments are in applications that are highly embedded, and would not be cost-effective to replace wholesale. In our opinion, there is immediate potential for vendors to capture incremental revenues from installed products through partial upgrades and add-ons delivered via SaaS. As an interim strategy, this could help vendors -- particularly those with large footprints of legacy applications -- protect their base, allow for an organic migration, and create a platform for an ecosystem of application enhancements to emerge. The cost advantages of SaaS could also have a big impact on how business process outsourcers (BPO) participate in the market opportunity going forward. Our research shows there is real opportunity for lower-cost hybrid models (SaaS + BPO) in which BPO is provisioned as a SaaS service running on a multi-tenant cloud platform. We see this as a game changer and long-term growth engine for outsourced services providers ... SaaS is now a mainstream alternative to on-premise business applications and BPO for a rapidly expanding portion of the small and mid-enterprise market. The multi-tenancy model offers U.S. SMBs comparable performance on a lower-cost basis and the flexibility to scale usage in line with shifting needs of their businesses. This is a value proposition that U.S. SMBs find highly attractive. The intense focus on cost management precipitated by an uncertain economy has also been an important catalyst of demand.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
This will come against a modest five percent uptick for all other categories of on-premise software combined. However, this growth will not be uniformly spread across all hosted applications. Mature applications such as ERP, SCM, procurement, finance, and core HR will turn over more slowly than those that are less saturated and have lower switching costs.
Comment from Helen Rosen, a Vice President with AMI-Partners: There is an entire marketplace trained on and running PC-based applications that will not disappear overnight. Much of these investments are in applications that are highly embedded, and would not be cost-effective to replace wholesale. In our opinion, there is immediate potential for vendors to capture incremental revenues from installed products through partial upgrades and add-ons delivered via SaaS. As an interim strategy, this could help vendors -- particularly those with large footprints of legacy applications -- protect their base, allow for an organic migration, and create a platform for an ecosystem of application enhancements to emerge. The cost advantages of SaaS could also have a big impact on how business process outsourcers (BPO) participate in the market opportunity going forward. Our research shows there is real opportunity for lower-cost hybrid models (SaaS + BPO) in which BPO is provisioned as a SaaS service running on a multi-tenant cloud platform. We see this as a game changer and long-term growth engine for outsourced services providers ... SaaS is now a mainstream alternative to on-premise business applications and BPO for a rapidly expanding portion of the small and mid-enterprise market. The multi-tenancy model offers U.S. SMBs comparable performance on a lower-cost basis and the flexibility to scale usage in line with shifting needs of their businesses. This is a value proposition that U.S. SMBs find highly attractive. The intense focus on cost management precipitated by an uncertain economy has also been an important catalyst of demand.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Major Concern For IT: Use, Access And Control Of Data In The Cloud
Cloud computing raises serious security concerns among respondents to an IBM survey about the use, access and control of data: 77 percent of respondents believe that adopting cloud computing makes protecting privacy more difficult; 50 percent are concerned about a data breach or loss; and 23 percent indicate that weakening of corporate network security is a concern. Businesses see the promise of the cloud model, but security remains an inhibitor to adoption.
While an information technology (IT) foundation pertains to all cloud computing, providers and users do not generally rely on one generic model for data security. Both cloud providers and users should consider a variety of factors, including the kind of work a client wants to do in the cloud and the mechanisms and controls used. For example, clients who have collaboration tools and email work in the cloud should think about access and policy controls, while clients focused on healthcare in the cloud should be concerned with data isolation and encryption.
These findings have spurred IBM to launch a set of initiatives based on a two-pronged approach to improving cloud security: plan and assess the security strategy for the cloud and obtain security services from the cloud.
Source: IBM's Institute for Business Value 2010 Global IT Risk Study.
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/services/riskstudy
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/security
While an information technology (IT) foundation pertains to all cloud computing, providers and users do not generally rely on one generic model for data security. Both cloud providers and users should consider a variety of factors, including the kind of work a client wants to do in the cloud and the mechanisms and controls used. For example, clients who have collaboration tools and email work in the cloud should think about access and policy controls, while clients focused on healthcare in the cloud should be concerned with data isolation and encryption.
These findings have spurred IBM to launch a set of initiatives based on a two-pronged approach to improving cloud security: plan and assess the security strategy for the cloud and obtain security services from the cloud.
Source: IBM's Institute for Business Value 2010 Global IT Risk Study.
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/services/riskstudy
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/security
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Demand For Security In The Cloud Continues Unabated
Market demand for security delivered in the cloud continues, especially as part of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model that make it easier for businesses to protect customer, employee and corporate information.
A recent survey of IT decision-makers at small-to-medium sized businesses found that one-third of respondents plan to implement such security services by 2012.
Industry analysts have also projected a continued shift toward security services.
Comment by Chris Christiansen, Program Vice President, Security Products and Services, IDC: We are seeing considerable movement from security software to SaaS, especially for messaging and Web security. Customers demand more flexibility so practically every security vendor will offer a SaaS alternative to hardware-based appliances and software licenses. SaaS will move from its traditional strength in messaging and Web into other markets such as vulnerability and identity management.
In response the the surging demand, Webroot introduced a new version of its Web security service. Updates include new Web activity reports that enable IT administrators to better manage bandwidth usage and prevent "repeat policy offenders" from putting the company's network at risk. Enhancements also include a new reporting infrastructure that provides administrators with instant access to custom data at any level of granularity.
About the survey: The online survey fielded in April 2010 with 505 U.S. Web and email security decision-makers in companies with 10 to 999 seats. The survey was commissioned by Webroot and conducted by e-Rewards.
A recent survey of IT decision-makers at small-to-medium sized businesses found that one-third of respondents plan to implement such security services by 2012.
Industry analysts have also projected a continued shift toward security services.
Comment by Chris Christiansen, Program Vice President, Security Products and Services, IDC: We are seeing considerable movement from security software to SaaS, especially for messaging and Web security. Customers demand more flexibility so practically every security vendor will offer a SaaS alternative to hardware-based appliances and software licenses. SaaS will move from its traditional strength in messaging and Web into other markets such as vulnerability and identity management.
In response the the surging demand, Webroot introduced a new version of its Web security service. Updates include new Web activity reports that enable IT administrators to better manage bandwidth usage and prevent "repeat policy offenders" from putting the company's network at risk. Enhancements also include a new reporting infrastructure that provides administrators with instant access to custom data at any level of granularity.
About the survey: The online survey fielded in April 2010 with 505 U.S. Web and email security decision-makers in companies with 10 to 999 seats. The survey was commissioned by Webroot and conducted by e-Rewards.
Survey Of Customers Convinces SAP To Launch Cloud, Virtualization Initiatives
Virtualization and cloud technologies are unstoppable, undeniable trends in today's data centers, according to an SAP survey of its customers.
A recent internal study among SAP customers found that 70 percent are actively evaluating virtual and cloud platforms. Virtualization and cloud computing continue to be the top two technology priorities for CIOs, according to Gartner.
The findings encouraged SAP to announce short and mid-term product and partner-related plans focused on cloud computing and virtualization management. As part of its product strategy, the company detailed a new solution designed to manage SAP system landscapes in data centers using modern virtual infrastructure and clouds.
Contact: http://www.sap.com
A recent internal study among SAP customers found that 70 percent are actively evaluating virtual and cloud platforms. Virtualization and cloud computing continue to be the top two technology priorities for CIOs, according to Gartner.
The findings encouraged SAP to announce short and mid-term product and partner-related plans focused on cloud computing and virtualization management. As part of its product strategy, the company detailed a new solution designed to manage SAP system landscapes in data centers using modern virtual infrastructure and clouds.
Contact: http://www.sap.com
CIOs Seek A More Collaborative, Virtual Workplace
CIOs who are moving toward more virtual, collaborative teams are benefiting from increased innovation, more effective talent recruitment and retention, and higher productivity, according to a new survey. One in six respondents said their companies are already seeing these results, and another one-fifth expect to garner benefits within a year.
The CIO should spearhead the transformation to a more virtualized workplace, according to 45 percent of respondents. Only CEOs ranked higher, with 47 percent, indicating the CIO is a strategic enabler who, alongside the CEO, can align IT capabilities with business needs.
Key findings include:
-- Virtual team structures are fostering more productive relationships with internal and external partners.
-- Organizations that have embraced virtual teams benefit from increased innovation and competitiveness, but often lack methods to measure the quantitative impact on the bottom line.
-- CIOs have a unique enterprise-wide perspective and are familiar with the people, tools, technologies, and techniques needed to create a corporate culture of virtual teams.
Comment from Malcolm Frank, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Cognizant: Business leaders today are exploring new ways of working in response to disruptive industry changes - globalization, new collaborative methods and technologies, and a rising tech-savvy generation of employees and consumers. The virtualization of people, processes, and technologies is resulting in faster time to market while unleashing innovation.
Comment from Mark Livingston, Senior Vice President, Cognizant Business Consulting: Working with global knowledge-based companies, we witness first-hand how virtual teams are more likely to take hold when the CIO is engaged in the process. CIOs have the clout and the top-to-bottom perspective to enable business process change, weaving together collaborative business processes and platforms often based on cloud, social and mobile technologies to make work more productive and cost-effective.
About the survey: Cognizant, a provider of consulting, technology, and business process outsourcing services, published the report, "Next-Generation CIOs: Change Agents for the Global Virtual Workplace." The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted the research across Europe and North America and wrote the report in cooperation with the Cognizant Business Consulting practice. A total of 402 respondents in Europe (52 percent) and North America (48 percent) participated in the survey, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit in May 2010. Forty-five percent of respondents hold C-suite or equivalent positions, and another 29 percent are senior vice presidents, vice presidents or directors. The remaining 26 percent are managers, department or business unit heads, and "other" titles. Most of the organizations surveyed have global operations. Thirty-eight percent are small to medium-sized companies, with less than $500 million in annual revenue. Another 19 percent report $500 million to $5 billion in annual revenue, and 33 percent exceed $5 billion in annual revenue. Forty-six percent of respondents have IT responsibility. The survey sought to explore differences in perspectives between IT and non-IT functions, but found considerable alignment between the two. Strategy and business development, and general management were the other main functional categories, with 13 percent in each. The remaining 28 percent fulfill a range of functions.
Contact: The full report on the survey is available at http://www.cognizant.com/nextgencio
The CIO should spearhead the transformation to a more virtualized workplace, according to 45 percent of respondents. Only CEOs ranked higher, with 47 percent, indicating the CIO is a strategic enabler who, alongside the CEO, can align IT capabilities with business needs.
Key findings include:
-- Virtual team structures are fostering more productive relationships with internal and external partners.
-- Organizations that have embraced virtual teams benefit from increased innovation and competitiveness, but often lack methods to measure the quantitative impact on the bottom line.
-- CIOs have a unique enterprise-wide perspective and are familiar with the people, tools, technologies, and techniques needed to create a corporate culture of virtual teams.
