Legacy applications put enterprise network security at risk across EMEA and North America, according to a survey. In examining the hidden role of legacy applications in desktop the report reveals why many IT administrators today consider the desktop as the IT equivalent of the Wild West.
Key findings:
-- In organizations with more than 2500 desktops, it was Intuit QuickBooks (80 percent of respondents) that most often forced IT administrators to elevate network access privileges to the more risky administrator or super user status.
-- In enterprises with fewer than 2500 desktops, in-house bespoke applications (18 percent of respondents), and a range of 'other legacy apps' (55 percent) including old mainframe apps, Flash and Adobe Software, and rogue apps such as iPhone apps, and gaming software, which force IT Admins to elevate privileges to administrator status.
-- IT admins and help desk personnel say they spend more than 1/4 of their time fixing problems caused by over-privileged users, costing $1,000s per user each year; 90 percent of IT admins and help desk personnel who admit to experiencing the headache of managing the impact of legacy apps would welcome help with automating the process of dealing with over-privileged users.
Findings from IT administrators and help desk operatives were confirmed by control group of 40 IT analysts and consultants.
Comment from Geoff Haggart, BeyondTrust President of International Sales: This report offers a revealing insight into the state of desktops today. They are littered with legacy applications, many requiring Windows administrator or power user status to run, and so leaving IT administrators caught between a rock and a hard place. Effective access management is practically impossible for them because adopting best practice of removing administrator or super user status, means shutting down applications the enterprise still relies on to conduct it's business day-to-day. Legacy apps make it increasingly difficult for IT administrators to thwart attacks by people with legitimate access to an organization's computers, devices and networks. These insider threats represents a growing problem across the globe, frustrating admins, auditors and managers who lack the resources to properly identify them, oversee their behavior and protect mission-critical information technology (IT) assets from the misuse of privilege.
About the survey: BeyondTrust, a provider of privilege authorization management, access control and security solutions, surveyed 185 IT administrators and help desk operatives, collectively responsible for more than 250,000 individual Windows desktops to determine why effectively managing network access from the desktop -- whether in a company with 100 or 10,000 seats -- is so fraught with difficulty.
Contact: The report is available here.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Cloud Migration Among Top Priorities Of Large Enterprises
Fifty-one percent of data center managers say that technology refreshes are the top priority for 2011, highlighting that mean time to migrate (MTTM) is critical for rapid adoption of new technologies and fast execution of these operations, according to a survey.
This was followed by data center consolidation, which 41.5 percent indicated was a top concern; 34.5 percent indicated the intent to migrate to a public or private cloud; 32.7 percent expect to transition to a virtualized Storage Area Network (SAN); 26.5 percent said that SAN optimization or re-tiering was a priority and 21 percent cited diversification of storage hardware as a top priority.
-- When asked about the most difficult issues they expect to deal with, 39 percent said multi-departmental coordination was a top concern, while 35 percent said that server remediation, SAN configuration errors, asset discovery and multi-departmental coordination were all challenging issues.
-- On the topic of SAN migrations and whether or not these activities were completed in a timely manner and met budgetary requirements, 41.5 percent said that only 0-20 percent of their migrations were completed on time and on budget; 62 percent said that 40 percent or fewer migrations completed on time and within budget. Finally, 79 percent have had less than 60 percent of their migrations meet their budgetary/time requirements.
Comment from Greg Schulz, founder of the Server and StorageIO Group: These results echo what is routinely heard from IT professionals who face these recurring challenges. There is no such thing as a data or information recession, This means that as IT budgets for some expand, those organizations also need to do more with what they have including support growth and technology refreshes in 2011. IT organizations focus much of their staff as well as wall or calendar time on data migrations to support technology refresh and upgrades along with consolidation initiatives. With the complexities associated with large scale migration or technology updates not to mention multi-departmental workflow coordination, IT organizations stand to recover these resources by reducing their mean time to migrate (MTTM). Many large IT organizations have already implemented phased refresh schedules where each year a portion of their technology gets refreshed. However budgets or spending remain constrained. Organizations need to find creative and innovate ways to maximize their IT investments which includes reducing their MTTM, the result of which is to boost their effectiveness by stretching both staff as well as resources (server and storage hardware/software) further.
Comment from Joy Burd, vice president of marketing communication for SANpulse Technologies, Inc.: The survey confirms our customers' experiences. Data center consolidation and technology refreshes continue to be what are keeping administrators up at night. Organizations rely on new technologies and consolidation to remain efficient and competitive -- which can be a challenge when called on to do more with the same or less budget. SANpulse streamlines these operations to significantly reduce time requirements while reducing the cost, complexity and risk of traditional manual means.
Contact: A detailed white paper on this subject titled "End to End Resource Analysis for Virtual, Cloud and Abstracted Environments" is available here.
About the survey: SANpulse Technologies, Inc. conducted the survey among more than 100 large enterprises in December 2010 across a range of industries.The survey asked data center managers and decision makers at large organizations to rank data center priorities, based on importance. It also asked individuals to rank which projects on their 2011 IT roadmap are expected to be the most challenging and difficult to deal with.
Contact: http://www.SANpulse.com
This was followed by data center consolidation, which 41.5 percent indicated was a top concern; 34.5 percent indicated the intent to migrate to a public or private cloud; 32.7 percent expect to transition to a virtualized Storage Area Network (SAN); 26.5 percent said that SAN optimization or re-tiering was a priority and 21 percent cited diversification of storage hardware as a top priority.
-- When asked about the most difficult issues they expect to deal with, 39 percent said multi-departmental coordination was a top concern, while 35 percent said that server remediation, SAN configuration errors, asset discovery and multi-departmental coordination were all challenging issues.
-- On the topic of SAN migrations and whether or not these activities were completed in a timely manner and met budgetary requirements, 41.5 percent said that only 0-20 percent of their migrations were completed on time and on budget; 62 percent said that 40 percent or fewer migrations completed on time and within budget. Finally, 79 percent have had less than 60 percent of their migrations meet their budgetary/time requirements.
Comment from Greg Schulz, founder of the Server and StorageIO Group: These results echo what is routinely heard from IT professionals who face these recurring challenges. There is no such thing as a data or information recession, This means that as IT budgets for some expand, those organizations also need to do more with what they have including support growth and technology refreshes in 2011. IT organizations focus much of their staff as well as wall or calendar time on data migrations to support technology refresh and upgrades along with consolidation initiatives. With the complexities associated with large scale migration or technology updates not to mention multi-departmental workflow coordination, IT organizations stand to recover these resources by reducing their mean time to migrate (MTTM). Many large IT organizations have already implemented phased refresh schedules where each year a portion of their technology gets refreshed. However budgets or spending remain constrained. Organizations need to find creative and innovate ways to maximize their IT investments which includes reducing their MTTM, the result of which is to boost their effectiveness by stretching both staff as well as resources (server and storage hardware/software) further.
Comment from Joy Burd, vice president of marketing communication for SANpulse Technologies, Inc.: The survey confirms our customers' experiences. Data center consolidation and technology refreshes continue to be what are keeping administrators up at night. Organizations rely on new technologies and consolidation to remain efficient and competitive -- which can be a challenge when called on to do more with the same or less budget. SANpulse streamlines these operations to significantly reduce time requirements while reducing the cost, complexity and risk of traditional manual means.
Contact: A detailed white paper on this subject titled "End to End Resource Analysis for Virtual, Cloud and Abstracted Environments" is available here.
About the survey: SANpulse Technologies, Inc. conducted the survey among more than 100 large enterprises in December 2010 across a range of industries.The survey asked data center managers and decision makers at large organizations to rank data center priorities, based on importance. It also asked individuals to rank which projects on their 2011 IT roadmap are expected to be the most challenging and difficult to deal with.
Contact: http://www.SANpulse.com
More Than Half of Companies Under-utilizing Cloud Computing Resources
Despite widespread adoption of cloud computing, many organization are not fully leveraging the cloud infrastructure they have implemented, a survey has found. Of the companies using private or public cloud computing, 52 percent have cloud infrastructure resources that are rarely or never used and 47 percent report some or lots of excess capacity.
-- Cloud computing adoption growing: Forty-eight percent of organizations report using or planning to use private cloud computing. One in five organizations (20 percent) are using public cloud computing, and another 34 percent are investigating with the intent to implement a public cloud. Fifty-five percent of companies using public cloud computing, and 39 percent of those using private cloud computing, first adopted cloud computing in 2010
-- More than half of companies under-utilizing cloud computing: More than half of companies (52 percent) report having cloud infrastructure resources that are rarely or never used. Forty-seven percent report some or lots of excess capacity.
-- Private cloud computing used, considered for use for software development and test: Software development is one of the biggest uses of private cloud computing. Fifty-six percent of companies report using or considering to use private cloud computing for software development and/or testing
-- Cloud computing spend to grow in 2011: Among organizations that have implemented cloud computing, spending on cloud-based infrastructure averaged $6,335, or $23.31 per employee, in 2010. That spend is expected to rise to $6,920, or $26.63 per employee, in 2011. Average return on investment (ROI) for cloud infrastructure was reported at 46 percent (however 57 percent of respondents either did not know or could not quantify their ROI on cloud computing).
-- Software development and the private cloud: Software development tasks perceived to derive the greatest benefits from private cloud computing were: System testing, 49 percent; Requirements planning and tracking, 42 percent; Static analysis, 39 percent; Source code control, 34 percent; Defect tracking or deployment automation, 33 percent. Among companies that use a private cloud, 86 percent of respondents said having more visibility into the development team's resource utilization would be somewhat to extremely desirable. When asked about the barriers to development using the private cloud more, respondents reported the following: They feel the need to manage their own processes and environment, 50 percent; Their entire development tool chain is too difficult to get on the cloud, 12 percent; Their brittle infrastructure precludes moving it to the private cloud, 21 percent; We have not yet made it available to them, 18 percent.
Comment from Electric Cloud CEO Mike Maciag: Cloud computing is real and happening, and in the enterprise, private cloud is happening first. But many of those resources are sitting unused. Software development and testing are a perfect fit for private cloud computing, but developers haven't been able to fully leverage the resources available to them because a gap has existed between their cloud infrastructure and the software they need to do their jobs.
Comment from Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research: Cloud computing is increasingly an essential component of many organizations' computing resources, and it will become more important in the future. However, a variety of barriers need to be overcome for use of the cloud in software development environments if the cloud is to reach its full potential and provide a better, faster and less expensive environment in which to develop and test software.
About the survey: Electric Cloud, a private development cloud company, and Osterman Research conducted the survey of senior-level IT professionals, including CIOs, directors and VPs. One hundred senior-level software development professionals including CIOs, directors and vice presidents were surveyed. Respondents had worked in an IT function for an average of 9.1 years. The median number of employees at the organizations surveyed was 403. Respondents were selected using a combination of the Osterman Research survey panel and an external provider's survey panel. Most organizations surveyed were located in North America.
Contact: Complete survey findings can be found here.
Contact: http://www.electric-cloud.com/
-- Cloud computing adoption growing: Forty-eight percent of organizations report using or planning to use private cloud computing. One in five organizations (20 percent) are using public cloud computing, and another 34 percent are investigating with the intent to implement a public cloud. Fifty-five percent of companies using public cloud computing, and 39 percent of those using private cloud computing, first adopted cloud computing in 2010
-- More than half of companies under-utilizing cloud computing: More than half of companies (52 percent) report having cloud infrastructure resources that are rarely or never used. Forty-seven percent report some or lots of excess capacity.
