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Three Conferences for IT Financial Managers
The IT Financial Management Association (ITFMA) is holding three concurrent conferences on March 26-30, 2007, in Nashville, TN. If you or someone in your organization is responsible for IT financial management, these events are well worth attending.
February, 2007
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ITIL Continues to Grow and Evolve
As we predicted nearly two years ago, 2006 was the watershed year in the U.S. for the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). Today ITIL is a hot topic for many IT organizations in the U.S. and its influence is spreading in the Asia-Pacific region. This Research Byte examines several metrics that point to the rising influence of ITIL and changes planned for ITIL Version 3, also known as the ITIL Refresh.
February, 2007
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Benchmarking Costs Per Server Instance
With server virtualization becoming the norm in many data centers, the number of OS instances is becoming the primary metric for benchmarking many elements of data center spending. This article provides statistics on total data center spending per OS instance for Windows, Unix, and Linux servers. The average, highest, and lowest costs are shown, based on data collected from data center benchmarking exercises conducted over the past year.
February, 2007
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SOA Adoption Trends: Executive Summary
Although SOA is undoubtedly a better way to develop and implement software, widespread commercial adoption of SOA is five to seven years away. This article is a summary of our full report, which presents SOA adoption rate trends by industry sector and organization size. It also discusses the different categories of SOA adoption and the reasons why certain types of firms are deploying SOA more rapidly. It also provides recommendations for maximizing the benefits of this technology for end-user organizations and IT service providers in light of these findings.
February, 2007
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QA Staffing Ratios Vary Across Organizations
Too often, the quality assurance (QA) function is viewed within IT as an obstacle to getting work done. But as companies become more reliant on systems, and with new regulatory mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley, the software QA function is becoming more important than ever. To carry out its mission, the QA group must be staffed with the right number of qualified and knowledgeable professionals. This article is an executive summary of our full report, which provides staffing ratios for benchmarking the size of the IT quality function.
February, 2007
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IT Salary Growth is Accelerating
In 2007, IT managers will be challenged by a tighter market for skilled IT professionals and IT salary levels that are rising across the board. While the IT job market will not be nearly as frenetic as it was in the late 1990s, we expect it to be more active this year than at any other time this decade. This Research Byte is a summary of our 2007 IT Salary Report, which provides an analysis of IT staffing and salary trends as well as complete salary statistics for 81 job positions in 70 U.S. metropolitan areas.
January, 2007
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Ten-Year Trends in IT Spending: Executive Summary (2007)
Developing the appropriate level of IT spending for an organization is an important element of IT strategy. On the one hand, IT executives seek to increase IT spending in order to better serve users. On the other hand, the IT function is no different from any other--it must accomplish its mission within the budgetary constraints of the organization. Inevitably, executives seek guidance in the form of benchmarks based on the experiences of other organizations' IT spending. However, in studying IT spending benchmarks, it is easy to miss long-term trends.
January, 2007
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Taking Advantage of Aggressive Discounting by Dell
Dell appears to be on the road to regain lost market share with aggressive discounting for both businesses and consumers. To date, Dell has been out-discounting both HP and IBM. Buyers should leverage such discounts to increasing competition among suppliers, even if Dell is not the preferred supplier.
December, 2006
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Server Support Staffing Ratios: Executive Summary
This Research Byte is an executive summary of our full report, which provides benchmarks for server support headcount based on a survey conducted by Computer Economics with over 140 data centers. The full report provides benchmarks for the number of servers and the number of OS instances that can be supported by one support staff member. It also provides guidelines for adjusting the staffing ratios to account for project-related activities and any time spent performing help desk activities. Finally, the impact of server virtualization is analyzed in terms of its positive effect on server support staff productivity.
December, 2006
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IT Management: Does It Scale?
Every IT organization requires management, but how many managers are really necessary? To make this decision, it is helpful to understand what drives the ratio of IT managers to technical staff. Does the number of users influence the number of IT managers required? What about the number of desktop computers? As organizations grow in size, are more managers required at every level? Computer Economics conducted a survey of nearly 200 CIOs and senior IT managers to find out.
December, 2006
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Keystroke Dynamics: A Better Biometric
Keystroke dynamics is a detailed description of the timing of key-down and key-up events when users enter usernames, passwords, or any other string of characters. Because a user's keystroke timings are as individual as handwriting or a signature, keystroke dynamics can be used as part of a scheme to verify a user's identity. On the surface, there is much to recommend keystroke dynamics as a cost-effective method to strengthen user authentication. But how can these benefits be evaluated more precisely?
December, 2006
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Computer Leasing: Plan to Get Out Before You Get In
There are many reasons that you may need to terminate a lease agreement early. Simply hoping that your lessor will be flexible about your leasing terms is not a good idea. This Research Byte is a summary of our full report that explains in detail the terms and conditions that every lessor should consider for negotiation before entering into a binding lease agreement.
November, 2006
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Mainframe Utilization Benchmarks and Strategies for Improvement
Although the mainframe is often viewed as a legacy platform, mainframe systems still occupy a significant place in the data centers of many organizations. Therefore, proper management of mainframe utilization is an important part of data center planning. This article provides average and best practice utilization of mainframe systems for prime shift, non-prime shift, and weekends. It also outlines a strategy for optimizing mainframe utilization.
November, 2006
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Stiff Penalties for Non-Compliance with Computer Recycling Laws
Over the past five years, new e-waste regulations affecting manufacturers and end-users of electronic equipment have been implemented worldwide. This Research Byte is an overview of our full report, New Regulations on Disposal of Computer Equipment, which provides a summary of the most recent legislation regarding the manufacture and disposal of computer equipment. The full report also includes our guidelines for selecting a qualified e-cycler.
November, 2006
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Windows Rules the Data Center
Our most recent IT technology trends survey shows that Windows leads in the average percentage of data center workload processing. This Research Byte is an executive summary of our full report, Data Center Operating System Trends and Economic Characteristics, which provides data on average OS workload by organization size and industry sector, and analyzes the economic characteristics of three of them: Windows, Unix, and Linux. It also makes a number of important recommendations and predictions regarding data center OS adoption trends and strategies for optimizing OS ROI and TCO.
November, 2006
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