Comment from Malcolm Frank, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Cognizant: Business leaders today are exploring new ways of working in response to disruptive industry changes - globalization, new collaborative methods and technologies, and a rising tech-savvy generation of employees and consumers. The virtualization of people, processes, and technologies is resulting in faster time to market while unleashing innovation.
Comment from Mark Livingston, Senior Vice President, Cognizant Business Consulting: Working with global knowledge-based companies, we witness first-hand how virtual teams are more likely to take hold when the CIO is engaged in the process. CIOs have the clout and the top-to-bottom perspective to enable business process change, weaving together collaborative business processes and platforms often based on cloud, social and mobile technologies to make work more productive and cost-effective.
About the survey: Cognizant, a provider of consulting, technology, and business process outsourcing services, published the report, "Next-Generation CIOs: Change Agents for the Global Virtual Workplace." The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted the research across Europe and North America and wrote the report in cooperation with the Cognizant Business Consulting practice. A total of 402 respondents in Europe (52 percent) and North America (48 percent) participated in the survey, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit in May 2010. Forty-five percent of respondents hold C-suite or equivalent positions, and another 29 percent are senior vice presidents, vice presidents or directors. The remaining 26 percent are managers, department or business unit heads, and "other" titles. Most of the organizations surveyed have global operations. Thirty-eight percent are small to medium-sized companies, with less than $500 million in annual revenue. Another 19 percent report $500 million to $5 billion in annual revenue, and 33 percent exceed $5 billion in annual revenue. Forty-six percent of respondents have IT responsibility. The survey sought to explore differences in perspectives between IT and non-IT functions, but found considerable alignment between the two. Strategy and business development, and general management were the other main functional categories, with 13 percent in each. The remaining 28 percent fulfill a range of functions.
Contact: The full report on the survey is available at http://www.cognizant.com/nextgencio
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Use Of Public Cloud Business Continuity Services Still In Nascent Stages
The need for business continuity will continue to grow in importance among organizations of all types and sizes. However, to date, this has not translated to an early opportunity for cloud-based business continuity solutions, a new study has found. The opportunity for cloud-based storage continues to evolve as users and service providers explore the possibilities for different storage services.
Knowledge of public cloud storage offerings is greatest for backup and primary file storage. Business continuity services are the least well known, and this is due to the lack of broad availability of this type of capability. Among those surveyed, only 37.3 percent were able to articulate a position for their firm on their intentions on business continuity services. Conversely, just under three-fourths (71.3 percent) were able to articulate a position on public cloud backup.
Comment from Laura DuBois, program vice president, Storage Software at IDC: Discrete business continuity services delivered via a public cloud remain an untapped opportunity for suppliers. There are very few offerings that enable an on-premise application or system to failover to shared infrastructure in a public cloud. However, what firms increasingly require is continuity of business. They need this continuity of IT processing without bearing the cost of standing up additional cold or standby infrastructure and initiating a restore process. As public cloud storage offerings continue to take hold, we expect to see suppliers start to capitalize on this opportunity by leveraging virtual infrastructure.
Comment from Brad Nisbet, program manager, Storage and Data Management Services at IDC: Given the limited number of providers offering cloud-based storage continuity services, there is ample room for early success. Addressing business continuity is a natural extension of existing cloud-based services such as backup and archiving, and will prove to be an early differentiator among service providers, especially among those that are addressing the needs of SMBs -- a community eager to find practical, offsite solutions to address disaster recovery scenarios and enable business continuity.
Comment from Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst Frank Gens: Overall, cloud computing is one of the faster growing areas of IT spending. With 27 percent growth, we are "crossing the chasm" with public IT cloud services, moving from just early adopters to early mainstream organizations. This makes 2010 and 2011 a critical time for CIOs and IT vendors to define their strategies and stake out early advantages for their organizations.
About the study: The IDC study, Public Cloud Business Continuity Services Remain an Underserved Opportunity (Doc #224792), is based on results drawn from a Web survey completed in 2010 by 300 qualified IT and business professionals. To participate in the Storage in the Cloud Survey, respondents had to understand cloud storage policies, process, and strategy for their firm. The survey quantified midsize (100--999 employees), large (1,000--9,999 employees), and very large (10,000+ employees) companies' current use of, future plans for, or expansion of different public cloud storage offerings. Further examination of the adoption of cloud storage for particular use cases and with specific applications due to specific drivers was conducted. Budgets, workloads, capacity, supplier preference, and key requirements were uncovered.
Contact: http://idc-insights-community.com
Knowledge of public cloud storage offerings is greatest for backup and primary file storage. Business continuity services are the least well known, and this is due to the lack of broad availability of this type of capability. Among those surveyed, only 37.3 percent were able to articulate a position for their firm on their intentions on business continuity services. Conversely, just under three-fourths (71.3 percent) were able to articulate a position on public cloud backup.
Comment from Laura DuBois, program vice president, Storage Software at IDC: Discrete business continuity services delivered via a public cloud remain an untapped opportunity for suppliers. There are very few offerings that enable an on-premise application or system to failover to shared infrastructure in a public cloud. However, what firms increasingly require is continuity of business. They need this continuity of IT processing without bearing the cost of standing up additional cold or standby infrastructure and initiating a restore process. As public cloud storage offerings continue to take hold, we expect to see suppliers start to capitalize on this opportunity by leveraging virtual infrastructure.
Comment from Brad Nisbet, program manager, Storage and Data Management Services at IDC: Given the limited number of providers offering cloud-based storage continuity services, there is ample room for early success. Addressing business continuity is a natural extension of existing cloud-based services such as backup and archiving, and will prove to be an early differentiator among service providers, especially among those that are addressing the needs of SMBs -- a community eager to find practical, offsite solutions to address disaster recovery scenarios and enable business continuity.
Comment from Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst Frank Gens: Overall, cloud computing is one of the faster growing areas of IT spending. With 27 percent growth, we are "crossing the chasm" with public IT cloud services, moving from just early adopters to early mainstream organizations. This makes 2010 and 2011 a critical time for CIOs and IT vendors to define their strategies and stake out early advantages for their organizations.
About the study: The IDC study, Public Cloud Business Continuity Services Remain an Underserved Opportunity (Doc #224792), is based on results drawn from a Web survey completed in 2010 by 300 qualified IT and business professionals. To participate in the Storage in the Cloud Survey, respondents had to understand cloud storage policies, process, and strategy for their firm. The survey quantified midsize (100--999 employees), large (1,000--9,999 employees), and very large (10,000+ employees) companies' current use of, future plans for, or expansion of different public cloud storage offerings. Further examination of the adoption of cloud storage for particular use cases and with specific applications due to specific drivers was conducted. Budgets, workloads, capacity, supplier preference, and key requirements were uncovered.
Contact: http://idc-insights-community.com
Friday, October 15, 2010
Economic Downturn and New Technologies, Such as Cloud Computing, Driving Changes in Software Licensing Models
Software vendors and their enterprise customers, increasingly challenged by the current economic downturn, are looking for better strategies to derive more value for their organizations through software licensing and pricing, a survey has found. While not surprisingly some of those strategies diverge between vendors and customers, many are complementary and serve to strengthen the positions of both.
Key findings:
-- Cloud computing driving further market flux: In a sign of significant market change, the majority of software vendors (60 percent) believe that their licensing will need to change in some way in the next 24 months to adapt to cloud computing, with around 30 percent expecting that change to be significant. Back-end licensing and entitlement management will need to accommodate cloud computing as well.
-- Software Pricing Models - Divergent preferences, converging strategies: While software vendors offer both seat (per machine/server) licenses (65 percent) and concurrent user (floating/network) (62 percent) pricing models, enterprises most prefer concurrent user (floating/network) (59 percent) software pricing models and usage-based models (16 percent). Vendors are responding, with 41 percent planning on offering usage-based models in the next two years, up from 22 percent currently.
-- Monitoring usage - critically important: Only 40 percent of software vendors are using tools to monitor customer usage, and just over half of those companies that have or plan to have a usage-based pricing model in the next two years are using tools. One-third of companies that have or plan on implementing usage-based pricing do not track usage at all -- not even manually. On the enterprise side, 71 percent of companies agree that tracking software usage is important, citing software cost reduction and ensuring compliance as their primary reasons.
-- Disconnect between confidence and compliance: While 85 percent of enterprises responded that if audited, they are at least somewhat confident that they are in compliance with all of their software license agreements, when pressed, that confidence is not justified. 53 percent of enterprises also responded that at least some of their software license spend is associated with applications that are overused and therefore out of compliance; 85 percent responded that at least some of their software license spend is associated with under-used software, or shelfware.
-- Continuing trend to pay only for actual usage: In a continuing trend towards software licensing and enforcement mechanisms focusing on actual usage, 46 percent of software companies use network licensing as a means of enforcement, up from 28 percent a year ago.
-- Poor usage tracking driving acquisition of licensing management tools: 18 percent of software vendors believe their customers don't understand their software usage and entitlements, and 21 percent don't know. Likewise, vendors themselves either don't have technology in place to know what products, product versions or platforms their customers are using (33 percent), or they don't know (10 percent). Not surprisingly, 46 percent of the vendors cite the need to deploy technologies that better track licensing as a priority over the coming year.
Comment from Amy Konary, Director of Software Pricing and Licensing Research at IDC: The 2010 survey highlights a continued need for more sophisticated usage and entitlement tracking. The majority of enterprises believe that they are either underutilizing or out of compliance with their vendor software licenses, which equates to a significant opportunity for license optimization. Software vendors have also identified opportunities to better serve their customers and improve efficiencies, with 20 percent more companies planning on offering usage-based models within the next two years and 46 percent citing the need to deploy technologies that better track licensing.
About the survey: Flexera Software, a provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management to application producers and their customers, conducted the 2010 Software Pricing and Licensing Survey among 234 software vendors, high-tech manufacturers and enterprise IT executives and managers. The survey was prepared jointly with IDC.
Contact: http://www.flexerasoftware.com
Key findings:
-- Cloud computing driving further market flux: In a sign of significant market change, the majority of software vendors (60 percent) believe that their licensing will need to change in some way in the next 24 months to adapt to cloud computing, with around 30 percent expecting that change to be significant. Back-end licensing and entitlement management will need to accommodate cloud computing as well.
-- Software Pricing Models - Divergent preferences, converging strategies: While software vendors offer both seat (per machine/server) licenses (65 percent) and concurrent user (floating/network) (62 percent) pricing models, enterprises most prefer concurrent user (floating/network) (59 percent) software pricing models and usage-based models (16 percent). Vendors are responding, with 41 percent planning on offering usage-based models in the next two years, up from 22 percent currently.
-- Monitoring usage - critically important: Only 40 percent of software vendors are using tools to monitor customer usage, and just over half of those companies that have or plan to have a usage-based pricing model in the next two years are using tools. One-third of companies that have or plan on implementing usage-based pricing do not track usage at all -- not even manually. On the enterprise side, 71 percent of companies agree that tracking software usage is important, citing software cost reduction and ensuring compliance as their primary reasons.