-- Private cloud computing used, considered for use for software development and test: Software development is one of the biggest uses of private cloud computing. Fifty-six percent of companies report using or considering to use private cloud computing for software development and/or testing
-- Cloud computing spend to grow in 2011: Among organizations that have implemented cloud computing, spending on cloud-based infrastructure averaged $6,335, or $23.31 per employee, in 2010. That spend is expected to rise to $6,920, or $26.63 per employee, in 2011. Average return on investment (ROI) for cloud infrastructure was reported at 46 percent (however 57 percent of respondents either did not know or could not quantify their ROI on cloud computing).
-- Software development and the private cloud: Software development tasks perceived to derive the greatest benefits from private cloud computing were: System testing, 49 percent; Requirements planning and tracking, 42 percent; Static analysis, 39 percent; Source code control, 34 percent; Defect tracking or deployment automation, 33 percent. Among companies that use a private cloud, 86 percent of respondents said having more visibility into the development team's resource utilization would be somewhat to extremely desirable. When asked about the barriers to development using the private cloud more, respondents reported the following: They feel the need to manage their own processes and environment, 50 percent; Their entire development tool chain is too difficult to get on the cloud, 12 percent; Their brittle infrastructure precludes moving it to the private cloud, 21 percent; We have not yet made it available to them, 18 percent.
Comment from Electric Cloud CEO Mike Maciag: Cloud computing is real and happening, and in the enterprise, private cloud is happening first. But many of those resources are sitting unused. Software development and testing are a perfect fit for private cloud computing, but developers haven't been able to fully leverage the resources available to them because a gap has existed between their cloud infrastructure and the software they need to do their jobs.
Comment from Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research: Cloud computing is increasingly an essential component of many organizations' computing resources, and it will become more important in the future. However, a variety of barriers need to be overcome for use of the cloud in software development environments if the cloud is to reach its full potential and provide a better, faster and less expensive environment in which to develop and test software.
About the survey: Electric Cloud, a private development cloud company, and Osterman Research conducted the survey of senior-level IT professionals, including CIOs, directors and VPs. One hundred senior-level software development professionals including CIOs, directors and vice presidents were surveyed. Respondents had worked in an IT function for an average of 9.1 years. The median number of employees at the organizations surveyed was 403. Respondents were selected using a combination of the Osterman Research survey panel and an external provider's survey panel. Most organizations surveyed were located in North America.
Contact: Complete survey findings can be found here.
Contact: http://www.electric-cloud.com/
Cloud Computing Will Dominate Outsourcing Market In 2011
The outsourcing market is becoming increasingly fragmented though overall demand continues to grow, according to a market survey. Demand for outsourcing and third-party services is expected to grow moderately in 2011, but the pie will be divvied up differently as the industry continues to evolve. Buyers are doing more multiple small deals in a range of sub-process areas, outsourcing new types of work and experimenting with a range of cloud-based offerings. Overall, organizations are outsourcing more and to more places around the globe.
Key findings:
-- Demand for conventional BPO/ITO sluggish -- Fewer EquaTerra advisors (48 percent) cited increased demand in the fourth quarter, down three percent quarter over quarter and five percent year over year. Only about half (51 percent) of the service providers polled reported new deal pipeline growth for the quarter, down 13 percent Q/Q and 24 percent Y/Y, further evidence of a systemic change in buying patterns versus cyclical fluctuations. (The survey numbers do not reflect emerging/vertical sub-sectors or cloud-based offerings.)
-- Impact of weak economy on outsourcing a mixed bag -- Service providers (60 percent) say the economic climate continues to drive outsourcing, up 10 percent from last quarter and four percent Y/Y. However, only 40 percent of EquaTerra's advisors, who provide a forward view of demand two to three quarters out, report the weak economy is driving outsourcing, down 10 percent Q/Q and 25 percent Y/Y. The same percentage of EquaTerra advisors indicates economic conditions are significantly slowing deal flow.
-- Public sector pain represents opportunity -- Third-party services may prove to be the way forward for cash-strapped governments. Facing a dismal fiscal situation, the public sector worldwide is entering an era of austerity. Layoffs and spending cuts are forcing governments to consider new ways to deliver essential services. By partnering with third-party service providers, the public sector can use pay-as-you-go strategies to streamline operations and realize productivity gains that can net big savings.
-- Cloud next logical step in evolution of outsourcing -- Outsourcing has not only reshaped the way business is done, it has reshaped business over the past 20 years. What began as a cost-saving initiative spurred globalization and enabled business to capitalize on productivity-boosting technologies. Now the next wave of innovation, cloud computing, is redefining the concept of outsourcing by offering "as-a-service" capabilities ranging from infrastructure to platform to applications.
Cloud-based offerings are particularly attractive to cautious buyers who welcome the opportunity to shift operating expenses to capital expenses, peg price to usage, lower overall costs, and to scale up or down as needed. Cloud-based services are also the logical next step for organizations that have already adopted traditional outsourcing.
The "As-a-Service" categories expected to experience significant uptake in 2011: Desktop applications -- A cost-effective alternative to licensed/installed desktop software (documents and spreadsheets, project collaboration, short messaging, email, calendar) accessed via the Internet, making applications available globally to distributed employees. Infrastructure -- Integrated technologies that work together seamlessly to enable fast, flexible delivery of both IT infrastructure and managed services (certified data centers, secure storage, disaster recovery, development and testing). Customer relationship management -- On-line applications enabling organizations to track prospecting and sales efforts along with customer support interactions. Platform BPO -- More standardized, cloud-based versions of enterprise applications, such as those from SAP or Oracle, enabling multiple clients to use the same version of the software.
Comment from said Stan Lepeak, managing director of global research for EquaTerra: Buying patterns are changing. Throughout 2010 we characterized slower growth in traditional IT and business process outsourcing as cyclical and attributable to cautiousness associated with a severe recession. It's increasingly apparent, however, that what's going on is more systemic. We're seeing a gradual shift away from large, multi-process horizontal outsourcing. Greater standardization is the wave of the future. For example, many firms in emerging markets are forgoing enterprise systems. They start up using standardized cloud-based systems and their operating costs are one-tenth of the legacy model.
About the survey: EquaTerra combines relevant recent research with trending data gathered through a quarterly survey of leading outsourcing service providers and EquaTerra's own client-facing advisors to create the quarterly Pulse survey.
Contact: To obtain a copy of the 4Q10 Pulse Survey, download it here.
Contact: http://www.equaterra.com
Key findings:
-- Demand for conventional BPO/ITO sluggish -- Fewer EquaTerra advisors (48 percent) cited increased demand in the fourth quarter, down three percent quarter over quarter and five percent year over year. Only about half (51 percent) of the service providers polled reported new deal pipeline growth for the quarter, down 13 percent Q/Q and 24 percent Y/Y, further evidence of a systemic change in buying patterns versus cyclical fluctuations. (The survey numbers do not reflect emerging/vertical sub-sectors or cloud-based offerings.)
-- Impact of weak economy on outsourcing a mixed bag -- Service providers (60 percent) say the economic climate continues to drive outsourcing, up 10 percent from last quarter and four percent Y/Y. However, only 40 percent of EquaTerra's advisors, who provide a forward view of demand two to three quarters out, report the weak economy is driving outsourcing, down 10 percent Q/Q and 25 percent Y/Y. The same percentage of EquaTerra advisors indicates economic conditions are significantly slowing deal flow.
-- Public sector pain represents opportunity -- Third-party services may prove to be the way forward for cash-strapped governments. Facing a dismal fiscal situation, the public sector worldwide is entering an era of austerity. Layoffs and spending cuts are forcing governments to consider new ways to deliver essential services. By partnering with third-party service providers, the public sector can use pay-as-you-go strategies to streamline operations and realize productivity gains that can net big savings.
-- Cloud next logical step in evolution of outsourcing -- Outsourcing has not only reshaped the way business is done, it has reshaped business over the past 20 years. What began as a cost-saving initiative spurred globalization and enabled business to capitalize on productivity-boosting technologies. Now the next wave of innovation, cloud computing, is redefining the concept of outsourcing by offering "as-a-service" capabilities ranging from infrastructure to platform to applications.
Cloud-based offerings are particularly attractive to cautious buyers who welcome the opportunity to shift operating expenses to capital expenses, peg price to usage, lower overall costs, and to scale up or down as needed. Cloud-based services are also the logical next step for organizations that have already adopted traditional outsourcing.
The "As-a-Service" categories expected to experience significant uptake in 2011: Desktop applications -- A cost-effective alternative to licensed/installed desktop software (documents and spreadsheets, project collaboration, short messaging, email, calendar) accessed via the Internet, making applications available globally to distributed employees. Infrastructure -- Integrated technologies that work together seamlessly to enable fast, flexible delivery of both IT infrastructure and managed services (certified data centers, secure storage, disaster recovery, development and testing). Customer relationship management -- On-line applications enabling organizations to track prospecting and sales efforts along with customer support interactions. Platform BPO -- More standardized, cloud-based versions of enterprise applications, such as those from SAP or Oracle, enabling multiple clients to use the same version of the software.
Comment from said Stan Lepeak, managing director of global research for EquaTerra: Buying patterns are changing. Throughout 2010 we characterized slower growth in traditional IT and business process outsourcing as cyclical and attributable to cautiousness associated with a severe recession. It's increasingly apparent, however, that what's going on is more systemic. We're seeing a gradual shift away from large, multi-process horizontal outsourcing. Greater standardization is the wave of the future. For example, many firms in emerging markets are forgoing enterprise systems. They start up using standardized cloud-based systems and their operating costs are one-tenth of the legacy model.
About the survey: EquaTerra combines relevant recent research with trending data gathered through a quarterly survey of leading outsourcing service providers and EquaTerra's own client-facing advisors to create the quarterly Pulse survey.
Contact: To obtain a copy of the 4Q10 Pulse Survey, download it here.
Contact: http://www.equaterra.com
Backup/Archive Are Top Applications Planned For The Cloud
Half of IT professionals surveyed recently are planning to use cloud storage. The most cited benefits of the cloud were lower costs and dynamic growth, at 49 percent each. Applications most often planned for the cloud included backup -- 44 percent of the respondents said -- and online archive, per 38 percent of them.
As expected, security and privacy were mentioned as a barrier to cloud storage adoption by 60 percent of the IT pros, up from the 47 percent that a 2009 survey revealed. The most cited data protection issue was recovery time, with 58 percent of the respondents claiming this problem.
Sixty-five percent of respondents were not able to consistently achieve their own Recovery Time Objective (RPO). Another research report recently released by Aberdeen Group ("Small and Mid-Sized Organizations Gain Disaster Recovery Advantages Using Cloud Storage") shows that companies utilizing public cloud storage are, on average, meeting all of their Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) while organizations not using the cloud are regularly missing their RTO goals. The Aberdeen report also found that companies that utilize public cloud storage recover almost four-times faster from an IT-related downtime event. The report revealed that companies that utilize public cloud storage are far more likely to have a superior disaster recovery program. Forty-six percent (46 percent) of public cloud storage users were found to have the highest performing disaster recovery programs.
