IT Staffing

IT security staffing has risen again this year in the wake of a continuing onslaught of high-profile ransomware attacks. For many IT organizations, this means it may be time to reassess the adequacy of their IT security staffing levels. In this report, we present data about the five-year trend in IT security staffing and provide four benchmarks: IT security staff members as a percentage of the IT staff, IT security specialists as a percentage of the Network and Communications Group, applications per IT security specialist, and network devices per IT security staff member. We also assess the influence of organization size and sector on staffing requirements. (22 pp., 10 fig.) [Research Byte]

August, 2017

As an organization’s applications portfolio grows, the application maintenance role becomes a more critical function, and IT organizations can benefit from periodic assessment of their staffing levels. This study uses three metrics to make that assessment: application maintenance staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per app maintenance staff member, and applications per app maintenance staff member. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by organization size, and by sector. We also provide a benchmark for the larger application group, which includes personnel engaged in application development, web/e-commerce support, quality assurance and testing, data management, and business systems analysis. (21 pp., 9 fig.) [Research Bytes]

July, 2017

The importance of computer networks cannot be overstated in this digital age. Yet remarkably, the network support staff as a percentage of the total IT staff appears to be shrinking. This study will help IT managers determine whether their organizations are keeping pace with improvements in network management. We provide four benchmarks: network support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, network support staff as a percentage of the Network and Communications Group, network devices per network support staff member, and users per network support staff member. (20 pp., 9 fig.) [Research Byte]

March, 2017

State-of-the-art data centers with virtualized architectures are changing the equation on optimal server support staffing levels. How many server support staff members does an organization need? To answer that question, we provide four key benchmarks: server support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per server support staff member, physical servers per server support staff member, and OS instances per server support staff member. We provide these metrics for small, midsize, and large organizations. (18 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]

January, 2017

Data management is a vital function that crosses departmental borders, involving business intelligence, data warehousing, and data architecture, among other functions. This category of IT employees, as we define it, has declined slightly as a percentage of the IT staff for the second year in a row. As such, the data management headcount requires ongoing assessment. In this study, we use four benchmarks to assess data management staffing levels: data management staff as a percentage of the IT staff, data management staff as a percentage of the Application Group, users per data management staff member, and applications per data management staff member. (18 pp., 7 fig.) [Research Byte]

October, 2016