-- Disconnect between confidence and compliance: While 85 percent of enterprises responded that if audited, they are at least somewhat confident that they are in compliance with all of their software license agreements, when pressed, that confidence is not justified. 53 percent of enterprises also responded that at least some of their software license spend is associated with applications that are overused and therefore out of compliance; 85 percent responded that at least some of their software license spend is associated with under-used software, or shelfware.
-- Continuing trend to pay only for actual usage: In a continuing trend towards software licensing and enforcement mechanisms focusing on actual usage, 46 percent of software companies use network licensing as a means of enforcement, up from 28 percent a year ago.
-- Poor usage tracking driving acquisition of licensing management tools: 18 percent of software vendors believe their customers don't understand their software usage and entitlements, and 21 percent don't know. Likewise, vendors themselves either don't have technology in place to know what products, product versions or platforms their customers are using (33 percent), or they don't know (10 percent). Not surprisingly, 46 percent of the vendors cite the need to deploy technologies that better track licensing as a priority over the coming year.
Comment from Amy Konary, Director of Software Pricing and Licensing Research at IDC: The 2010 survey highlights a continued need for more sophisticated usage and entitlement tracking. The majority of enterprises believe that they are either underutilizing or out of compliance with their vendor software licenses, which equates to a significant opportunity for license optimization. Software vendors have also identified opportunities to better serve their customers and improve efficiencies, with 20 percent more companies planning on offering usage-based models within the next two years and 46 percent citing the need to deploy technologies that better track licensing.
About the survey: Flexera Software, a provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management to application producers and their customers, conducted the 2010 Software Pricing and Licensing Survey among 234 software vendors, high-tech manufacturers and enterprise IT executives and managers. The survey was prepared jointly with IDC.
Contact: http://www.flexerasoftware.com
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Interop Attendees Ready To Spend On Cloud Computing, Virtualization, IT Security
A pre-Interop survey found that 48 percent of attendees at the upcoming event in New York intend to increase spending on technologies in 2011, signaling increased budgets for the business technology industry. Attendees also showed significant interest in cloud computing and virtualization.
Ninety-six percent of pre-registered attendees are active purchasers within their companies, whose priorities include cloud computing, virtualization, IT security, data centers, network upgrades, and wireless/mobility.
The Interop survey polled over 300 pre-registered Interop New York 2010 attendees via email and found the following top line results:
Active buyer trends:
-- 91 percent of Interop New York attendees' 2011 IT budgets will increase or stay the same compared with 2010
-- 48 percent of attendees' 2011 budgets will increase, while only 9 percent will decrease compared with 2010
Active buyer profile and interest areas (96 percent of Interop attendees are active in their company's IT purchase process):
-- Cloud computing is a growing priority area this year. Forty-six percent have specified cloud applications/services as a priority initiative for the next year, up 100 percent from last year's 23 percent. Seventy-two percent are currently using, planning to use or considering private clouds, while 66 percent are currently using, planning to use or considering public clouds. Fifty-four percent of attendees specified security is a top priority for 2011, once again ranking as the #1 focus area for projects.
-- 52 percent of attendees specified server virtualization as a top priority initiative in the coming year, up from 31 percent a year ago
-- 45 percent of attendees specified data center upgrades and optimization as a top priority, up from 44 percent a year ago
-- The four fastest growing priority categories vs. a year ago are: cloud applications/services, desktop virtualization, collaboration/Enterprise 2.0 and server virtualization
Comment from Lenny Heymann, General Manager of Interop: Interop attendees are ready to spend. With a comprehensive range of technologies on display at Interop, it continues to be a place where active and qualified buyers come to plan their purchases for the coming year, especially in priority areas like cloud computing and virtualization.
About the survey: An email invitation to the online survey was sent to a random sampling of pre-registered Interop New York 2010 attendees. The survey was fielded by 3rd party research company Decipher, Inc. from September 27-October 8, 2010. Results represent 333 respondents. Survey details are available on request.Interop New York is happening October 18-22 at the Javits Convention Center.
Contact: http://www.interop.com/newyork
Ninety-six percent of pre-registered attendees are active purchasers within their companies, whose priorities include cloud computing, virtualization, IT security, data centers, network upgrades, and wireless/mobility.
The Interop survey polled over 300 pre-registered Interop New York 2010 attendees via email and found the following top line results:
Active buyer trends:
-- 91 percent of Interop New York attendees' 2011 IT budgets will increase or stay the same compared with 2010
-- 48 percent of attendees' 2011 budgets will increase, while only 9 percent will decrease compared with 2010
Active buyer profile and interest areas (96 percent of Interop attendees are active in their company's IT purchase process):
-- Cloud computing is a growing priority area this year. Forty-six percent have specified cloud applications/services as a priority initiative for the next year, up 100 percent from last year's 23 percent. Seventy-two percent are currently using, planning to use or considering private clouds, while 66 percent are currently using, planning to use or considering public clouds. Fifty-four percent of attendees specified security is a top priority for 2011, once again ranking as the #1 focus area for projects.
-- 52 percent of attendees specified server virtualization as a top priority initiative in the coming year, up from 31 percent a year ago
-- 45 percent of attendees specified data center upgrades and optimization as a top priority, up from 44 percent a year ago
-- The four fastest growing priority categories vs. a year ago are: cloud applications/services, desktop virtualization, collaboration/Enterprise 2.0 and server virtualization
Comment from Lenny Heymann, General Manager of Interop: Interop attendees are ready to spend. With a comprehensive range of technologies on display at Interop, it continues to be a place where active and qualified buyers come to plan their purchases for the coming year, especially in priority areas like cloud computing and virtualization.
About the survey: An email invitation to the online survey was sent to a random sampling of pre-registered Interop New York 2010 attendees. The survey was fielded by 3rd party research company Decipher, Inc. from September 27-October 8, 2010. Results represent 333 respondents. Survey details are available on request.Interop New York is happening October 18-22 at the Javits Convention Center.
Contact: http://www.interop.com/newyork
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Virtualization Management A Key Priority for Overcoming VM Stall
Management is a key priority for expanding virtualization across the IT environment, new research has found.
It is important to have a choice of robust, heterogeneous, virtualization-specific management solutions, covering multiple management disciplines, with a clear roadmap to extend management into enterprise-wide physical plus virtual management as organizations' IT environments mature. The roadmap for virtualization management is an important key to resolving VM stall, accelerating virtualization maturity, and delivering key benefits such as reduced cost of IT, improved operational efficiency, lower staffing costs, and increased business agility.
Five key findings:
-- The reality of VM stall: Around one-third (34 percent) of organizations have only deployed virtualization for five to 20 percent of servers - typically the "low-hanging fruit" of test and development systems, Web servers, print servers, etc. Most respondents (87 percent) have only virtualized less than 40 percent of their servers. Only 12 percent have reached the final phase of virtualization, with more than 40 percent of servers virtualized. On average, respondents have virtualized just 39 percent of their servers. Most organizations are still in the early phases of virtualization deployment, held up by VM stall.
-- Key causes of VM stall: Respondents cited several causes for their inability to expand their virtualization deployments. While budget remains the top barrier to new technology deployment, the leading non-monetary causes for VM stall include the high operational risk of a failed migration; the inability of available tools to meet management needs; and the lack of resources skilled in virtual server management.
-- Leading virtualization objectives: The research further found that at these early stages, the focus tends more toward cost savings. At this stage, the leading objective for virtualization, as cited by 39 percent of organizations, was improved efficiency and headcount reduction. A further 32 percent cited hardware and capital cost reduction as a primary virtualization goal. Only a few organizations have progressed to a more mature stage of adoption, but here focus shifts toward higher-order business outcomes. At later stages, the flexibility to meet changing business demands was the leading virtualization objective, cited as a primary goal by 43 percent of organizations.
-- Virtualization-specific vs. integrated management: In surveying organizations' preferences for dedicated vs. integrated virtualization management solutions across 11 different management disciplines, it was clear that management needs vary by maturity, discipline, and scale. A significant minority of organizations (23 to 33 percent, depending on maturity) expressed a preference for virtualization-specific management tools. However, many respondents (47 to 53 percent) expressed a preference for integrated physical plus virtual management tools. This demonstrates that there is a clear need for both virtualization-specific, and integrated physical and virtual solutions across all disciplines, and the flexibility to move seamlessly from one approach to the other.
-- Heterogeneous hypervisor support: Moreover, the research data also reinforce the fundamentally heterogeneous nature of most virtualization deployments at their deepest levels. Almost two-thirds of all respondents (65 percent) reported employing multiple hypervisors in at least some capacity (ranging from early evaluation through to full deployment), while almost one-fifth (19 percent) reported employing four or more hypervisors. This heterogeneity also contributes to the difficulty in finding adequate management tools to support virtualization environments.
Comment by Stephen Elliot, vice president of strategy, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies: Organizations held back by VM stall are unable to progress from the entry-level benefits of server consolidation into infrastructure optimization, automation efficiency, and dynamic data center or private cloud. This means virtualization rollouts fail to realize the full scope of promised benefits - not just cost reduction, but also service improvements, staffing benefits, business and IT agility, management efficiency, and market responsiveness.
Comment by Andi Mann, vice president of product marketing, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies: Organizations at all maturity levels need a choice of dedicated and integrated management tools, across multiple disciplines, and designed for heterogeneous virtualization environments, to overcome VM stall and accelerate their virtualization deployments.
The research, based on a survey of 473 IT decision makers in large and mid-sized enterprises in the U.S. and Germany, was conducted on behalf of CA Technologies by Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm.
Contact: http://www.ca.com/us/collateral/supporting-pieces/na/Virtualization-and-Management.aspx
It is important to have a choice of robust, heterogeneous, virtualization-specific management solutions, covering multiple management disciplines, with a clear roadmap to extend management into enterprise-wide physical plus virtual management as organizations' IT environments mature. The roadmap for virtualization management is an important key to resolving VM stall, accelerating virtualization maturity, and delivering key benefits such as reduced cost of IT, improved operational efficiency, lower staffing costs, and increased business agility.
Five key findings:
-- The reality of VM stall: Around one-third (34 percent) of organizations have only deployed virtualization for five to 20 percent of servers - typically the "low-hanging fruit" of test and development systems, Web servers, print servers, etc. Most respondents (87 percent) have only virtualized less than 40 percent of their servers. Only 12 percent have reached the final phase of virtualization, with more than 40 percent of servers virtualized. On average, respondents have virtualized just 39 percent of their servers. Most organizations are still in the early phases of virtualization deployment, held up by VM stall.
-- Key causes of VM stall: Respondents cited several causes for their inability to expand their virtualization deployments. While budget remains the top barrier to new technology deployment, the leading non-monetary causes for VM stall include the high operational risk of a failed migration; the inability of available tools to meet management needs; and the lack of resources skilled in virtual server management.