Comment from Jeff Bell, Zetta director of corporate marketing: This year's survey brings to light the pain felt by enterprises in protecting their data, particularly in times of crisis or recovery. The Aberdeen study clearly shows that leveraging the cloud for data protection makes a significant, positive difference.
About the survey: Enterprise cloud storage provider Zetta conducted the cloud storage and data protection survey among 230 IT professionals.The survey covered various industries, with the top five being government, education, software and technology, financial services, and manufacturing.
Contact: Download the Zetta survey here; complimentary copy of the Aberdeen report is available here.
Contact: http://www.zetta.net
As expected, security and privacy were mentioned as a barrier to cloud storage adoption by 60 percent of the IT pros, up from the 47 percent that a 2009 survey revealed. The most cited data protection issue was recovery time, with 58 percent of the respondents claiming this problem.
Sixty-five percent of respondents were not able to consistently achieve their own Recovery Time Objective (RPO). Another research report recently released by Aberdeen Group ("Small and Mid-Sized Organizations Gain Disaster Recovery Advantages Using Cloud Storage") shows that companies utilizing public cloud storage are, on average, meeting all of their Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) while organizations not using the cloud are regularly missing their RTO goals. The Aberdeen report also found that companies that utilize public cloud storage recover almost four-times faster from an IT-related downtime event. The report revealed that companies that utilize public cloud storage are far more likely to have a superior disaster recovery program. Forty-six percent (46 percent) of public cloud storage users were found to have the highest performing disaster recovery programs.
Comment from Jeff Bell, Zetta director of corporate marketing: This year's survey brings to light the pain felt by enterprises in protecting their data, particularly in times of crisis or recovery. The Aberdeen study clearly shows that leveraging the cloud for data protection makes a significant, positive difference.
About the survey: Enterprise cloud storage provider Zetta conducted the cloud storage and data protection survey among 230 IT professionals.The survey covered various industries, with the top five being government, education, software and technology, financial services, and manufacturing.
Contact: Download the Zetta survey here; complimentary copy of the Aberdeen report is available here.
Contact: http://www.zetta.net
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Cloud Computing Found To Be Top Technology Priority For CIOs In 2011
CIOs must re-imagine IT to support growth and competitive advantage, according to a survey that also found that organizations are emphasizing growth, in addition to continued vigilance on cost and operational efficiencies.
CIOs' IT budget projections for 2011 are globally flat, with a weighted average budget increase of 1 percent. While CIOs do not report IT budgets returning to their 2008 (pre-recession) levels, the number of those experiencing budget increases in 2011 outnumbered those reporting a cut by almost three-to-one.
CIOs expect to adopt new cloud services much faster than originally expected. Currently, 3 percent of CIOs have the majority of IT running in the cloud or on SaaS technologies, but over the next four years CIOs expect this number to increase to 43 percent.
In a further positive development revealed in the survey, CIOs may be able to reallocate IT budget savings, rather than simply returning them to the organization in 2011. CIOs anticipate the ability to fund infrastructure changes and new projects by reallocating resources within that budget. This approach to funding will become a standard operating procedure since Gartner does not see CIO IT budgets recovering to their 2008 peak until 2014.
CIOs report that their organizations are emphasizing growth, in addition to continued vigilance on cost and operational efficiencies. This emphasis is consistent with emerging signs of economic recovery and increasing competition to attract and retain customers.
A ranking of business strategies reported by CIOs indicates that growth is a core expectation for 2011 and beyond. The move to growth appears to be more of a change in emphasis than a restructuring of business strategies and business expectations for IT, as prior top concerns for reducing enterprise costs and improving business processes remain important.
Until recently, the average IT organization dedicated 66 percent of its budget to day-to-day operations leaving little room for transformation of business strategy. CIOs see the introduction of Internet service-based technologies as changing that equation and releasing between 35 to 50 percent of infrastructure and operational resources for innovation and growth. This is creating a new CIO success cycle, one based on creating and realizing new sources of value, in addition to cost-effective IT operations.
Comment from Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartner Executive Programs: CIOs and IT have been boxed in between modest budget growth and growing legacy requirements. New lighter-weight technologies -- such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and social networks -and IT models enable the CIO to redefine IT, giving it a greater focus on growth and strategic impact. These are two things that are missing from many organizations. The resource realities indicated in the 2011 CIO Agenda Survey raise the urgency and importance of adopting new infrastructure and operations technologies, such as cloud services and virtualization. These technologies were selected by CIOs the most often and are the top-two technologies for 2011 and are well-suited for this budget reality, as they offer similar service levels at lower budget costs. Over the next five years, CIOs expect dramatic changes in IT as they adopt new technologies and raise their contribution to competitive advantage. Leaders will implement new infrastructure technologies to achieve increased efficiency and to redirect IT resources to create greater business impact. Pursuit of that leadership agenda will raise complex issues ranging from re-imaging IT's role in their organization to the creative destruction necessary to break old practices and redeploy resources to new initiatives.
The survey included results from more than 100 companies in China. There is some indication that Chinese companies will "leapfrog" some technologies (for example, by moving more-directly to mobility- and services-type models). Gartner believes that this means technology companies seeking success in China will grow based on the reach of their channel, rather than expanding with existing customers.
About the survey: The worldwide CIO survey was conducted by Gartner EXP from September to December 2010 and represents CIO budget plans reported at that time. The survey includes responses from 2,014 CIOs representing over $160 billion in corporate and public-sector IT spending across 50 countries and 38 industries. The Gartner Executive Programs report "Reimagining IT: The 2011 CIO Agenda" is a comprehensive examination of business priorities and CIO strategies. Additional information on the 2011 CIO Agenda is available on Gartner's website.
Contact: http://www.gartner.com/exp
CIOs' IT budget projections for 2011 are globally flat, with a weighted average budget increase of 1 percent. While CIOs do not report IT budgets returning to their 2008 (pre-recession) levels, the number of those experiencing budget increases in 2011 outnumbered those reporting a cut by almost three-to-one.
CIOs expect to adopt new cloud services much faster than originally expected. Currently, 3 percent of CIOs have the majority of IT running in the cloud or on SaaS technologies, but over the next four years CIOs expect this number to increase to 43 percent.
In a further positive development revealed in the survey, CIOs may be able to reallocate IT budget savings, rather than simply returning them to the organization in 2011. CIOs anticipate the ability to fund infrastructure changes and new projects by reallocating resources within that budget. This approach to funding will become a standard operating procedure since Gartner does not see CIO IT budgets recovering to their 2008 peak until 2014.
CIOs report that their organizations are emphasizing growth, in addition to continued vigilance on cost and operational efficiencies. This emphasis is consistent with emerging signs of economic recovery and increasing competition to attract and retain customers.
A ranking of business strategies reported by CIOs indicates that growth is a core expectation for 2011 and beyond. The move to growth appears to be more of a change in emphasis than a restructuring of business strategies and business expectations for IT, as prior top concerns for reducing enterprise costs and improving business processes remain important.
Until recently, the average IT organization dedicated 66 percent of its budget to day-to-day operations leaving little room for transformation of business strategy. CIOs see the introduction of Internet service-based technologies as changing that equation and releasing between 35 to 50 percent of infrastructure and operational resources for innovation and growth. This is creating a new CIO success cycle, one based on creating and realizing new sources of value, in addition to cost-effective IT operations.
Comment from Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartner Executive Programs: CIOs and IT have been boxed in between modest budget growth and growing legacy requirements. New lighter-weight technologies -- such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and social networks -and IT models enable the CIO to redefine IT, giving it a greater focus on growth and strategic impact. These are two things that are missing from many organizations. The resource realities indicated in the 2011 CIO Agenda Survey raise the urgency and importance of adopting new infrastructure and operations technologies, such as cloud services and virtualization. These technologies were selected by CIOs the most often and are the top-two technologies for 2011 and are well-suited for this budget reality, as they offer similar service levels at lower budget costs. Over the next five years, CIOs expect dramatic changes in IT as they adopt new technologies and raise their contribution to competitive advantage. Leaders will implement new infrastructure technologies to achieve increased efficiency and to redirect IT resources to create greater business impact. Pursuit of that leadership agenda will raise complex issues ranging from re-imaging IT's role in their organization to the creative destruction necessary to break old practices and redeploy resources to new initiatives.
The survey included results from more than 100 companies in China. There is some indication that Chinese companies will "leapfrog" some technologies (for example, by moving more-directly to mobility- and services-type models). Gartner believes that this means technology companies seeking success in China will grow based on the reach of their channel, rather than expanding with existing customers.
About the survey: The worldwide CIO survey was conducted by Gartner EXP from September to December 2010 and represents CIO budget plans reported at that time. The survey includes responses from 2,014 CIOs representing over $160 billion in corporate and public-sector IT spending across 50 countries and 38 industries. The Gartner Executive Programs report "Reimagining IT: The 2011 CIO Agenda" is a comprehensive examination of business priorities and CIO strategies. Additional information on the 2011 CIO Agenda is available on Gartner's website.
Contact: http://www.gartner.com/exp
Thursday, January 20, 2011
One-Third Of Global Execs Say Legacy Investments Block Move To The Cloud
Thirty-five percent of C-level executives cite a significant investment in legacy infrastructure as the reason they are not adopting cloud computing, according to a survey.
While more than 40 percent of respondents use or are planning to use cloud computing for mission-critical IT services, those who do not plan to use cloud computing list security and privacy concerns, followed closely by legacy infrastructure investments, as barriers to adoption. Organizations are also actively employing outsourcing, with 93 percent fully or partially outsourcing some of their IT activities.
Of the C-level executives surveyed, 95 percent consider governance of enterprise IT important. This reveals an almost universally shared perception of IT as a critical contributor to overall business strategy, no matter where the organization is on the path of GEIT maturity.
This year's study shows that top tactics used to battle the economic downturn were a reduction in contractor and permanent staff numbers and infrastructure consolidation. According to the Global Status Report on GEIT, GEIT processes can ensure that this focus is balanced with a view on investments that can generate cost savings and ultimately become self-funding.
Successfully implementing GEIT depends on effective change management, communication, scoping and identification of achievable objectives. The outcomes encompass shorter-term benefits such as reduced cost and longer-term benefits such as enhanced management of IT-related risk, improved relationships between business and IT, and increased business competitiveness. The top outcomes cited in this year's study are improved management of IT-related risk (mentioned by 42 percent of respondents) and better communication and relationships between business and IT (37 percent).
Comment from Ken Vander Wal, CISA, CPA, international vice president of ISACA: Emerging technologies such as cloud computing and outsourcing can be managed effectively by integrating good governance over IT. Organizations need to adopt new service delivery models to stay competitive, and this is fueling a strong commitment to enterprise IT governance across the C-suite. Assessing the value of current investments, building consensus among stakeholders and mitigating risk with third-party providers all require a comprehensive governance framework for organizations to be sure they are doing the right things and doing things right.
Comment from Nicky Tiesenga, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, partner at IBM, USA: The overwhelming consensus about the importance of IT governance is encouraging. As 2011 IT initiatives get underway against an economic backdrop that continues to be volatile, the ability to balance and manage value creation, risk management and optimization of resources will be critical.
About the survey: The fourth Global Status Report on the Governance of Enterprise IT (GEIT)--2011 was conducted by the nonprofit IT Governance Institute (ITGI), ISACA's research affiliate. The 2011 study polled 834 executives from 21 countries, divided almost evenly between business executives (CEOs, CFOs and COOs) and IT executives (CIOs and heads of IT). The study analyzes the degree to which the concept of GEIT is accepted by the C-suite and determines GEIT maturity levels, recognized frameworks, required/preferred certifications, and impact of current special-interest, GEIT-related topics.
Contact: http://www.isaca.org/ITGI-Global-Survey-Results
Contact: http://www.itgi.org
While more than 40 percent of respondents use or are planning to use cloud computing for mission-critical IT services, those who do not plan to use cloud computing list security and privacy concerns, followed closely by legacy infrastructure investments, as barriers to adoption. Organizations are also actively employing outsourcing, with 93 percent fully or partially outsourcing some of their IT activities.
Of the C-level executives surveyed, 95 percent consider governance of enterprise IT important. This reveals an almost universally shared perception of IT as a critical contributor to overall business strategy, no matter where the organization is on the path of GEIT maturity.
This year's study shows that top tactics used to battle the economic downturn were a reduction in contractor and permanent staff numbers and infrastructure consolidation. According to the Global Status Report on GEIT, GEIT processes can ensure that this focus is balanced with a view on investments that can generate cost savings and ultimately become self-funding.
Successfully implementing GEIT depends on effective change management, communication, scoping and identification of achievable objectives. The outcomes encompass shorter-term benefits such as reduced cost and longer-term benefits such as enhanced management of IT-related risk, improved relationships between business and IT, and increased business competitiveness. The top outcomes cited in this year's study are improved management of IT-related risk (mentioned by 42 percent of respondents) and better communication and relationships between business and IT (37 percent).
Comment from Ken Vander Wal, CISA, CPA, international vice president of ISACA: Emerging technologies such as cloud computing and outsourcing can be managed effectively by integrating good governance over IT. Organizations need to adopt new service delivery models to stay competitive, and this is fueling a strong commitment to enterprise IT governance across the C-suite. Assessing the value of current investments, building consensus among stakeholders and mitigating risk with third-party providers all require a comprehensive governance framework for organizations to be sure they are doing the right things and doing things right.
Comment from Nicky Tiesenga, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, partner at IBM, USA: The overwhelming consensus about the importance of IT governance is encouraging. As 2011 IT initiatives get underway against an economic backdrop that continues to be volatile, the ability to balance and manage value creation, risk management and optimization of resources will be critical.
About the survey: The fourth Global Status Report on the Governance of Enterprise IT (GEIT)--2011 was conducted by the nonprofit IT Governance Institute (ITGI), ISACA's research affiliate. The 2011 study polled 834 executives from 21 countries, divided almost evenly between business executives (CEOs, CFOs and COOs) and IT executives (CIOs and heads of IT). The study analyzes the degree to which the concept of GEIT is accepted by the C-suite and determines GEIT maturity levels, recognized frameworks, required/preferred certifications, and impact of current special-interest, GEIT-related topics.
Contact: http://www.isaca.org/ITGI-Global-Survey-Results
Contact: http://www.itgi.org
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Cloud Computing Is More Mainstream, But Hurdles Remains
The information technology (IT) question facing companies in 2009-2010 was about the cloud and whether it was the next revolutionary change for IT. But now, industry experts say the question has evolved from "Is the cloud revolution real?" to "How quickly can businesses join the cloud movement?"
Findings from a recent survey of IT executives show that a majority of companies had a cloud computing strategy in place in 2010 compared to 2009 when only a third did. In the same period, naysayers dwindled as less than 15 percent of respondents reported no future plans for cloud computing.
Yet despite growing interest and use of the cloud, hurdles remain and must be addressed.
Application requirements and security, the most frequently named obstacles in this year's survey are the focus of much industry attention. Initiatives underway on the vendor side will ease both challenges.
Microsoft is expanding its cloud offerings to be more symmetric with on-premise software that companies use today. And its Windows Azure solution allows customized solutions when the symmetry is not quite there yet.
As for security challenges, there is an emerging initiative specifically for companies that have strict data protection or regulatory issues: vendors and solutions providers are creating private clouds, which give organizations the same benefits without the worries.
Comment from Chris Kabat, Vice President of Connected Business Systems, MPS Partners: Last year, companies asked if the cloud was something they could use. Today we know that cloud computing is here to stay; it will revolutionize the IT function, and next year we'll see increased innovation in this area if companies continue jumping on board at the pace we saw in 2010. Driving the cloud revolution is cost, availability and understanding. The economic realities that companies faced this year and last led many IT executives to closely evaluate the cloud. In addition, Microsoft and other vendors solidified their cloud computing options making the solution a reality. Finally, customers have a better understanding of what cloud computing is and how they can benefit from it. It's the perfect storm for this revolution. There will always be organizations that are slower to adopt. But essentially, cloud computing is shifting responsibility for application maintenance, operations and disaster recovery development from the business user to the service provider. Companies not only find that an attractive business proposition, but they also see the potential for significant upside in terms of cost and new opportunities.
About the survey: The survey was conducted by MPS Partners in December 2010.
Contact: http://www.mpspartners.com
Findings from a recent survey of IT executives show that a majority of companies had a cloud computing strategy in place in 2010 compared to 2009 when only a third did. In the same period, naysayers dwindled as less than 15 percent of respondents reported no future plans for cloud computing.
Yet despite growing interest and use of the cloud, hurdles remain and must be addressed.
Application requirements and security, the most frequently named obstacles in this year's survey are the focus of much industry attention. Initiatives underway on the vendor side will ease both challenges.
Microsoft is expanding its cloud offerings to be more symmetric with on-premise software that companies use today. And its Windows Azure solution allows customized solutions when the symmetry is not quite there yet.
As for security challenges, there is an emerging initiative specifically for companies that have strict data protection or regulatory issues: vendors and solutions providers are creating private clouds, which give organizations the same benefits without the worries.
Comment from Chris Kabat, Vice President of Connected Business Systems, MPS Partners: Last year, companies asked if the cloud was something they could use. Today we know that cloud computing is here to stay; it will revolutionize the IT function, and next year we'll see increased innovation in this area if companies continue jumping on board at the pace we saw in 2010. Driving the cloud revolution is cost, availability and understanding. The economic realities that companies faced this year and last led many IT executives to closely evaluate the cloud. In addition, Microsoft and other vendors solidified their cloud computing options making the solution a reality. Finally, customers have a better understanding of what cloud computing is and how they can benefit from it. It's the perfect storm for this revolution. There will always be organizations that are slower to adopt. But essentially, cloud computing is shifting responsibility for application maintenance, operations and disaster recovery development from the business user to the service provider. Companies not only find that an attractive business proposition, but they also see the potential for significant upside in terms of cost and new opportunities.
About the survey: The survey was conducted by MPS Partners in December 2010.
Contact: http://www.mpspartners.com
SMBs Are Aware Of Private Clouds, But Prefer Public Clouds
Among small and medium businesses (SMBs), awareness of private clouds is 62 percent, highest as compared to public and hybrid clouds, a survey has found. However, given a choice, 44 percent of SMBs prefer to use public clouds as opposed to private and hybrid clouds.
While the awareness of hybrid clouds is 43 percent among SMBs, only 21 percent prefer to use this form of the cloud. A higher percentage of mid-market businesses are adopting hybrid clouds as compared to small businesses. Both private and hybrid clouds require presence of IT staff, which only a small percentage of SMBs have.
The usage of cloud services such as IaaS/PaaS varies by employee size. Among those SMBs that are using cloud computing, 37 percent are using IaaS/PaaS cloud, and 31 percent are using CaaS. Public IaaS is predominant for all employee categories but is markedly higher for 1-49 employee category. The sweet spot for vendors targeting public CaaS services is the 1-19 employee category.
MBs appear to have greater clarity with regards to the reasons for adopting cloud services. Overall, the top reasons for adopting cloud services by SMBs is faster deployment time and allowing IT staff to focus on more important business needs. "Service responsiveness and uptime" are gaining importance as key selling points for vendors.
Comment from Anurag Agrawal of Techaisle: As cloud computing vendors are pushing private clouds for enterprises, the same messaging seems to be trickling down to the SMBs. Hence, there is a greater awareness about private clouds for SMBs. Additionally, SMBs' concern for security, data privacy, and lack of control in using cloud computing is adding to the awareness of private clouds. The preference for public clouds among SMBs comes from the lower cost of setup, scalability and no wasted resources.
About the survey: Techaisle conducted the SMB survey across the U.S., UK, Germany and Brazil.
Contact: http://www.techaisle.com
While the awareness of hybrid clouds is 43 percent among SMBs, only 21 percent prefer to use this form of the cloud. A higher percentage of mid-market businesses are adopting hybrid clouds as compared to small businesses. Both private and hybrid clouds require presence of IT staff, which only a small percentage of SMBs have.
The usage of cloud services such as IaaS/PaaS varies by employee size. Among those SMBs that are using cloud computing, 37 percent are using IaaS/PaaS cloud, and 31 percent are using CaaS. Public IaaS is predominant for all employee categories but is markedly higher for 1-49 employee category. The sweet spot for vendors targeting public CaaS services is the 1-19 employee category.
MBs appear to have greater clarity with regards to the reasons for adopting cloud services. Overall, the top reasons for adopting cloud services by SMBs is faster deployment time and allowing IT staff to focus on more important business needs. "Service responsiveness and uptime" are gaining importance as key selling points for vendors.
Comment from Anurag Agrawal of Techaisle: As cloud computing vendors are pushing private clouds for enterprises, the same messaging seems to be trickling down to the SMBs. Hence, there is a greater awareness about private clouds for SMBs. Additionally, SMBs' concern for security, data privacy, and lack of control in using cloud computing is adding to the awareness of private clouds. The preference for public clouds among SMBs comes from the lower cost of setup, scalability and no wasted resources.
About the survey: Techaisle conducted the SMB survey across the U.S., UK, Germany and Brazil.
Contact: http://www.techaisle.com
Virtualization, Cloud Pose Major Backup/Recovery Challenges To Businesses
While attitudes towards backup and recovery differ widely around the world, businesses everywhere want a single backup and recovery solution for physical, virtual and cloud environments, according to a global survey. The vast majority (68 percent) of IT managers agree that their greatest challenge in a hybrid environment is moving data between the three environments, yet the average business currently uses at least two or three separate backup solutions making disaster recovery (DR) more complicated.
On the global scale, U.S. small- and medium-sized companies fell short of the international average, ranking 10th overall for backup and DR readiness. Approximately a third of U.S. businesses reported having no backup and DR strategy in place, citing lack of budget and resources as the primary reasons.
Without these resources and technologies to fortify a DR strategy, more than half (62 percent) reported they were concerned about their ability to avoid substantial downtime in the event of a serious incident. With only 40 percent saying they were confident in recovering quickly, and 38 percent believing their IT staffs were qualified to handle DR operations in response to an event or disaster. Overall, the findings revealed that the U.S. spent consistently less (10 percent) on backup and DR than other countries.