-- Leading virtualization objectives: The research further found that at these early stages, the focus tends more toward cost savings. At this stage, the leading objective for virtualization, as cited by 39 percent of organizations, was improved efficiency and headcount reduction. A further 32 percent cited hardware and capital cost reduction as a primary virtualization goal. Only a few organizations have progressed to a more mature stage of adoption, but here focus shifts toward higher-order business outcomes. At later stages, the flexibility to meet changing business demands was the leading virtualization objective, cited as a primary goal by 43 percent of organizations.
-- Virtualization-specific vs. integrated management: In surveying organizations' preferences for dedicated vs. integrated virtualization management solutions across 11 different management disciplines, it was clear that management needs vary by maturity, discipline, and scale. A significant minority of organizations (23 to 33 percent, depending on maturity) expressed a preference for virtualization-specific management tools. However, many respondents (47 to 53 percent) expressed a preference for integrated physical plus virtual management tools. This demonstrates that there is a clear need for both virtualization-specific, and integrated physical and virtual solutions across all disciplines, and the flexibility to move seamlessly from one approach to the other.
-- Heterogeneous hypervisor support: Moreover, the research data also reinforce the fundamentally heterogeneous nature of most virtualization deployments at their deepest levels. Almost two-thirds of all respondents (65 percent) reported employing multiple hypervisors in at least some capacity (ranging from early evaluation through to full deployment), while almost one-fifth (19 percent) reported employing four or more hypervisors. This heterogeneity also contributes to the difficulty in finding adequate management tools to support virtualization environments.
Comment by Stephen Elliot, vice president of strategy, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies: Organizations held back by VM stall are unable to progress from the entry-level benefits of server consolidation into infrastructure optimization, automation efficiency, and dynamic data center or private cloud. This means virtualization rollouts fail to realize the full scope of promised benefits - not just cost reduction, but also service improvements, staffing benefits, business and IT agility, management efficiency, and market responsiveness.
Comment by Andi Mann, vice president of product marketing, Virtualization and Automation, CA Technologies: Organizations at all maturity levels need a choice of dedicated and integrated management tools, across multiple disciplines, and designed for heterogeneous virtualization environments, to overcome VM stall and accelerate their virtualization deployments.
The research, based on a survey of 473 IT decision makers in large and mid-sized enterprises in the U.S. and Germany, was conducted on behalf of CA Technologies by Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm.
Contact: http://www.ca.com/us/collateral/supporting-pieces/na/Virtualization-and-Management.aspx
Saturday, October 9, 2010
IT Professionals Predict Mobile and Cloud Technologies Will Dominate Enterprise Computing By 2015
Information technology professionals predict that mobile and cloud computing will emerge as the most in-demand platforms for software application development and IT delivery over the next five years, according to a new survey.
More than half of all IT professionals -- 55 percent -- expect mobile software application development for devices such as iPhone and Android, and even tablet PCs like iPad and PlayBook, will surpass application development on all other traditional computing platforms by 2015.
With the proliferation of these mobile devices, industry analysts are predicting mobile applications sales will undergo massive growth over the next three years, with estimates of mobile application revenues expanding from $6.2 billion this year to nearly $30 billion by 2013.
Additional survey findings:
-- 91 percent anticipate cloud computing will overtake on-premise computing as the primary way organizations acquire IT over the next five years
-- Mobile and cloud computing are followed by social media, business analytics and industry-specific technologies as the hottest IT career opportunities beginning in 2011
-- 90 percent believe it is important to possess vertical industry-specific skills for their jobs, yet 63 percent admit they are lacking the industry knowledge needed to remain competitive
-- Telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, and energy and utilities rank as the top four industries in which respondents identify as having the greatest opportunity to expand their careers.
Comment from Jim Corgel, general manager, IBM Independent Software Vendors and Developer Relations: To best understand where enterprise technology is headed, one must pay attention to those who have a pulse on market demands - the developers and IT specialists responding to these demands and creating the next generation of business applications. These survey results clearly demonstrate that IT professionals see a combination of disruptive technologies and industry-specific skills as key to driving near-term business growth.
About the survey: The 2010 IBM Tech Trends Survey provides insight into the most significant enterprise technology and industry trends based on responses from 2,000 IT developers and specialists across 87 countries. The online survey, conducted by IBM developerWorks of its eight million registered users in August and September 2010, includes responses from IT professionals with expertise in areas such as enterprise and web application development, system and network administration, and software testing and architecture.
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks
More than half of all IT professionals -- 55 percent -- expect mobile software application development for devices such as iPhone and Android, and even tablet PCs like iPad and PlayBook, will surpass application development on all other traditional computing platforms by 2015.
With the proliferation of these mobile devices, industry analysts are predicting mobile applications sales will undergo massive growth over the next three years, with estimates of mobile application revenues expanding from $6.2 billion this year to nearly $30 billion by 2013.
Additional survey findings:
-- 91 percent anticipate cloud computing will overtake on-premise computing as the primary way organizations acquire IT over the next five years
-- Mobile and cloud computing are followed by social media, business analytics and industry-specific technologies as the hottest IT career opportunities beginning in 2011
-- 90 percent believe it is important to possess vertical industry-specific skills for their jobs, yet 63 percent admit they are lacking the industry knowledge needed to remain competitive
-- Telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, and energy and utilities rank as the top four industries in which respondents identify as having the greatest opportunity to expand their careers.
Comment from Jim Corgel, general manager, IBM Independent Software Vendors and Developer Relations: To best understand where enterprise technology is headed, one must pay attention to those who have a pulse on market demands - the developers and IT specialists responding to these demands and creating the next generation of business applications. These survey results clearly demonstrate that IT professionals see a combination of disruptive technologies and industry-specific skills as key to driving near-term business growth.
About the survey: The 2010 IBM Tech Trends Survey provides insight into the most significant enterprise technology and industry trends based on responses from 2,000 IT developers and specialists across 87 countries. The online survey, conducted by IBM developerWorks of its eight million registered users in August and September 2010, includes responses from IT professionals with expertise in areas such as enterprise and web application development, system and network administration, and software testing and architecture.
Contact: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks
Friday, October 8, 2010
Mainframe Is Essential To Cloud Computing Strategies
Seventy-nine percent of IT organizations believe the mainframe is an essential component of their cloud computing strategy, a survey has found.
In addition, 74 percent of respondents believe that the mainframe will have a role in any cloud computing initiative, and 70 percent agreed that cloud computing will sustain or extend the mainframe environment.
As the mainframe takes center stage in cloud computing environments, organizations will increasingly rely on mainframe management solutions.
Eighty-two percent of respondents reported that they intend to use the mainframe in the future either as much or more than today.
The most pressing issues facing European organizations in the next 12 months is an increased demand for training (cited by 54 percent of respondents).
Comment from Dayton Semerjian, general manager, mainframe, CA Technologies: This survey provides indisputable evidence of the mainframe's agility to perform in new IT models such as cloud computing, and on-going durability as a critical data center platform for decades to come. Ongoing, practical innovation will be required to ensure that the mainframe can always be an effective and integral part of an evolving IT infrastructure.
About the survey: More than 300 IT decision makers in ten countries responded to the CA Technologies commissioned survey, "Mainframe - The Ultimate Cloud Platform?"
Contact: http://ow.ly/2PFhY
Contact: http://www.ca.com
In addition, 74 percent of respondents believe that the mainframe will have a role in any cloud computing initiative, and 70 percent agreed that cloud computing will sustain or extend the mainframe environment.
As the mainframe takes center stage in cloud computing environments, organizations will increasingly rely on mainframe management solutions.
Eighty-two percent of respondents reported that they intend to use the mainframe in the future either as much or more than today.
The most pressing issues facing European organizations in the next 12 months is an increased demand for training (cited by 54 percent of respondents).
Comment from Dayton Semerjian, general manager, mainframe, CA Technologies: This survey provides indisputable evidence of the mainframe's agility to perform in new IT models such as cloud computing, and on-going durability as a critical data center platform for decades to come. Ongoing, practical innovation will be required to ensure that the mainframe can always be an effective and integral part of an evolving IT infrastructure.
About the survey: More than 300 IT decision makers in ten countries responded to the CA Technologies commissioned survey, "Mainframe - The Ultimate Cloud Platform?"
Contact: http://ow.ly/2PFhY
Contact: http://www.ca.com
Cloud Is A Strategic Direction For Most Companies
More than 60 percent of responders to a recent survey said that moving to the cloud for applications, infrastructure, integration and other solutions is a strategic direction for their organization. Thirty-five percent of cloud strategy decision makers were C-level executives with IT management owning the strategy in 41 percent of the cases.
Most of the companies involved in the survey are already deploying cloud-based solutions. One-third (36 percent) of those surveyed have implemented at least one cloud solution, with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ranking among 70 percent of respondents as the number one cloud platform implemented or planned for implementation. An additional 25 percent said they are considering moving some or all business processes to the cloud, illustrating that more than half of the survey respondents see the value of the cloud.
However, lack of clarity around cloud benefits was the top reason cited by respondents for not currently implementing cloud-based solutions. Despite the growing adoption of cloud-based solutions, companies still struggle to understand what the cloud is and how to use it.
The survey also showed that security, management and scalability are the top considerations for companies when evaluating whether or not to deploy cloud solutions, with 70 percent citing the ability to secure data as their top priority. Other high scoring considerations include the ability to quickly integrate with internal applications and external partner systems as well as a "pay as you go" pricing model.
Comment from Margaret Dawson, vice president of marketing and product management at Hubspan: This research validates what we are seeing in the market, with many IT departments looking to move applications and business processes to the cloud but doing so in a strategic, thoughtful manner. No matter what challenge you are trying to solve, one of the key benefits of the cloud is being able to start small and grow both from a cost and implementation perspective.
About the survey: The survey on cloud computing and "as a service" solutions was conducted by Hubspan Inc., a provider of cloud-based business integration solutions. More than 200 companies completed the cloud survey, ranging in size from under 50 to several thousand employees. Respondents represented a range of industries, with high-tech, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail and B2B eCommerce accounting for 50 percent of the polls.
Contact: http://www.hubspan.com
Most of the companies involved in the survey are already deploying cloud-based solutions. One-third (36 percent) of those surveyed have implemented at least one cloud solution, with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ranking among 70 percent of respondents as the number one cloud platform implemented or planned for implementation. An additional 25 percent said they are considering moving some or all business processes to the cloud, illustrating that more than half of the survey respondents see the value of the cloud.
However, lack of clarity around cloud benefits was the top reason cited by respondents for not currently implementing cloud-based solutions. Despite the growing adoption of cloud-based solutions, companies still struggle to understand what the cloud is and how to use it.
The survey also showed that security, management and scalability are the top considerations for companies when evaluating whether or not to deploy cloud solutions, with 70 percent citing the ability to secure data as their top priority. Other high scoring considerations include the ability to quickly integrate with internal applications and external partner systems as well as a "pay as you go" pricing model.
Comment from Margaret Dawson, vice president of marketing and product management at Hubspan: This research validates what we are seeing in the market, with many IT departments looking to move applications and business processes to the cloud but doing so in a strategic, thoughtful manner. No matter what challenge you are trying to solve, one of the key benefits of the cloud is being able to start small and grow both from a cost and implementation perspective.