Key findings include:
-- Very confident:Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland: This group of countries has the best boardroom buy-in, controls and procedures and documented policies for their backup and DR operations. As a result they have the highest confidence that they can recover quickly in the event of system downtime, more than 50 percent more confident than the average.
-- Confident: Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan: This group has the best qualified staff in place to execute backup and DR operations in the wake of a serious incident. Surprisingly they are the most likely to use separate backup solutions for physical and virtual environments (67 percent, 66 percent and 70 percent of organizations respectively).
-- The Middle Ground: Norway and Sweden: Swedish and Norwegian businesses spend a lot more of their overall IT budget on backup and DR than any other country surveyed (16 percent and 17 percent respectively). However, they are the least likely to embrace cloud computing. While most countries will average an 87 percent increase in cloud-based IT over the next 12 months, Sweden and Norway use of the cloud will grow little more than 20 percent during the same period.
-- The laggards -- UK, Australia and the United States: Businesses in the UK, Australia and the U.S. all scored poorly on their confidence in their ability to avoid downtime in the event of a serious incident (27 percent/44 percent/38 percent). When it comes to successfully recovering from a serious incident, the Australians were the least confident. Just 22 percent of Australian businesses felt that they would be able to recover quickly in the event of downtime, compared to a global average of 50 percent.
-- Room to grow: France and Italy: These countries are the most likely to admit that they do not have an offsite backup and DR strategy (41 percent/45 percent) and the least likely to be able to recover quickly from downtime. They spend the lowest percentage of overall IT budget of all countries surveyed at 5 percent and 4 percent respectively. Server virtualisation adoption rates are also among the lowest. However, French and Italian businesses expect to see their use of cloud grow by 23 percent and 350 percent respectively over the next 12 months.
Comment from Jason Donahue, CEO of Acronis: It's not surprising that IT managers across the world differ so much with regards to their attitudes towards backup and DR. However, it is clear that what SMBs are looking for, regardless of location is one reliable, easy-to-use solution which spans across physical, virtual and cloud platforms. By launching this Index, we hope businesses will benefit from comparing their backup practices against national and global benchmarks.
About the survey: The Acronis-sponsored survey -- the Global Disaster Recovery Index, a "barometer" of IT managers' confidence in their backup and recovery operations -- was conducted by the Ponemon Institute across 13 countries in October 2010. More than 3,000 IT practitioners were surveyed in small- to mid-market organizations with no more than 1,000 seats. To create the Index, each country was ranked based on its average responses from 11 questions about their confidence in backup and DR readiness, capabilities and practices. Questions covered technology, resources, procedures and executive buy-in.
Contact: Details of how the index was calculated and where each country appears can be found here.
Contact: http://www.acronis.com
On the global scale, U.S. small- and medium-sized companies fell short of the international average, ranking 10th overall for backup and DR readiness. Approximately a third of U.S. businesses reported having no backup and DR strategy in place, citing lack of budget and resources as the primary reasons.
Without these resources and technologies to fortify a DR strategy, more than half (62 percent) reported they were concerned about their ability to avoid substantial downtime in the event of a serious incident. With only 40 percent saying they were confident in recovering quickly, and 38 percent believing their IT staffs were qualified to handle DR operations in response to an event or disaster. Overall, the findings revealed that the U.S. spent consistently less (10 percent) on backup and DR than other countries.
Key findings include:
-- Very confident:Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland: This group of countries has the best boardroom buy-in, controls and procedures and documented policies for their backup and DR operations. As a result they have the highest confidence that they can recover quickly in the event of system downtime, more than 50 percent more confident than the average.
-- Confident: Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan: This group has the best qualified staff in place to execute backup and DR operations in the wake of a serious incident. Surprisingly they are the most likely to use separate backup solutions for physical and virtual environments (67 percent, 66 percent and 70 percent of organizations respectively).
-- The Middle Ground: Norway and Sweden: Swedish and Norwegian businesses spend a lot more of their overall IT budget on backup and DR than any other country surveyed (16 percent and 17 percent respectively). However, they are the least likely to embrace cloud computing. While most countries will average an 87 percent increase in cloud-based IT over the next 12 months, Sweden and Norway use of the cloud will grow little more than 20 percent during the same period.
-- The laggards -- UK, Australia and the United States: Businesses in the UK, Australia and the U.S. all scored poorly on their confidence in their ability to avoid downtime in the event of a serious incident (27 percent/44 percent/38 percent). When it comes to successfully recovering from a serious incident, the Australians were the least confident. Just 22 percent of Australian businesses felt that they would be able to recover quickly in the event of downtime, compared to a global average of 50 percent.
-- Room to grow: France and Italy: These countries are the most likely to admit that they do not have an offsite backup and DR strategy (41 percent/45 percent) and the least likely to be able to recover quickly from downtime. They spend the lowest percentage of overall IT budget of all countries surveyed at 5 percent and 4 percent respectively. Server virtualisation adoption rates are also among the lowest. However, French and Italian businesses expect to see their use of cloud grow by 23 percent and 350 percent respectively over the next 12 months.
Comment from Jason Donahue, CEO of Acronis: It's not surprising that IT managers across the world differ so much with regards to their attitudes towards backup and DR. However, it is clear that what SMBs are looking for, regardless of location is one reliable, easy-to-use solution which spans across physical, virtual and cloud platforms. By launching this Index, we hope businesses will benefit from comparing their backup practices against national and global benchmarks.
About the survey: The Acronis-sponsored survey -- the Global Disaster Recovery Index, a "barometer" of IT managers' confidence in their backup and recovery operations -- was conducted by the Ponemon Institute across 13 countries in October 2010. More than 3,000 IT practitioners were surveyed in small- to mid-market organizations with no more than 1,000 seats. To create the Index, each country was ranked based on its average responses from 11 questions about their confidence in backup and DR readiness, capabilities and practices. Questions covered technology, resources, procedures and executive buy-in.
Contact: Details of how the index was calculated and where each country appears can be found here.
Contact: http://www.acronis.com
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Midsize Businesses Increasing IT Budgets, Investing In Analytics And Cloud Computing
More than half of midsize companies are planning to increase their information technology (IT) budgets over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a study. As a result, these companies are investing in a wide range of priorities including analytics, cloud computing, collaboration, mobility and customer relationship solutions.
Seventy percent of midsize companies surveyed are actively pursuing analytics technology to better understand their customers, make better decisions and become more efficient. The study also shows growing adoption of cloud computing among midsize firms, with two-thirds either planning or currently deploying cloud-based technologies to improve IT systems management while lowering costs.
Other key findings:
-- 53 percent of respondents expect their IT budgets to increase over the next 12 to 18 months, 31 percent expect they will remain unchanged and 16 percent think they will decrease or are unsure.
-- Security (63 percent), customer relationship management (62 percent) and analytics / information management (59 percent) were cited as their "Most Critical IT Priorities."
-- 75 percent plan to upgrade their core IT systems to improve performance, security and reliability.
-- Top expected benefits from cloud computing include cost reduction, better manageability of IT, improved system redundancy and availability.
-- To achieve their technology objectives, more than 70 percent plan to pursue a consultative (IT and business), versus purely transactional relationship with their primary IT provider.
-- Top barriers to IT adoption cited were cost, difficulty in acquiring and deploying technology solutions, and lack of IT skills and resources.
Comparisons between the current study and those from 2009 also reveal a shift from a predominant focus on cost control and efficiency to a greater emphasis on growth initiatives. Today, 21 percent characterize their strategic mindset as 'efficiency and cost control', with the majority (79 percent) concentrating on customers, growth and innovation. In 2009, 53 percent characterized their company mindset as one of efficiency and cost control", with less than half (47 percent) focused on growth, innovation and customers. This change is reflected in the increased adoption of analytics and predictive technologies that have become more affordable and widely available for midsize companies.
Comment from Andy Monshaw, General Manager, IBM Midmarket: The survey findings show that midsize firms are tackling a new set of opportunities to advance their role as engines of economic growth. When we spoke to midsize firms 18 months ago, most were focused on reducing costs and improving efficiencies. Today, the conversation is also about expanding their business, connecting with customers and gaining greater insights.
Comment from Jay Hakami, President and CEO of Sky IT Group, an IBM Business Partner: We've seen a boom in the number of midsize customers within the consumer products space who want to engage with us around analytics and cloud. IT departments in midsize markets are adapting very fast to that fact that they must do much more with less. Companies are looking to quickly identify tools and efficient ways to support growth and innovation.
About the study: "Inside the Midmarket: A 2011 Perspective" was commissioned by IBM and conducted independently by KS&R, Inc. The survey of 2,112 business and information technology decision makers at midsize businesses (100-1000 employees) spanned a variety of industries, including banking, retail, consumer products, wholesale, transportation, industrial products, and insurance. Participants hailed from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, China, Brazil, India, Russia, Australia, Mexico, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Poland, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. The study was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010 to capture current and upcoming business and IT priorities and investment direction.
Contact: Download the report (PDF).
Seventy percent of midsize companies surveyed are actively pursuing analytics technology to better understand their customers, make better decisions and become more efficient. The study also shows growing adoption of cloud computing among midsize firms, with two-thirds either planning or currently deploying cloud-based technologies to improve IT systems management while lowering costs.
Other key findings:
-- 53 percent of respondents expect their IT budgets to increase over the next 12 to 18 months, 31 percent expect they will remain unchanged and 16 percent think they will decrease or are unsure.
-- Security (63 percent), customer relationship management (62 percent) and analytics / information management (59 percent) were cited as their "Most Critical IT Priorities."
-- 75 percent plan to upgrade their core IT systems to improve performance, security and reliability.
-- Top expected benefits from cloud computing include cost reduction, better manageability of IT, improved system redundancy and availability.
-- To achieve their technology objectives, more than 70 percent plan to pursue a consultative (IT and business), versus purely transactional relationship with their primary IT provider.
-- Top barriers to IT adoption cited were cost, difficulty in acquiring and deploying technology solutions, and lack of IT skills and resources.
Comparisons between the current study and those from 2009 also reveal a shift from a predominant focus on cost control and efficiency to a greater emphasis on growth initiatives. Today, 21 percent characterize their strategic mindset as 'efficiency and cost control', with the majority (79 percent) concentrating on customers, growth and innovation. In 2009, 53 percent characterized their company mindset as one of efficiency and cost control", with less than half (47 percent) focused on growth, innovation and customers. This change is reflected in the increased adoption of analytics and predictive technologies that have become more affordable and widely available for midsize companies.
Comment from Andy Monshaw, General Manager, IBM Midmarket: The survey findings show that midsize firms are tackling a new set of opportunities to advance their role as engines of economic growth. When we spoke to midsize firms 18 months ago, most were focused on reducing costs and improving efficiencies. Today, the conversation is also about expanding their business, connecting with customers and gaining greater insights.
Comment from Jay Hakami, President and CEO of Sky IT Group, an IBM Business Partner: We've seen a boom in the number of midsize customers within the consumer products space who want to engage with us around analytics and cloud. IT departments in midsize markets are adapting very fast to that fact that they must do much more with less. Companies are looking to quickly identify tools and efficient ways to support growth and innovation.
About the study: "Inside the Midmarket: A 2011 Perspective" was commissioned by IBM and conducted independently by KS&R, Inc. The survey of 2,112 business and information technology decision makers at midsize businesses (100-1000 employees) spanned a variety of industries, including banking, retail, consumer products, wholesale, transportation, industrial products, and insurance. Participants hailed from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Japan, China, Brazil, India, Russia, Australia, Mexico, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Poland, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. The study was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010 to capture current and upcoming business and IT priorities and investment direction.
Contact: Download the report (PDF).
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Cloud Adoption Triggering Fundamental Changes In Mid-Market And SMB
Migration to the Cloud is accelerating, according to a study, as 44 percent of companies claim to have at least one business application on the cloud and over 70 percent indicate they will move more within the next 12 months
Other findings:
-- Mobility Drives Cloud Migration: 38 percent of respondents indicated that the need to support greater workforce mobility is a trigger for cloud adoption
-- Early Adopters are Growth Companies: Companies growing >10 percent per year were nearly twice as likely to move software and infrastructure to the cloud
-- Marketing, Sales Most Accepted Cloud Applications: While 36 percent of companies using marketing automation do so via the cloud, and 29 percent of CRM is cloud-deployed, >49 percent of companies are planning to move one or more of these applications to the cloud within 12 months
-- Private Cloud Networks Preferred: 52 percent of respondents preferred to deploy on some sort of "private cloud" as oppose to multi-tenant public clouds
-- Better Security Becoming a Cloud Asset: 48 percent of respondents believed that data security would actually be better on the cloud, recognizing the investment and expertise needed to establish and maintain secure computing environments
-- 3rd Party Channels Remain Critical: 67 percent of respondents preferred to purchase software applications through a 3rd party value-added managed service provider; this appears to be due to a need for both higher service levels and functional expertise
Comment from Tim Furey, founder of MarketBridge: Adoption of cloud-based information technology by mid-market and SMB companies -- particularly in customer facing business processes such as Marketing, Sales, and Customer Intelligence -- is being accepted more rapidly than many industry analysts originally predicted. While the practicality and challenges of cloud migration may slow down C-level executives' aggressive expectations, there is no doubt that the shift will happen rapidly over the next 2-3 years. The CEO and other senior executives outside of IT are more involved in these decisions than ever, and their level of cloud technology understanding is surprisingly high.
About the study: The study comprised the preliminary findings of a December survey of 1,000 North American mid-market and small businesses and their adoption of cloud-based information technologies. The research was performed by MarketBridge, a provider of technology-enabled Marketing & Sales Managed Services and Solutions. In parallel with its "Customer Cloud Adoption" research, MarketBridge is also completing research on "Channel Cloud Adoption" to understand how traditional resellers of on-premise software and hardware are adapting to the rapid migration to off-premise and shared IT infrastructure.
Contact: http://www.market-bridge.com
Other findings:
-- Mobility Drives Cloud Migration: 38 percent of respondents indicated that the need to support greater workforce mobility is a trigger for cloud adoption
-- Early Adopters are Growth Companies: Companies growing >10 percent per year were nearly twice as likely to move software and infrastructure to the cloud
-- Marketing, Sales Most Accepted Cloud Applications: While 36 percent of companies using marketing automation do so via the cloud, and 29 percent of CRM is cloud-deployed, >49 percent of companies are planning to move one or more of these applications to the cloud within 12 months
-- Private Cloud Networks Preferred: 52 percent of respondents preferred to deploy on some sort of "private cloud" as oppose to multi-tenant public clouds
-- Better Security Becoming a Cloud Asset: 48 percent of respondents believed that data security would actually be better on the cloud, recognizing the investment and expertise needed to establish and maintain secure computing environments
-- 3rd Party Channels Remain Critical: 67 percent of respondents preferred to purchase software applications through a 3rd party value-added managed service provider; this appears to be due to a need for both higher service levels and functional expertise
Comment from Tim Furey, founder of MarketBridge: Adoption of cloud-based information technology by mid-market and SMB companies -- particularly in customer facing business processes such as Marketing, Sales, and Customer Intelligence -- is being accepted more rapidly than many industry analysts originally predicted. While the practicality and challenges of cloud migration may slow down C-level executives' aggressive expectations, there is no doubt that the shift will happen rapidly over the next 2-3 years. The CEO and other senior executives outside of IT are more involved in these decisions than ever, and their level of cloud technology understanding is surprisingly high.
About the study: The study comprised the preliminary findings of a December survey of 1,000 North American mid-market and small businesses and their adoption of cloud-based information technologies. The research was performed by MarketBridge, a provider of technology-enabled Marketing & Sales Managed Services and Solutions. In parallel with its "Customer Cloud Adoption" research, MarketBridge is also completing research on "Channel Cloud Adoption" to understand how traditional resellers of on-premise software and hardware are adapting to the rapid migration to off-premise and shared IT infrastructure.
Contact: http://www.market-bridge.com
Small And Mid-Sized Businesses Gain Disaster Recovery Advantages Using Cloud Storage
Companies that utilize public Cloud storage recover almost four-times faster from an IT-related downtime event than organizations that only store their business critical data onsite, according to a study. Small and mid-sized organizations are gaining the most disaster recovery advantages as they are utilizing public Cloud storage more often than larger companies. Companies utilizing public Cloud storage are, on average, meeting all of their Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) while organizations not using the Cloud are regularly missing their RTO goals.
The research found:
-- Companies that utilize public Cloud storage are far more likely to have a superior disaster recovery program. Forty-six percent (46 percent) of public Cloud storage users were found to have the highest performing disaster recovery programs.
-- Cloud and non-Cloud storage users both have similar RTOs of about 12 hours. Users of Cloud storage, on average meet this RTO goal 100 percent of the time while non-adopters of Cloud storage report they meet only 80 percent of this objective.
-- Companies that store copies of their business critical data in the public Cloud report they have, on average reduced the number of IT-related downtime events by 9 percent over the last 12 months versus a reduction of only 4.7 percent for organizations that keep their data onsite.
Comment from Dick Csaplar, Senior Research Analyst and author of the study: Public Cloud-based storage offers small and mid-sized organizations a disaster recovery advantage that formerly was available only to larger companies -- the ability to store copies of business critical data at a remote location. Users of public Cloud storage are more likely to be among the leaders of reducing or eliminating IT-related downtime than organizations that keep their data onsite.
About the study: The research is based on a survey of the storage and DR practices of over 100 worldwide companies.
Contact: To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6827&camp=2.
Contact: http://www.aberdeen.com
The research found:
-- Companies that utilize public Cloud storage are far more likely to have a superior disaster recovery program. Forty-six percent (46 percent) of public Cloud storage users were found to have the highest performing disaster recovery programs.
-- Cloud and non-Cloud storage users both have similar RTOs of about 12 hours. Users of Cloud storage, on average meet this RTO goal 100 percent of the time while non-adopters of Cloud storage report they meet only 80 percent of this objective.
-- Companies that store copies of their business critical data in the public Cloud report they have, on average reduced the number of IT-related downtime events by 9 percent over the last 12 months versus a reduction of only 4.7 percent for organizations that keep their data onsite.
Comment from Dick Csaplar, Senior Research Analyst and author of the study: Public Cloud-based storage offers small and mid-sized organizations a disaster recovery advantage that formerly was available only to larger companies -- the ability to store copies of business critical data at a remote location. Users of public Cloud storage are more likely to be among the leaders of reducing or eliminating IT-related downtime than organizations that keep their data onsite.
About the study: The research is based on a survey of the storage and DR practices of over 100 worldwide companies.
Contact: To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6827&camp=2.
Contact: http://www.aberdeen.com
Federal Agency Mission-Critical Capabilities At Risk Without Application Modernization
Four out of five C-level Federal IT executives said mission-critical government capabilities are at risk if agencies do not modernize legacy applications, according to a study.
The study, based on a survey of C-level and senior IT managers, revealed that agencies spend almost half of the annual Federal IT budget, $35.7 billion, maintaining and supporting legacy applications and that nearly half (47 percent) of all existing IT applications are based on legacy technology in need of modernization. Yet, only one-third of the survey's 166 respondents said that application modernization is a top priority at their agency, and half of all respondents considering application modernization reported that their agencies are in the discovery or planning phases of implementation.
Federal IT leaders view application modernization as a long-term project, with 60 percent of respondents saying that modernization initiatives will take three years or longer to implement. Application redundancy -- running multiple systems to perform the same tasks and processes -- is an issue in Federal agencies, according to the study, particularly in the areas of IT governance and risk management, enterprise document and content management, and business process management systems. While Federal IT leaders see modernization of these systems as top targets for return on investment, progress lags in all but one of these areas -- business process management. Respondents reported that their agencies are making the most progress in the areas of federated identity management, business process management, geographic information systems, and service-oriented architecture.
Lack of communication and understanding of application modernization initiatives are contributing to delays. Just over half (56 percent) of all respondents said their department fully understands their agency's application modernization goals. Aside from additional budget and staff, respondents most often identified stronger leadership support and prioritization of modernization initiatives as well as a better understanding of the modernization process as factors that would help them surmount challenges and accelerate application modernization in their agencies.
Comment from Steve O'Keeffe, founder, MeriTalk: We've heard the word about cloud and data center consolidation from OMB leaders Jeffrey Zients and Vivek Kundra. Here's evidence from Federal IT operators and agency executives that we need a radical shift in Federal IT modernization direction.
Comment from Mark Cohn, chief technology officer, Unisys Federal Systems: Federal IT leaders see application modernization as vital to their agencies' ability to successfully meet current and emerging needs. In an age of tightening budgets, application modernization can free vital resources and budget currently allocated to maintaining legacy systems that are often duplicated across an agency. While many agencies have launched discovery and planning activities, pressure will grow to implement modernized applications for functionality and security benefits and to retire redundant systems to reduce cost. Application modernization can and must be a direct route to greater productivity and efficiency, but current approaches to modernization require years to produce results. We believe Federal agencies should adopt commercial best practices that will produce results more quickly and without extensive upfront capital expenditures. To jump start progress, it is imperative for agencies to develop a clear road map for modernization and to focus on initiatives with the greatest potential for return, such as cloud computing-based models.
About the survey: The "Federal Application Modernization Road Trip: Express Lane or Detour Ahead?" study is based on an online survey of 166 Federal IT leaders in October and November 2010. The study looked at the progress of the Federal government in modernizing its business applications and the cost and risk of maintaining outdated and redundant systems.
Contact: To download the full study results, please visit http://www.meritalk.com/fedappmod and http://www.govtinnovation.com
Contact: http://www.meritalk.com
Contact: http://www.unisys.com
The study, based on a survey of C-level and senior IT managers, revealed that agencies spend almost half of the annual Federal IT budget, $35.7 billion, maintaining and supporting legacy applications and that nearly half (47 percent) of all existing IT applications are based on legacy technology in need of modernization. Yet, only one-third of the survey's 166 respondents said that application modernization is a top priority at their agency, and half of all respondents considering application modernization reported that their agencies are in the discovery or planning phases of implementation.
Federal IT leaders view application modernization as a long-term project, with 60 percent of respondents saying that modernization initiatives will take three years or longer to implement. Application redundancy -- running multiple systems to perform the same tasks and processes -- is an issue in Federal agencies, according to the study, particularly in the areas of IT governance and risk management, enterprise document and content management, and business process management systems. While Federal IT leaders see modernization of these systems as top targets for return on investment, progress lags in all but one of these areas -- business process management. Respondents reported that their agencies are making the most progress in the areas of federated identity management, business process management, geographic information systems, and service-oriented architecture.