About the survey: The survey on cloud computing and "as a service" solutions was conducted by Hubspan Inc., a provider of cloud-based business integration solutions. More than 200 companies completed the cloud survey, ranging in size from under 50 to several thousand employees. Respondents represented a range of industries, with high-tech, manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail and B2B eCommerce accounting for 50 percent of the polls.
Contact: http://www.hubspan.com
Channel Partners Face Challenges In Current Model Of Cloud Services
The overall number of channel partners (VARs, SIs, ISVs, etc) offering cloud services to U.S. small and medium businesses (SMBs) has grown enormously since 2008, fueled in part by the prevailing economic conditions and new cloud solutions and technologies. With strong adoption by these SMBs, Remote Managed IT Services (RMITS) are growing rapidly and becoming more structured in the U.S. There are more solutions available for U.S. SMBs and more methods for delivering these solutions in an efficient manner for channel partners, new research from AMI-Partners has found.
Overall current conditions are very promising for partners to embrace the cloud. However, the channel partners are hampered in their transition to cloud-based services by their small scale and accompanying legacy cost structures and business models.
Channel partner challenges can be broadly classified into the following three key areas:
-- Standardizing Remote Managed Offerings: Some partners don't currently have a standardized set of RMITS offerings. Instead, they improvise on an as-needed basis, so customers are not familiar with available options.
-- Standardizing SLAs: Some partners do not have Service Level Agreements (SLAs) although 55% feel that it is important to offer them. Those that do don't always provide clear terms about the types and responsiveness of services provided. Often partners themselves find it difficult to track their own employee time spent on tickets/customer problems. But some have started using PSA (Professional Services Automation) software to deal with this.
-- Standardizing Pricing: Just like their service offerings, many local partners lack standardized and transparent pricing required for a broader acceptance of RMITS by SMB customers. This makes it difficult for the customers to understand how RMITS can help them control and manage IT costs.
As a result, over the last couple of years, many pure-play Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have entered the market to provide remote management and other cloud services to U.S. SMBs. Unencumbered by legacy issues, they have developed efficient delivery and pricing mechanisms that provide strong value to these SMBs. The current environment also provides a strong opportunity for large vendors to bridge the gaps in channel partner services by standardizing the offerings, SLAs & pricing, and thereby enabling broader adoption of cloud-based services by US SMBs.
About the study: AMI's 2010 US SMB Channel Partner Report.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
Overall current conditions are very promising for partners to embrace the cloud. However, the channel partners are hampered in their transition to cloud-based services by their small scale and accompanying legacy cost structures and business models.
Channel partner challenges can be broadly classified into the following three key areas:
-- Standardizing Remote Managed Offerings: Some partners don't currently have a standardized set of RMITS offerings. Instead, they improvise on an as-needed basis, so customers are not familiar with available options.
-- Standardizing SLAs: Some partners do not have Service Level Agreements (SLAs) although 55% feel that it is important to offer them. Those that do don't always provide clear terms about the types and responsiveness of services provided. Often partners themselves find it difficult to track their own employee time spent on tickets/customer problems. But some have started using PSA (Professional Services Automation) software to deal with this.
-- Standardizing Pricing: Just like their service offerings, many local partners lack standardized and transparent pricing required for a broader acceptance of RMITS by SMB customers. This makes it difficult for the customers to understand how RMITS can help them control and manage IT costs.
As a result, over the last couple of years, many pure-play Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have entered the market to provide remote management and other cloud services to U.S. SMBs. Unencumbered by legacy issues, they have developed efficient delivery and pricing mechanisms that provide strong value to these SMBs. The current environment also provides a strong opportunity for large vendors to bridge the gaps in channel partner services by standardizing the offerings, SLAs & pricing, and thereby enabling broader adoption of cloud-based services by US SMBs.
About the study: AMI's 2010 US SMB Channel Partner Report.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Government, Companies Must Do More To Ensure Cyber Security
More than 71 percent of respondents to a recent online survey are concerned that their company is not equipped to protect itself from cyber attacks, while approximately 88 percent think the government is not equipped to protect itself.
Other findings:
-- The overwhelming majority of respondents (93 percent) believe cyber attacks are on the rise.
-- Respondents cited viruses and malware (67 percent) and DoS attacks (50 percent) as significant threats to organizations today.
-- Respondents (nearly 74 percent) expect their service provider to provide protection against cyber attacks.
-- The clear majority of respondents (90 percent) believe the best way to protect against cyber attacks is with a solution that detects, analyzes and mitigates unwanted, unwarranted or malicious traffic in real time.
Many fear critical networks face significant threats It is no surprise that the majority of survey respondents feel cyber attacks are increasing with alarming frequency. News reports of various worms, bots, viruses and identity theft have put the public on high alert. But despite an increased awareness of cyber attacks and a renewed effort by the Obama administration to fight cyber threats, few respondents feel critical government networks and company networks are adequately protected (12 percent and 19 percent, respectively).
Not only do respondents believe more cyber attacks are being levied on critical networks, an overwhelming majority (95 percent) believe those attacks are increasing in sophistication, as compared with attacks from a year or two ago. Survey results indicate an inability to protect sensitive and confidential data (69 percent) is a top concern among respondents. This is especially true in a cloud environment.
Responsibility of protection placed on carriers Although malicious activity on the Web has undoubtedly prompted most -- if not all -- organizations to put some sort of network security in place, more than 73 percent of respondents feel the onus of security should fall to their respective carriers or service providers. While not part of this study, we believe the reasons for this expectation are because of resource constraints in most organizations, the relative scarcity of skilled personnel, and the lack of widely available tools to detect and mitigate sophisticated attacks.
With a rise in the complexity and sophistication of attacks, the type of security tools that service providers deploy may well be a differentiator as customers begin to understand the real, devastating threats present in the cyber world.
As more networks become compromised, it is evident that standard approaches using signature- and policy-based software and hardware such as malware/anti-virus, firewalls, IDS/IPSs, and SEMs alone or in combination are critical but insufficient. Rather, a multi-tiered system based on vulnerability analysis and risk assessment of the data contained in the network -- enabling complete network and data visibility in distributed, heterogeneous networks and real-time processing and policy enforcement -- will emerge as a more desirable and complete solution.
Realizing that one company cannot possibly offer technology and services to cover the vast needs among organizations, cyber security vendors must cooperate with each and form a "cyber security ecosystem" and to offer more value to their customers. In an ecosystem, vendors interoperate with others in their ecosystem -- such as combining the best of forensics, visualization, data mining and storage -- in addition to their own cyber security solution. This integrated approach seems more valuable as it enables "best of breed" solutions to be combined based on the risk assessment and vulnerability analysis. By extending a vendor's product set through partnerships, cyber security vendors add critical value to their product and provide the best possible system for network protection and management.
Comment from Greg Oslan, CEO and president of Narus: Narus sponsored this survey to uncover what's important to the people most affected by malicious cyber activity -- the network and security professionals. Armed with these results, Narus can bolster its campaign to arm the world's most critical networks with cyber protection -- a solution that will provide the ability to see clearly and act swiftly.
The Narus survey focused on cyber security in the United States. Sponsored jointly with Converge! Network Digest and Government Security News, the survey queried a cross-section of security professionals in a variety of industries. The survey questions were developed by Narus, Converge! Network Digest and Government Security News, with input from noted telecom and security industry pundits. Opinions were gathered online from respondents, representing a cross-section of professionals in a variety of industries. One-on-one interviews were conducted to add more depth to the survey.
Contact: http://www.narus.com
Other findings:
-- The overwhelming majority of respondents (93 percent) believe cyber attacks are on the rise.
-- Respondents cited viruses and malware (67 percent) and DoS attacks (50 percent) as significant threats to organizations today.
-- Respondents (nearly 74 percent) expect their service provider to provide protection against cyber attacks.
-- The clear majority of respondents (90 percent) believe the best way to protect against cyber attacks is with a solution that detects, analyzes and mitigates unwanted, unwarranted or malicious traffic in real time.
Many fear critical networks face significant threats It is no surprise that the majority of survey respondents feel cyber attacks are increasing with alarming frequency. News reports of various worms, bots, viruses and identity theft have put the public on high alert. But despite an increased awareness of cyber attacks and a renewed effort by the Obama administration to fight cyber threats, few respondents feel critical government networks and company networks are adequately protected (12 percent and 19 percent, respectively).
Not only do respondents believe more cyber attacks are being levied on critical networks, an overwhelming majority (95 percent) believe those attacks are increasing in sophistication, as compared with attacks from a year or two ago. Survey results indicate an inability to protect sensitive and confidential data (69 percent) is a top concern among respondents. This is especially true in a cloud environment.
Responsibility of protection placed on carriers Although malicious activity on the Web has undoubtedly prompted most -- if not all -- organizations to put some sort of network security in place, more than 73 percent of respondents feel the onus of security should fall to their respective carriers or service providers. While not part of this study, we believe the reasons for this expectation are because of resource constraints in most organizations, the relative scarcity of skilled personnel, and the lack of widely available tools to detect and mitigate sophisticated attacks.
With a rise in the complexity and sophistication of attacks, the type of security tools that service providers deploy may well be a differentiator as customers begin to understand the real, devastating threats present in the cyber world.
As more networks become compromised, it is evident that standard approaches using signature- and policy-based software and hardware such as malware/anti-virus, firewalls, IDS/IPSs, and SEMs alone or in combination are critical but insufficient. Rather, a multi-tiered system based on vulnerability analysis and risk assessment of the data contained in the network -- enabling complete network and data visibility in distributed, heterogeneous networks and real-time processing and policy enforcement -- will emerge as a more desirable and complete solution.
Realizing that one company cannot possibly offer technology and services to cover the vast needs among organizations, cyber security vendors must cooperate with each and form a "cyber security ecosystem" and to offer more value to their customers. In an ecosystem, vendors interoperate with others in their ecosystem -- such as combining the best of forensics, visualization, data mining and storage -- in addition to their own cyber security solution. This integrated approach seems more valuable as it enables "best of breed" solutions to be combined based on the risk assessment and vulnerability analysis. By extending a vendor's product set through partnerships, cyber security vendors add critical value to their product and provide the best possible system for network protection and management.
Comment from Greg Oslan, CEO and president of Narus: Narus sponsored this survey to uncover what's important to the people most affected by malicious cyber activity -- the network and security professionals. Armed with these results, Narus can bolster its campaign to arm the world's most critical networks with cyber protection -- a solution that will provide the ability to see clearly and act swiftly.
The Narus survey focused on cyber security in the United States. Sponsored jointly with Converge! Network Digest and Government Security News, the survey queried a cross-section of security professionals in a variety of industries. The survey questions were developed by Narus, Converge! Network Digest and Government Security News, with input from noted telecom and security industry pundits. Opinions were gathered online from respondents, representing a cross-section of professionals in a variety of industries. One-on-one interviews were conducted to add more depth to the survey.