Lack of communication and understanding of application modernization initiatives are contributing to delays. Just over half (56 percent) of all respondents said their department fully understands their agency's application modernization goals. Aside from additional budget and staff, respondents most often identified stronger leadership support and prioritization of modernization initiatives as well as a better understanding of the modernization process as factors that would help them surmount challenges and accelerate application modernization in their agencies.
Comment from Steve O'Keeffe, founder, MeriTalk: We've heard the word about cloud and data center consolidation from OMB leaders Jeffrey Zients and Vivek Kundra. Here's evidence from Federal IT operators and agency executives that we need a radical shift in Federal IT modernization direction.
Comment from Mark Cohn, chief technology officer, Unisys Federal Systems: Federal IT leaders see application modernization as vital to their agencies' ability to successfully meet current and emerging needs. In an age of tightening budgets, application modernization can free vital resources and budget currently allocated to maintaining legacy systems that are often duplicated across an agency. While many agencies have launched discovery and planning activities, pressure will grow to implement modernized applications for functionality and security benefits and to retire redundant systems to reduce cost. Application modernization can and must be a direct route to greater productivity and efficiency, but current approaches to modernization require years to produce results. We believe Federal agencies should adopt commercial best practices that will produce results more quickly and without extensive upfront capital expenditures. To jump start progress, it is imperative for agencies to develop a clear road map for modernization and to focus on initiatives with the greatest potential for return, such as cloud computing-based models.
About the survey: The "Federal Application Modernization Road Trip: Express Lane or Detour Ahead?" study is based on an online survey of 166 Federal IT leaders in October and November 2010. The study looked at the progress of the Federal government in modernizing its business applications and the cost and risk of maintaining outdated and redundant systems.
Contact: To download the full study results, please visit http://www.meritalk.com/fedappmod and http://www.govtinnovation.com
Contact: http://www.meritalk.com
Contact: http://www.unisys.com
Enterprises Plan To Increase Managed Services Spending Over the Next 18 Months
As enterprises continue to seek ways to contain costs and limit spending, they will invest a large portion of their IT budgets on network-centric managed services. This willingness to spend more money on managed services should serve as a wake-up call for operators and vendors, according to a new report.
Enterprises indicated the two most significant variables for choosing a managed service are to gain a competitive advantage and to save on capex costs. As a result of the recession and its continued effects, enterprises are being forced to cut costs, indicating the largest incentive to invest in managed services.
Virtualization, M2M, network security, and VoIP have been identified by MSPs as key drivers for managed services to be adopted by enterprises.
Comment from Denise Culver, Analyst at Large at Pyramid: A significant number of enterprises are willing to spend large portions of their IT budgets -- between 10 percent and 20 percent -- on network-centric managed services, as operators and vendors continue to prove the value and reliability of their offerings. While growth in revenues from traditional businesses continues to slow down, and in some instances, declines, operators, and vendors alike can expand their managed services offerings to replace that lost revenue. According to survey respondents the two factors that would most likely affect an enterprise's decision to outsource its IT services are better applicability to business processes and the ability to lower costs. This presents a tremendous marketing and educational opportunity for MSPs. Vendors and operators with large advertising budgets -- such as Oracle, BT, and Motorola -- have the chance to promote managed services to enterprises, thus driving up usage. As this happens, it will drive adoption of managed services further down the chain to those MSPs that don't necessarily have the marketing power of large players. MSPs will also drive adoption of managed services, as they move away from focusing on IT-centric managed services and develop other opportunities that enable them to increase loyalty and drive down costs.
About the report: "Managed Services for Enterprises: Telco Operators and Vendors Capitalize on the Need of Businesses to Focus" is part of Pyramid's research report series.The report focuses on network-centric managed services offered by operators and technology vendors in areas like network security, data center, videoconferencing, and telepresence to enterprises.
Contact: http://www.pyr.com
Enterprises indicated the two most significant variables for choosing a managed service are to gain a competitive advantage and to save on capex costs. As a result of the recession and its continued effects, enterprises are being forced to cut costs, indicating the largest incentive to invest in managed services.
Virtualization, M2M, network security, and VoIP have been identified by MSPs as key drivers for managed services to be adopted by enterprises.
Comment from Denise Culver, Analyst at Large at Pyramid: A significant number of enterprises are willing to spend large portions of their IT budgets -- between 10 percent and 20 percent -- on network-centric managed services, as operators and vendors continue to prove the value and reliability of their offerings. While growth in revenues from traditional businesses continues to slow down, and in some instances, declines, operators, and vendors alike can expand their managed services offerings to replace that lost revenue. According to survey respondents the two factors that would most likely affect an enterprise's decision to outsource its IT services are better applicability to business processes and the ability to lower costs. This presents a tremendous marketing and educational opportunity for MSPs. Vendors and operators with large advertising budgets -- such as Oracle, BT, and Motorola -- have the chance to promote managed services to enterprises, thus driving up usage. As this happens, it will drive adoption of managed services further down the chain to those MSPs that don't necessarily have the marketing power of large players. MSPs will also drive adoption of managed services, as they move away from focusing on IT-centric managed services and develop other opportunities that enable them to increase loyalty and drive down costs.
About the report: "Managed Services for Enterprises: Telco Operators and Vendors Capitalize on the Need of Businesses to Focus" is part of Pyramid's research report series.The report focuses on network-centric managed services offered by operators and technology vendors in areas like network security, data center, videoconferencing, and telepresence to enterprises.
Contact: http://www.pyr.com
Antiquated IT Safeguards And Access Policies Leave Employees Frustrated, Enterprises Vulnerable
Despite new security risks posed by a rapidly evolving technology environment, most companies continue to rely on the traditional username and password sign-on to verify a user's identity, according to a study. Those organizations are unnecessarily leaving themselves open to unauthorized access by hackers and e-criminals.
Some important findings:
-- IT environments are pushing beyond traditional corporate boundaries, a trend that is exposing enterprises to more risks. More than half of companies surveyed (54 percent) reported a data breach in the previous year. As IT managers increase their reliance on cloud-based and SaaS solutions, collaboration tools, and enabling users to access their networks with mobile devices and personal computers, the number of security breaches is on the rise.
-- Malware attacks are employing password vulnerability in enterprises. Hackers are moving from conspicuous attacks like malware and phishing to more insidious attacks using stolen passwords to penetrate an organization and go undetected.
-- Password issues are the top access problem in the enterprise. To prevent unauthorized access, password policies have grown more cumbersome and error-prone. Such factors as password composition requirements, duration before password expiration, and multiple passwords to access corporate resources have inundated users. Additionally, 87 percent of users are expected to remember two or more passwords to access corporate resources. Meanwhile, password reset is the most common help desk call, in many companies accounting for between 30 and 50 percent of all help desk calls.
-- Strong, or two-factor, authentication technology is more convenient and cost effective than ever before thanks to the cloud-based model. Strong authentication is difficult for hackers to fool because it requires users to provide two simultaneous but independent methods of authentication: something they know (their password) and something they have (a one-time security code generated by a strong authentication credential). Unlike early-generation, on-premise solutions, today's strong authentication offerings are far more cost effective due to technology advances like cloud-based authentication and use of mobile phones to generate one-time passwords.
-- Lack of strong authentication between enterprises and partners leave corporate networks vulnerable. A full 67 percent of companies do not require strong authentication from their partners to access corporate networks. The lack of strong authentication reduces security within an enterprise and creates a weak link when accessing the network.
Recommendations for IT security executives:
-- Move toward implementing strong authentication now, and throughout the enterprise -- not just for select applications.
-- Ensure that open enterprise initiatives like SaaS access and partner access are protected at the same level as inside their organization.
-- Reassess strong authentication technologies to understand how today's solutions, with mobile device apps that serve as low- or no-cost credentials, fit within their security environment and budget. The cloud-based model drastically reduces the cost of ownership while increases adoption.
-- Align strong authentication with their open enterprise landscapes, shoring up protections across cloud computing, SaaS, collaboration tools and mobile access initiatives.
Comment from Atri Chatterjee, vice president of User Authentication at Symantec: The IT landscape is changing so dramatically and so rapidly that one in four organizations are requiring users to remember six or more passwords to access corporate networks and applications -- and as this Forrester study shows, that approach to authentication is collapsing under its own weight. Today's strong authentication offers a way to easily manage and control access to enterprise applications and networks via both computers and mobile devices -- and it achieves this with a cost-effective, SaaS delivery model that solves the old shortcomings of costly, premise-based solutions. As enterprises continue to open up, strong authentication can help keep the bad guys out.
About the study: "Enhancing Authentication To Secure The Open Enterprise" was conducted in December 2010 by Forrester Consulting, which surveyed 306 enterprises with 1,000 to 20,000+ employees on behalf of Symantec Corp.
Contact: http://www.symantec.com
Some important findings:
-- IT environments are pushing beyond traditional corporate boundaries, a trend that is exposing enterprises to more risks. More than half of companies surveyed (54 percent) reported a data breach in the previous year. As IT managers increase their reliance on cloud-based and SaaS solutions, collaboration tools, and enabling users to access their networks with mobile devices and personal computers, the number of security breaches is on the rise.
-- Malware attacks are employing password vulnerability in enterprises. Hackers are moving from conspicuous attacks like malware and phishing to more insidious attacks using stolen passwords to penetrate an organization and go undetected.
-- Password issues are the top access problem in the enterprise. To prevent unauthorized access, password policies have grown more cumbersome and error-prone. Such factors as password composition requirements, duration before password expiration, and multiple passwords to access corporate resources have inundated users. Additionally, 87 percent of users are expected to remember two or more passwords to access corporate resources. Meanwhile, password reset is the most common help desk call, in many companies accounting for between 30 and 50 percent of all help desk calls.
-- Strong, or two-factor, authentication technology is more convenient and cost effective than ever before thanks to the cloud-based model. Strong authentication is difficult for hackers to fool because it requires users to provide two simultaneous but independent methods of authentication: something they know (their password) and something they have (a one-time security code generated by a strong authentication credential). Unlike early-generation, on-premise solutions, today's strong authentication offerings are far more cost effective due to technology advances like cloud-based authentication and use of mobile phones to generate one-time passwords.
-- Lack of strong authentication between enterprises and partners leave corporate networks vulnerable. A full 67 percent of companies do not require strong authentication from their partners to access corporate networks. The lack of strong authentication reduces security within an enterprise and creates a weak link when accessing the network.
Recommendations for IT security executives:
-- Move toward implementing strong authentication now, and throughout the enterprise -- not just for select applications.
-- Ensure that open enterprise initiatives like SaaS access and partner access are protected at the same level as inside their organization.
-- Reassess strong authentication technologies to understand how today's solutions, with mobile device apps that serve as low- or no-cost credentials, fit within their security environment and budget. The cloud-based model drastically reduces the cost of ownership while increases adoption.
-- Align strong authentication with their open enterprise landscapes, shoring up protections across cloud computing, SaaS, collaboration tools and mobile access initiatives.