Contact: http://www.narus.com
Many Small and Medium-sized Businesses Worry About IT Security
With limited resources, now more than ever, small- and medium-size business (SMBs) need to carefully consider the range of threats to their business and take action to protect and run their IT systems. Information security threats can be overwhelming and the risks require more than traditional perimeter and host defenses to protect critical business data.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents to a new survey said they are concerned about network security threats. In addition, more than 70 percent said that if an IT security incident took their business offline for one day it would significantly impact their business or potentially put them out of business altogether. Meanwhile, IT outsourcing has emerged as an important trend for SMBs challenged to maintain IT systems which are increasingly difficult to manage internally. The survey revealed that 40 percent of SMBs use external IT support to help run their operations.
Additional key findings from the Staples Advantage survey include:
-- IT is mission-critical. More than half (51 percent) of respondents said IT support personnel should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
-- Telecommuting and security. Nearly 60 percent of respondents say telecommuting is a key way they plan to trim costs in the year ahead. This can be an IT security risk without adequate security practices and employee awareness.
-- Data retention. To satisfy certain legal and regulatory requirements, businesses need a way to store and protect certain business information. According to the survey, more than 40 percent of respondents say their organization does not have company policies in place regarding the storage and retention of email, as an example.
-- Data protection and employee transitions. Employee transitions are an often overlooked risk to company security. Only one in four respondents said they monitor activity to ensure departing employees are not downloading proprietary information. Additionally, 40 percent have not changed network passwords associated with certain departing employees.
To help IT managers and those responsible for IT decisions increase network security and avoid IT downtime, experts at Staples Advantage offer SMBs the following five tips:
-- Adopt a multi-layer security strategy. Just as bumpers, airbags and seat belts all work together to protect passengers in a car, implement security measures at the file, email data store and gateway levels to properly protect data against viruses.
-- Make sure all machines are up-to-date with patches and security update downloads.
-- Use encryption to protect your sensitive data. Enable encryption on wireless networks, and optionally use passwords and encryption software to protect individual files. Use file permissions to control access to sensitive data, and consider installing software that monitors and logs who accesses what data, and when.
-- Invest in multiple connections to the Internet. Leasing and maintaining dual connections to the Internet is no longer an expensive proposition. Using two connections to the Internet, each from a different provider, greatly reduces the potential impact of connectivity interruptions to email, Web and VoIP services.
-- Avoid costly hardware failure by investing in hardware redundancy. Use a service that monitors hardware for uptime and critical performance metrics. Robust monitoring platforms that can dig down to the machine level are best. Carefully assess service providers. Before choosing an external provider of cloud services or any SaaS application, carefully research their service level agreements, infrastructure, redundancy and disaster recovery provisions. When possible, use multiple vendors to eliminate single points of service failure.
Comment from Jim Lippie, president, Thrive Networks, the IT network services business of Staples Advantage: The survey findings help show that IT managed services is becoming a "must have" rather than a "nice to have" for SMBs. A majority of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are concerned about threats to IT security while many of them can increase steps to help protect their business information.
About the survey: Staples Advantage conducted an online survey of business decision makers at more than 100 small and medium-sized businesses across the US. The survey asked a series of questions about IT and its impact to business operations, taking into account a variety of technologies ranging from personal computers to smartphones.
Contact: http://www.staplesadvantage.com/technology
Nearly 60 percent of respondents to a new survey said they are concerned about network security threats. In addition, more than 70 percent said that if an IT security incident took their business offline for one day it would significantly impact their business or potentially put them out of business altogether. Meanwhile, IT outsourcing has emerged as an important trend for SMBs challenged to maintain IT systems which are increasingly difficult to manage internally. The survey revealed that 40 percent of SMBs use external IT support to help run their operations.
Additional key findings from the Staples Advantage survey include:
-- IT is mission-critical. More than half (51 percent) of respondents said IT support personnel should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
-- Telecommuting and security. Nearly 60 percent of respondents say telecommuting is a key way they plan to trim costs in the year ahead. This can be an IT security risk without adequate security practices and employee awareness.
-- Data retention. To satisfy certain legal and regulatory requirements, businesses need a way to store and protect certain business information. According to the survey, more than 40 percent of respondents say their organization does not have company policies in place regarding the storage and retention of email, as an example.
-- Data protection and employee transitions. Employee transitions are an often overlooked risk to company security. Only one in four respondents said they monitor activity to ensure departing employees are not downloading proprietary information. Additionally, 40 percent have not changed network passwords associated with certain departing employees.
To help IT managers and those responsible for IT decisions increase network security and avoid IT downtime, experts at Staples Advantage offer SMBs the following five tips:
-- Adopt a multi-layer security strategy. Just as bumpers, airbags and seat belts all work together to protect passengers in a car, implement security measures at the file, email data store and gateway levels to properly protect data against viruses.
-- Make sure all machines are up-to-date with patches and security update downloads.
-- Use encryption to protect your sensitive data. Enable encryption on wireless networks, and optionally use passwords and encryption software to protect individual files. Use file permissions to control access to sensitive data, and consider installing software that monitors and logs who accesses what data, and when.
-- Invest in multiple connections to the Internet. Leasing and maintaining dual connections to the Internet is no longer an expensive proposition. Using two connections to the Internet, each from a different provider, greatly reduces the potential impact of connectivity interruptions to email, Web and VoIP services.
-- Avoid costly hardware failure by investing in hardware redundancy. Use a service that monitors hardware for uptime and critical performance metrics. Robust monitoring platforms that can dig down to the machine level are best. Carefully assess service providers. Before choosing an external provider of cloud services or any SaaS application, carefully research their service level agreements, infrastructure, redundancy and disaster recovery provisions. When possible, use multiple vendors to eliminate single points of service failure.
Comment from Jim Lippie, president, Thrive Networks, the IT network services business of Staples Advantage: The survey findings help show that IT managed services is becoming a "must have" rather than a "nice to have" for SMBs. A majority of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are concerned about threats to IT security while many of them can increase steps to help protect their business information.
About the survey: Staples Advantage conducted an online survey of business decision makers at more than 100 small and medium-sized businesses across the US. The survey asked a series of questions about IT and its impact to business operations, taking into account a variety of technologies ranging from personal computers to smartphones.
Contact: http://www.staplesadvantage.com/technology
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ninety-Six Percent Of Companies Run Virtual Apps
The vast majority of companies are migrating apps to virtual environments and APM vendors are revamping their products accordingly, a new study has found.
Summary of findings:
Ninety-six percent of survey respondents run at least some applications in on-premise virtualized environments; of those, 62 percent are extending their APM tools into those virtualized environments.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents run some apps in the public cloud--which can mean limited access to critical APM data.
Respondents are divided about vendors' cloud-related offerings: 49 percent of respondents currently using APM say the lack of adequate APM tools is a barrier to cloud services adoption; 42 percent say it's not.
HP is the leading APM vendor, with 53 percent market share, followed by IBM (35 percent) and CA (23 percent).
Respondents who don't use APM cited lack of in-house expertise in APM systems (50 percent), product expense (41 percent) and staff time to implement (32 percent) as the top three reasons.
75 percent of respondents not currently using APM say they're open to evaluating APM tools in the future -- the growing body of APM trialware and freeware is likely to appeal to them.
Comment from Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Analytics: No doubt we'll see more apps being moved to public or private clouds, but that doesn't mean you just send them off and hope for the best. Most companies still need some form of APM to stay on top of things, and to get the right metrics for the business and its partners. They also need guidance in choosing and using the tools that fit best into their overall operational strategies.
About the report: Michael Biddick, president and CTO of Fusion PPT and an authority on operational management, ITIL and APM, wrote the report for InformationWeek Analytics, a subscription-based service offering peer-based technology research. The company polled 379 business technology professionals in its 2010 Application Performance Management Survey to find out how organizations are updating their APM strategies in context of virtualization and cloud computing. The report is titled "Application Performance Management: Reaching for the Clouds."
Contact: http://analytics.informationweek.com/join
Summary of findings:
Ninety-six percent of survey respondents run at least some applications in on-premise virtualized environments; of those, 62 percent are extending their APM tools into those virtualized environments.
Nearly 60 percent of respondents run some apps in the public cloud--which can mean limited access to critical APM data.
Respondents are divided about vendors' cloud-related offerings: 49 percent of respondents currently using APM say the lack of adequate APM tools is a barrier to cloud services adoption; 42 percent say it's not.
HP is the leading APM vendor, with 53 percent market share, followed by IBM (35 percent) and CA (23 percent).
Respondents who don't use APM cited lack of in-house expertise in APM systems (50 percent), product expense (41 percent) and staff time to implement (32 percent) as the top three reasons.
75 percent of respondents not currently using APM say they're open to evaluating APM tools in the future -- the growing body of APM trialware and freeware is likely to appeal to them.
Comment from Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Analytics: No doubt we'll see more apps being moved to public or private clouds, but that doesn't mean you just send them off and hope for the best. Most companies still need some form of APM to stay on top of things, and to get the right metrics for the business and its partners. They also need guidance in choosing and using the tools that fit best into their overall operational strategies.
About the report: Michael Biddick, president and CTO of Fusion PPT and an authority on operational management, ITIL and APM, wrote the report for InformationWeek Analytics, a subscription-based service offering peer-based technology research. The company polled 379 business technology professionals in its 2010 Application Performance Management Survey to find out how organizations are updating their APM strategies in context of virtualization and cloud computing. The report is titled "Application Performance Management: Reaching for the Clouds."
Contact: http://analytics.informationweek.com/join
Enterprise Adoption of Private Clouds Is Widespread And Accelerating
Adoption of cloud computing has been much broader than has been suggested by previous research, and shows accelerating momentum behind developing private cloud infrastructures, new research reveals. Cloud computing, both public and private, will be an increasing part of the mix of resources deployed by enterprise IT organizations, and that companies are particularly interested in simplifying management across their integrated physical, virtual and cloud environments.
Cloud adoption is a focus for many enterprise organizations. But the question remains, what is the best way to leverage the power of cloud computing, maximizing efficiency gains and cost savings while minimizing risk? Seventy-seven percent report using some form of cloud computing today, much higher than previously reported.
Other key findings tied to cloud adoption include:
-- Private clouds are the next logical step for organizations already implementing virtualization, according to 89 percent of the respondents.
-- 34 percent are using a mixed approach of private and public cloud computing, with 43 percent planning to increase their use of the combined approach.
-- 87 percent believe public cloud computing adoption will occur alongside of, instead of replacing, company-owned data centers, with 92 percent indicating an increase in public cloud use as current IT platforms are replaced.
-- 31 percent find that a key benefit to private cloud computing is the ability to manage a heterogeneous infrastructure.
Security is a leading barrier to cloud computing adoption, with 83 percent feeling private cloud computing offers most of the advantages of public cloud computing (freedom from maintaining hardware, lower cost upkeep, resource scalability, lower initial costs) without the security and compliance issues of the public cloud.
Additional findings include:
-- Ninety-one percent are concerned about security issues in the public cloud, with 50 percent indicating security as the primary barrier to implementation.
-- Eighty-six percent believe data is more secure in a private cloud.
-- Seventy-six percent of those surveyed feel outside vendors are not as diligent about data security as internal IT departments.
-- Difficulty maintaining regulatory policy compliance in the public cloud versus that of the private cloud was an issue for 81 percent of respondents.
Comment from Jim Ebzery, senior vice president and general manager of Security, Management and Operating Platforms at Novell: The survey results are telling. The path to public cloud computing needs to begin with the private cloud, learning to leverage the public cloud within the safety of the enterprise network. Despite these concerns, enterprises are moving forward with cloud computing - whether in a private cloud, public cloud or in a hybrid cloud environment.
About the survey: Novell sponsored the Harris Interactive survey of more than 200 IT leaders, primarily IT director and above, at large enterprises organizations (2,500-20,000+ employees).
Contact: http://www.novell.com/private-cloud-survey
Cloud adoption is a focus for many enterprise organizations. But the question remains, what is the best way to leverage the power of cloud computing, maximizing efficiency gains and cost savings while minimizing risk? Seventy-seven percent report using some form of cloud computing today, much higher than previously reported.
Other key findings tied to cloud adoption include:
-- Private clouds are the next logical step for organizations already implementing virtualization, according to 89 percent of the respondents.
-- 34 percent are using a mixed approach of private and public cloud computing, with 43 percent planning to increase their use of the combined approach.
-- 87 percent believe public cloud computing adoption will occur alongside of, instead of replacing, company-owned data centers, with 92 percent indicating an increase in public cloud use as current IT platforms are replaced.
-- 31 percent find that a key benefit to private cloud computing is the ability to manage a heterogeneous infrastructure.
Security is a leading barrier to cloud computing adoption, with 83 percent feeling private cloud computing offers most of the advantages of public cloud computing (freedom from maintaining hardware, lower cost upkeep, resource scalability, lower initial costs) without the security and compliance issues of the public cloud.
Additional findings include:
-- Ninety-one percent are concerned about security issues in the public cloud, with 50 percent indicating security as the primary barrier to implementation.
-- Eighty-six percent believe data is more secure in a private cloud.
-- Seventy-six percent of those surveyed feel outside vendors are not as diligent about data security as internal IT departments.
-- Difficulty maintaining regulatory policy compliance in the public cloud versus that of the private cloud was an issue for 81 percent of respondents.
Comment from Jim Ebzery, senior vice president and general manager of Security, Management and Operating Platforms at Novell: The survey results are telling. The path to public cloud computing needs to begin with the private cloud, learning to leverage the public cloud within the safety of the enterprise network. Despite these concerns, enterprises are moving forward with cloud computing - whether in a private cloud, public cloud or in a hybrid cloud environment.
About the survey: Novell sponsored the Harris Interactive survey of more than 200 IT leaders, primarily IT director and above, at large enterprises organizations (2,500-20,000+ employees).
Contact: http://www.novell.com/private-cloud-survey
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Cloud Computing Adoption Among SMBs Is Following Outsourcing Trends
While use of Cloud services varies by size of SMB, the pattern of adoption appears to follow a previously observed pattern related to adoption of outsourcing, a survey has found. In both cases, rather than seeing greater adoption with business size, adoption rises and falls as businesses first use Cloud services then as they grow they attempt to bring solutions in-house and use Cloud services again in order to support growth.
The inflection point for adoption occurs at 20 employees. Small businesses with 20-99 employees typically expand their use of Cloud services and appear to maintain that level of usage until they hit 250 employees. At this level, SMBs begin to bring services back in-house as IT investments rise. Adoption of Cloud services rises sharply again as SMBs exceed 500 employees.
When looked at as a single group, SMBs are largely adopting some core infrastructure applications and applications specific to their industry. Security and additional storage appear to be the most popular applications along with industry specific applications and hosted email. The picture is substantially different for MBs (100-999 employees) and SBs (1-99 employees) taken separately. Mid-market businesses display a greater willingness to adopt hosted infrastructure and platform solutions than small businesses. Very small businesses' (<10 employees) use of Cloud services is characterized largely by Industry specific applications and Cloud storage services.
Conclusion: Mid market firms are a better target for hosted platforms and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.
The US SMB Cloud Computing report from Techaisle is now available for purchase. Surveys were also conducted in the UK and Germany.
Contact: http://www.techaisle.com
The inflection point for adoption occurs at 20 employees. Small businesses with 20-99 employees typically expand their use of Cloud services and appear to maintain that level of usage until they hit 250 employees. At this level, SMBs begin to bring services back in-house as IT investments rise. Adoption of Cloud services rises sharply again as SMBs exceed 500 employees.
When looked at as a single group, SMBs are largely adopting some core infrastructure applications and applications specific to their industry. Security and additional storage appear to be the most popular applications along with industry specific applications and hosted email. The picture is substantially different for MBs (100-999 employees) and SBs (1-99 employees) taken separately. Mid-market businesses display a greater willingness to adopt hosted infrastructure and platform solutions than small businesses. Very small businesses' (<10 employees) use of Cloud services is characterized largely by Industry specific applications and Cloud storage services.
Conclusion: Mid market firms are a better target for hosted platforms and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions.
The US SMB Cloud Computing report from Techaisle is now available for purchase. Surveys were also conducted in the UK and Germany.
Contact: http://www.techaisle.com
Friday, October 1, 2010
Cloud Email Users Are More Likely To Connect Via Smartphones
Half of the employees at the small and medium-sized businesses that the company supports use smartphones to access their email. This is in contrast to a recent survey Intermedia conducted with Harris Interactive, which found that only 38 percent of small and medium-sized business workers use smartphones. Cloud-based email users are more likely to access email from smartphones because of specifically-designed email syncing capabilities that mirror the desktop email experience.
Other interesting smartphone stats from Intermedia's small and medium-sized customer-base include:
-- iPhone users are the "most chatty," sending more outgoing messages on average per day than BlackBerry or Android users.
-- Android users are the "most popular," receiving more overall messages on average per day than BlackBerry or iPhone users.
-- Roughly 95 percent of the companies that Intermedia supports have at least one smartphone activated.
-- Most users, 75 percent, choose Active Sync-based devices including the iPhone and Android.
About the survey: Statistics were determined by measuring Intermedia's overall network traffic. No specific user or account action/email was reviewed. The Harris Interactive survey was conducted online within the United States on behalf of Intermedia from June 3-7, 2010 among 2,071 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For info-graphics representing the data, see Intermedia's Exchange hosting blog.
Contact: http://www.intermedia.net
Contact: http://www.harrisinteractive.com
Other interesting smartphone stats from Intermedia's small and medium-sized customer-base include:
-- iPhone users are the "most chatty," sending more outgoing messages on average per day than BlackBerry or Android users.
-- Android users are the "most popular," receiving more overall messages on average per day than BlackBerry or iPhone users.
-- Roughly 95 percent of the companies that Intermedia supports have at least one smartphone activated.
-- Most users, 75 percent, choose Active Sync-based devices including the iPhone and Android.
About the survey: Statistics were determined by measuring Intermedia's overall network traffic. No specific user or account action/email was reviewed. The Harris Interactive survey was conducted online within the United States on behalf of Intermedia from June 3-7, 2010 among 2,071 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For info-graphics representing the data, see Intermedia's Exchange hosting blog.
Contact: http://www.intermedia.net
Contact: http://www.harrisinteractive.com
Cloud Computing Momentum Builds Despite Uncertainties
Investments in cloud computing solutions and services are poised to increase in the next 12 months as opportunities for information technology (IT) channel companies and their customers come into clearer focus, according to new research from CompTIA.
Seventy-two percent of end-user organizations surveyed plan to expand the number and types of cloud computing services they use over the next 12 months. Nearly two-thirds of end users (64 percent) plan to increase their investment in cloud solutions by more than 5 percent in the coming year. Similarly, more than half of IT channel organizations surveyed plan to boost their investment in cloud computing by 10 percent or more in the next 12 months.
From the customer perspective, the transition to cloud computing is accelerating because of a desire to reduce capital expenditures (cited by 85 percent of end user respondents) and to drive down costs (84 percent). Customers also expressed a desire to add new capabilities not available in current IT models as a reason to move to cloud computing. It was cited by 81 percent of end users surveyed, and offers up a compelling reason for channel providers to sell cloud services as a value-added solution, not simply a way to cut customer IT costs.
Medium-sized businesses with between $10 million and $99.9 million in annual revenues are the most aggressive users of cloud computing. The study finds that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of medium-sized businesses report involvement with cloud computing. That compares to 36 percent of small companies (less than $10 million in sales) and 58 percent of larger firms ($100 million and above in revenue).
Demand for cloud computing isn't a given, however. The study identifies a number of challenges that end users cite during adoption, including difficulty integrating cloud solutions with existing IT systems and the painful transition away from legacy systems. Likewise, the channel has experienced obstacles along the way, mainly internally focused issues such as shouldering initial start-up costs associated with cloud computing and determining the right revenue model. And yet, both constituencies are forging on.
Looking ahead, cloud-based business productivity applications and document and content management solutions are high atop end users' shopping lists for the coming year. Forty percent of end users report plans to look to the cloud for business productivity applications and 38 percent identified document and content management services as a priority purchase. Other cloud services end users intend to buy in the next 12 months include security (35 percent), storage (35 percent) and general purpose services (35 percent).
More than half of end users surveyed say they will make their purchases from a third-party cloud services provider, defined as a value-added reseller, solution provider or other channel organization. Even more encouraging for IT channel companies, customers with the heaviest investment plans for the cloud over the next year overwhelming cite the channel as their source -- 60 percent of them versus 40 percent that say they will seek out a vendor.
Comment from Carolyn April, director, industry analysis, CompTIA: Clearly there is growing momentum behind cloud computing, evidenced by climbing adoption rates and greater awareness. But cloud computing adoption is still nascent. The year ahead will be one of evaluation, trial and error and, most importantly, opportunity as the market sorts through the role IT channel companies will play, best business models, sales and marketing strategies and most relevant technologies. The good news for IT channel companies is that customers want to use them as a source for their cloud computing solutions, more so than vendors, consultants or self-service options. The smart solution provider will become the de facto expert on the benefits the cloud can bring; not just cost-savings, but ways that moving IT to the cloud can advance their customers' business objectives.
The CompTIA study "Cloud Computing: Pulling Back the Curtain" is the result of an online survey of 542 U.S.-based IT end-user customers, influencers and solution providers conducted between June 29 and July 13.
Contact: Click here.
Seventy-two percent of end-user organizations surveyed plan to expand the number and types of cloud computing services they use over the next 12 months. Nearly two-thirds of end users (64 percent) plan to increase their investment in cloud solutions by more than 5 percent in the coming year. Similarly, more than half of IT channel organizations surveyed plan to boost their investment in cloud computing by 10 percent or more in the next 12 months.