Comment from Atri Chatterjee, vice president of User Authentication at Symantec: The IT landscape is changing so dramatically and so rapidly that one in four organizations are requiring users to remember six or more passwords to access corporate networks and applications -- and as this Forrester study shows, that approach to authentication is collapsing under its own weight. Today's strong authentication offers a way to easily manage and control access to enterprise applications and networks via both computers and mobile devices -- and it achieves this with a cost-effective, SaaS delivery model that solves the old shortcomings of costly, premise-based solutions. As enterprises continue to open up, strong authentication can help keep the bad guys out.
About the study: "Enhancing Authentication To Secure The Open Enterprise" was conducted in December 2010 by Forrester Consulting, which surveyed 306 enterprises with 1,000 to 20,000+ employees on behalf of Symantec Corp.
Contact: http://www.symantec.com
Mobile Enterprise Apps Poised to Take Off in 2011
In 2011, 90 percent of IT managers are planning to implement new mobile applications and nearly one in two believe that successfully managing mobile applications will top their priority list, a survey has found. As a result both hosted and on-premise mobility solutions powered by a strong mobile enterprise application platform are valuable options for businesses to seriously consider in 2011.
A majority (82 percent) of IT managers share the belief that it would be beneficial -- not detrimental -- to host more of their mobile applications in the cloud.
Other findings:
-- The year of the mobile enterprise app: Nine in ten (90 percent) IT managers reported they will implement new mobile applications this year, with almost a quarter (21 percent) looking to introduce 20 or more applications into their organization. In addition, they anticipate supporting about eight different mobile platforms or operating systems by the end of 2011.
-- Mobile mismanagement: Despite the enthusiasm and flexibility shared by IT departments, many are currently not being strategic about mobility. Almost half of respondents (46 percent) who do not have a mobile strategy in place did not expect to hire staff to specifically deal with their enterprise mobility strategy while nearly the same number of respondents (45 percent) admitted they did not have a plan or timeline in place.
-- Mobile application priority: Forty-five percent of respondents predict that implementing or managing the onslaught of mobile enterprise applications tops the priority list in the coming year, even over more common issues such as adhering to IT budgets. Also, 56 percent of IT managers consider customizing company information for mobile purposes a crucial part of conducting business and not just a "nice to have." In addition, more than eight in ten (84 percent) of those who feel this way work for companies that are flexible about the use of new mobile applications or devices.
-- Mobile security concerns: Similarly, IT managers report that possible data security issues with mobile applications cause more problems (65 percent) than implementation (25 percent) or employee adoption hurdles (10 percent).
Other interesting findings from the 250 IT managers polled include:
-- Workers come first: One in two respondents (50 percent) say that employee demand is driving the adoption of new mobile applications.
-- Loyal to mobile: In fact, almost three in four (73 percent) say that decision makers are flexible and not rigid about incorporating new mobile applications and mobile devices into their organization, showing that many mid-to-large sized companies are committed to mobilizing the enterprise.
Comment from Dan Ortega, senior director product marketing, Sybase: The proliferation of new devices, coupled with the vast expansion of mobile applications used by consumers has paved the road for mobility solutions to enter the enterprise at the worker, workgroup, and workflow levels. Given all this, we expect 2011 to be the year of the transformation of the enterprise. As evidenced by this survey, IT managers will be faced with greater complexities and requirements across the entire enterprise mobility framework, which is where a leading mobile solutions provider like Sybase can take an entire industry to the next level.
About the study: The study was commissioned by Sybase and conducted by Kelton Research. The study consisted of online surveys of 250 IT managers in the U.S. and UK at companies with revenues of $100 million or more.
Contact: http://www.sybase.com
A majority (82 percent) of IT managers share the belief that it would be beneficial -- not detrimental -- to host more of their mobile applications in the cloud.
Other findings:
-- The year of the mobile enterprise app: Nine in ten (90 percent) IT managers reported they will implement new mobile applications this year, with almost a quarter (21 percent) looking to introduce 20 or more applications into their organization. In addition, they anticipate supporting about eight different mobile platforms or operating systems by the end of 2011.
-- Mobile mismanagement: Despite the enthusiasm and flexibility shared by IT departments, many are currently not being strategic about mobility. Almost half of respondents (46 percent) who do not have a mobile strategy in place did not expect to hire staff to specifically deal with their enterprise mobility strategy while nearly the same number of respondents (45 percent) admitted they did not have a plan or timeline in place.
-- Mobile application priority: Forty-five percent of respondents predict that implementing or managing the onslaught of mobile enterprise applications tops the priority list in the coming year, even over more common issues such as adhering to IT budgets. Also, 56 percent of IT managers consider customizing company information for mobile purposes a crucial part of conducting business and not just a "nice to have." In addition, more than eight in ten (84 percent) of those who feel this way work for companies that are flexible about the use of new mobile applications or devices.
-- Mobile security concerns: Similarly, IT managers report that possible data security issues with mobile applications cause more problems (65 percent) than implementation (25 percent) or employee adoption hurdles (10 percent).
Other interesting findings from the 250 IT managers polled include:
-- Workers come first: One in two respondents (50 percent) say that employee demand is driving the adoption of new mobile applications.
-- Loyal to mobile: In fact, almost three in four (73 percent) say that decision makers are flexible and not rigid about incorporating new mobile applications and mobile devices into their organization, showing that many mid-to-large sized companies are committed to mobilizing the enterprise.
Comment from Dan Ortega, senior director product marketing, Sybase: The proliferation of new devices, coupled with the vast expansion of mobile applications used by consumers has paved the road for mobility solutions to enter the enterprise at the worker, workgroup, and workflow levels. Given all this, we expect 2011 to be the year of the transformation of the enterprise. As evidenced by this survey, IT managers will be faced with greater complexities and requirements across the entire enterprise mobility framework, which is where a leading mobile solutions provider like Sybase can take an entire industry to the next level.
About the study: The study was commissioned by Sybase and conducted by Kelton Research. The study consisted of online surveys of 250 IT managers in the U.S. and UK at companies with revenues of $100 million or more.
Contact: http://www.sybase.com
SaaS Spending Among India SMBs Will Grow 40 percent In 2011
Small and medium business (SMB) spending in India on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), a key component of cloud computing, is anticipated to rise by a sizable 43 percent in 2011, according to a study. More than 10 percent of Internet-owning India SMBs have shown interest in adopting cloud computing in the next year. Medium businesses (organizations with 100-999 full-time employees) have displayed significantly higher interest than their smaller counterparts.
Other enablers of cloud adoption have also reached significant usage levels within India Internet SMBs.
The study also notes that infrastructure is gradually falling into place to support greater cloud growth within India SMBs. The availability of affordable and quality broadband services (thanks to the efforts of key ISPs) is a major driver not only for cloud computing but all Internet-based technology adoption. The development of virtualization is another key booster. Moreover, implementation of cloud-based solutions reduces the organization's need and dependability on skilled IT personnel.
Comment from Kalyan Banga, Senior Research Analyst at AMI-India: Mobility, telecommuting, notebooks, smart phones -- all are playing an important role in cloud adoption. Hence, it is becoming increasingly evident that the entire ecosystem and the players within it are steadily gearing up for cloud adoption.Among India Internet SMBs, almost half have a mobile workforce and over one fifth provide telecommuting options to their employees. The need for anytime, anywhere data access is a key driver of cloud computing in India. There are other factors at play as well that are triggering interest in cloud computing in India. In the aftermath of the economic downturn, cost-conscious India SMBs are tightening their purse strings. Cloud computing is appealing as it requires less of a financial burden through zero CAPEX and minimal OPEX. The development of an appropriate ecosystem is another crucial factor that is boosting Cloud Computing deployment. This is true since major ecosystem players such as Telco/ISPs, ISVs, SIs, aggregators, web developers, content providers, etc., have been developing their capabilities and technical infrastructure to be able to provide better and robust cloud computing services to end-users. Other than creating awareness, the partner community has a vital role in acting as the connecting link between cloud vendors and end-users. The success of cloud computing will depend on the last mile connectivity. Since India SMBs are geographically dispersed, heterogeneous in nature and challenging to tap, the role of the Channel Partner is particularly vital in the India SMB space. Choosing the right cloud partner is a critical component for ensuring a successful and long-term partnership. It is necessary to ensure that the cloud provider is ready to support the India SMB and share in both its challenges and achievements.
About the study: AMI's 2010-2011 Worldwide SMB Cloud Service studies examine the SMB Cloud opportunity in 30+ countries, including SMB preference for Cloud-based application bundle, price sensitivity and purchase channel preferences.The recently completed AMI study, "2010-2011 India SMB State of the Cloud Market Overview," was conducted across major as well as Tier II cities. These studies also provide comprehensive coverage of SMB adoption of Cloud-based applications, managed services, and supporting infrastructure, including platforms and devices. These studies will provide a roadmap for successful Cloud go-to-market strategies and tactics.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
Other enablers of cloud adoption have also reached significant usage levels within India Internet SMBs.
The study also notes that infrastructure is gradually falling into place to support greater cloud growth within India SMBs. The availability of affordable and quality broadband services (thanks to the efforts of key ISPs) is a major driver not only for cloud computing but all Internet-based technology adoption. The development of virtualization is another key booster. Moreover, implementation of cloud-based solutions reduces the organization's need and dependability on skilled IT personnel.
Comment from Kalyan Banga, Senior Research Analyst at AMI-India: Mobility, telecommuting, notebooks, smart phones -- all are playing an important role in cloud adoption. Hence, it is becoming increasingly evident that the entire ecosystem and the players within it are steadily gearing up for cloud adoption.Among India Internet SMBs, almost half have a mobile workforce and over one fifth provide telecommuting options to their employees. The need for anytime, anywhere data access is a key driver of cloud computing in India. There are other factors at play as well that are triggering interest in cloud computing in India. In the aftermath of the economic downturn, cost-conscious India SMBs are tightening their purse strings. Cloud computing is appealing as it requires less of a financial burden through zero CAPEX and minimal OPEX. The development of an appropriate ecosystem is another crucial factor that is boosting Cloud Computing deployment. This is true since major ecosystem players such as Telco/ISPs, ISVs, SIs, aggregators, web developers, content providers, etc., have been developing their capabilities and technical infrastructure to be able to provide better and robust cloud computing services to end-users. Other than creating awareness, the partner community has a vital role in acting as the connecting link between cloud vendors and end-users. The success of cloud computing will depend on the last mile connectivity. Since India SMBs are geographically dispersed, heterogeneous in nature and challenging to tap, the role of the Channel Partner is particularly vital in the India SMB space. Choosing the right cloud partner is a critical component for ensuring a successful and long-term partnership. It is necessary to ensure that the cloud provider is ready to support the India SMB and share in both its challenges and achievements.
About the study: AMI's 2010-2011 Worldwide SMB Cloud Service studies examine the SMB Cloud opportunity in 30+ countries, including SMB preference for Cloud-based application bundle, price sensitivity and purchase channel preferences.The recently completed AMI study, "2010-2011 India SMB State of the Cloud Market Overview," was conducted across major as well as Tier II cities. These studies also provide comprehensive coverage of SMB adoption of Cloud-based applications, managed services, and supporting infrastructure, including platforms and devices. These studies will provide a roadmap for successful Cloud go-to-market strategies and tactics.
Contact: http://www.ami-partners.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)