From the customer perspective, the transition to cloud computing is accelerating because of a desire to reduce capital expenditures (cited by 85 percent of end user respondents) and to drive down costs (84 percent). Customers also expressed a desire to add new capabilities not available in current IT models as a reason to move to cloud computing. It was cited by 81 percent of end users surveyed, and offers up a compelling reason for channel providers to sell cloud services as a value-added solution, not simply a way to cut customer IT costs.
Medium-sized businesses with between $10 million and $99.9 million in annual revenues are the most aggressive users of cloud computing. The study finds that nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of medium-sized businesses report involvement with cloud computing. That compares to 36 percent of small companies (less than $10 million in sales) and 58 percent of larger firms ($100 million and above in revenue).
Demand for cloud computing isn't a given, however. The study identifies a number of challenges that end users cite during adoption, including difficulty integrating cloud solutions with existing IT systems and the painful transition away from legacy systems. Likewise, the channel has experienced obstacles along the way, mainly internally focused issues such as shouldering initial start-up costs associated with cloud computing and determining the right revenue model. And yet, both constituencies are forging on.
Looking ahead, cloud-based business productivity applications and document and content management solutions are high atop end users' shopping lists for the coming year. Forty percent of end users report plans to look to the cloud for business productivity applications and 38 percent identified document and content management services as a priority purchase. Other cloud services end users intend to buy in the next 12 months include security (35 percent), storage (35 percent) and general purpose services (35 percent).
More than half of end users surveyed say they will make their purchases from a third-party cloud services provider, defined as a value-added reseller, solution provider or other channel organization. Even more encouraging for IT channel companies, customers with the heaviest investment plans for the cloud over the next year overwhelming cite the channel as their source -- 60 percent of them versus 40 percent that say they will seek out a vendor.
Comment from Carolyn April, director, industry analysis, CompTIA: Clearly there is growing momentum behind cloud computing, evidenced by climbing adoption rates and greater awareness. But cloud computing adoption is still nascent. The year ahead will be one of evaluation, trial and error and, most importantly, opportunity as the market sorts through the role IT channel companies will play, best business models, sales and marketing strategies and most relevant technologies. The good news for IT channel companies is that customers want to use them as a source for their cloud computing solutions, more so than vendors, consultants or self-service options. The smart solution provider will become the de facto expert on the benefits the cloud can bring; not just cost-savings, but ways that moving IT to the cloud can advance their customers' business objectives.
The CompTIA study "Cloud Computing: Pulling Back the Curtain" is the result of an online survey of 542 U.S.-based IT end-user customers, influencers and solution providers conducted between June 29 and July 13.
Contact: Click here.
Use Of Cloud Services Begins To Impact SMB ICT Shipments
U.S. small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are rapidly increasing their use of cloud services, which is beginning to reduce their need for on-premise information and communications technology (ICT) equipment and is also allowing them more flexibility in the types of mobile devices they use. This, in turn, is beginning to affect the demand patterns for on-premise ICT hardware like servers, storage & networking as well client devices like notebooks, smartphones, netbooks and tablets, according to AMI research on the adoption of cloud services by SMBs in a dozen countries.
SMBs' cloud adoption patterns vary greatly in terms of types of applications and services reflecting their varying levels of comfort with the new paradigm.
Broadly, AMI's analysis shows demand shifts in three areas. While the overall SMB server shipments are still growing, these are driven significantly by first-time server buyers, who need it for improving their productivity as well as replacements and upgrades by SMBs who had delayed their purchases due to the economic environment over the last couple of years. However, with the growth of hosted cloud services, SMBs no longer need on-premise servers for many applications. This combined with consolidation and the growing use of virtualization, especially among the larger MBs, is reducing the growth rate of server shipments.
Secondly, the demand for storage products will also follow the server demand. In addition, the increasing use of the cloud for backup and storage is reducing the need for on-premise storage hardware and software.
While part of the SMB server and storage demand will shift toward the cloud service providers, their multi-tenancy models would prevent them from fully offsetting the decline in total SMB server shipments. Thus, the SMB server market will be pulled in two different directions: toward smaller, less powerful and less expensive servers driven by first-time server buyers and toward more powerful servers by the larger SMBs as they consolidate their servers and use virtualization on a broader scale.
The third shift taking place relates to mobile devices. With applications hosted in the cloud, some SMB employees no longer need the full functionality of the bulky notebook PCs as they can meet their needs using lighter devices like netbooks, smartphones and tablets. These lighter mobile devices have shown significant increase in penetration and ownership among SMBs. Notebook shipments, which have been growing a brisk pace for the last few years as businesses replaced their desktops with notebooks, are likely to see lower growth rates, followed by a long-term decline in the coming years.
Comment from Anil Miglani, SVP of IT Infrastructure and Managed Services Research at AMI-Partners: These changes in demand for hardware will also be accompanied by similar changes in demand for other on-premise products (e.g. security, networking, software, etc.) over the next several years. Going forward, vendors and channel partners need to understand these shifts in demand patterns and start reflecting them in their own future strategic initiatives. While a majority of SMBs are using cloud services in conjunction with their existing applications and services, a small but growing number are using them to replace their on-premise infrastructure. This is especially true for cloud services like CRM, hosted email, hosted SharePoint and others. This has started to affect demand for ICT infrastructure required to run these applications. The full impact of this shift will be seen much more visibly over the next couple of years, once the replacements/upgrades are completed and also more SMBs start moving their on-premise applications to the cloud.
Contact: Click here.
SMBs' cloud adoption patterns vary greatly in terms of types of applications and services reflecting their varying levels of comfort with the new paradigm.
Broadly, AMI's analysis shows demand shifts in three areas. While the overall SMB server shipments are still growing, these are driven significantly by first-time server buyers, who need it for improving their productivity as well as replacements and upgrades by SMBs who had delayed their purchases due to the economic environment over the last couple of years. However, with the growth of hosted cloud services, SMBs no longer need on-premise servers for many applications. This combined with consolidation and the growing use of virtualization, especially among the larger MBs, is reducing the growth rate of server shipments.
Secondly, the demand for storage products will also follow the server demand. In addition, the increasing use of the cloud for backup and storage is reducing the need for on-premise storage hardware and software.
While part of the SMB server and storage demand will shift toward the cloud service providers, their multi-tenancy models would prevent them from fully offsetting the decline in total SMB server shipments. Thus, the SMB server market will be pulled in two different directions: toward smaller, less powerful and less expensive servers driven by first-time server buyers and toward more powerful servers by the larger SMBs as they consolidate their servers and use virtualization on a broader scale.
The third shift taking place relates to mobile devices. With applications hosted in the cloud, some SMB employees no longer need the full functionality of the bulky notebook PCs as they can meet their needs using lighter devices like netbooks, smartphones and tablets. These lighter mobile devices have shown significant increase in penetration and ownership among SMBs. Notebook shipments, which have been growing a brisk pace for the last few years as businesses replaced their desktops with notebooks, are likely to see lower growth rates, followed by a long-term decline in the coming years.
Comment from Anil Miglani, SVP of IT Infrastructure and Managed Services Research at AMI-Partners: These changes in demand for hardware will also be accompanied by similar changes in demand for other on-premise products (e.g. security, networking, software, etc.) over the next several years. Going forward, vendors and channel partners need to understand these shifts in demand patterns and start reflecting them in their own future strategic initiatives. While a majority of SMBs are using cloud services in conjunction with their existing applications and services, a small but growing number are using them to replace their on-premise infrastructure. This is especially true for cloud services like CRM, hosted email, hosted SharePoint and others. This has started to affect demand for ICT infrastructure required to run these applications. The full impact of this shift will be seen much more visibly over the next couple of years, once the replacements/upgrades are completed and also more SMBs start moving their on-premise applications to the cloud.
Contact: Click here.
Cybersecurity Measures Are Hurting Productivity In Federal Agencies
A recent survey on the impact of government cybersecurity measures on federal managers has found that many believe they are inhibited by cybersecurity at their agencies in the areas of information access, computing functionality, and mobility. The Obama administration has made cybersecurity a priority in the federal government, but executives report that obstacles caused by cybersecurity measures translate into a reduction of productivity and their ability to achieve their agency's mission.
Key findings:
-- A majority of federal executives (84 percent) report that cybersecurity measures are affecting their productivity. Key challenges include: discouraging mobility, inhibiting access to information, reducing computer functionality and response time.
-- Over half of respondents (56 percent) indicated that cybersecurity restrictions prevent them from getting information or using applications related to their job.
When cybersecurity restrictions prevent federal executives from accessing information they need for their job, they regularly resort to alternative - and often less secure - methods of accessing it.
Lack of access and diminished computer performance as a result of cybersecurity negatively impacts productivity for federal executives. Over half of those surveyed report that cybersecurity restrictions have prompted them to access information from home instead of the office.
Comment from Tom Simmons, area vice president - US Public Sector, Citrix Systems, Inc.: This survey makes clear the challenges the public sector faces every day when it comes to the delicate balance of cybersecurity and productivity. Today, there is really no need for any trade-off, particularly when we consider the availability of secure, FIPS-compliant, Common Criteria-certified virtualization technologies. Industry can truly help government realize high-level data security with no loss of performance, mobility or productivity.
Comment from Bryan Klopack, Director of Research for GBC: The study spotlights the significant trade-off agencies are making in implementing cybersecurity measures which negatively affect workforce productivity. Surveyed federal executives believe that cybersecurity policies and procedures should be modified to provide more emphasis on the importance of allowing federal managers to achieve their agency's mission.
Contact: The complete survey findings can be downloaded here.
Key findings:
-- A majority of federal executives (84 percent) report that cybersecurity measures are affecting their productivity. Key challenges include: discouraging mobility, inhibiting access to information, reducing computer functionality and response time.
-- Over half of respondents (56 percent) indicated that cybersecurity restrictions prevent them from getting information or using applications related to their job.
When cybersecurity restrictions prevent federal executives from accessing information they need for their job, they regularly resort to alternative - and often less secure - methods of accessing it.
Lack of access and diminished computer performance as a result of cybersecurity negatively impacts productivity for federal executives. Over half of those surveyed report that cybersecurity restrictions have prompted them to access information from home instead of the office.
Comment from Tom Simmons, area vice president - US Public Sector, Citrix Systems, Inc.: This survey makes clear the challenges the public sector faces every day when it comes to the delicate balance of cybersecurity and productivity. Today, there is really no need for any trade-off, particularly when we consider the availability of secure, FIPS-compliant, Common Criteria-certified virtualization technologies. Industry can truly help government realize high-level data security with no loss of performance, mobility or productivity.
Comment from Bryan Klopack, Director of Research for GBC: The study spotlights the significant trade-off agencies are making in implementing cybersecurity measures which negatively affect workforce productivity. Surveyed federal executives believe that cybersecurity policies and procedures should be modified to provide more emphasis on the importance of allowing federal managers to achieve their agency's mission.
Contact: The complete survey findings can be downloaded here.
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