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Help Desk Staff Level Inching Up
Conflicting pressures have resulted in a small increase in the percentage of the IT staff devoted to help desk personnel, but the increase is only part of the story as IT leaders struggle with just exactly how to staff the day-to-day face of the organization. In this Research Byte, we review the trend in help desk staff as a percentage of the IT staff.
March, 2018
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Help Desk Staffing Ratios 2018
The help desk not only plays a key role in maintaining user productivity, it also serves as the day-to-day face of the IT organization. This report provides staffing benchmarks for this important function. We look at the trend in help desk staffing over a five-year period and provide four benchmarks by organization size and sector: help desk staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per help desk staff member, applications per help desk staff member, and first-call resolution rate. We also provide benchmarks for a combined help desk and desktop support staff. We conclude with recommendations on optimizing help desk staffing levels. (23 pp., 11 fig.) [Research Byte]
March, 2018
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Among Enterprise Technologies, AI Showing Early Success
Early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI) are finding positive return on investment and cost certainty, according to our Technology Trends 2018 study. AI, along with the Internet of Things, is the newest technology to be added to the study, and it appears that despite current low adoption and investment rates, AI will have a growing role in business in the years to come.
March, 2018
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Navigating the Minefield of Accounting for Software
For IT managers, understanding the rules around accounting for software costs can be difficult. As a result, IT leaders often simply defer to their accounting departments to decide how software costs should be treated but never fully understand the rationale behind the decisions.
March, 2018
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Accounting for Software: Understanding CAPEX and OPEX
For IT managers, understanding the rules around accounting for software costs can be a confusing subject. This report provides a primer on the difference between capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) and how they relate to accounting for software costs. We also outline how these principles vary according to the application development method that is used, whether a traditional waterfall approach or a newer process, such as agile development. Finally, we highlight the factors that drive business leaders to favor CAPEX or OPEX in accounting for software. (11 pp., 1 fig.) [Research Byte]
March, 2018
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Application Maintenance Outsourcing on the Decline
The need to maintain enterprise applications is more critical than ever. The security risks of poorly maintained systems, as well as the fast-paced change of business processes, can strain an IT organization. To handle the application maintenance burden, many IT organizations see outsourcing as a way to get the job done. However, the percentage of IT organizations outsourcing at least some of their application maintenance chores declined in 2017.
February, 2018
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Application Maintenance Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience 2018
As the application portfolio of an enterprise grows, the need to maintain those systems increases and can become a burden on the IT organization. In response, many organizations see outsourcing as an attractive option, although the number of organizations using these services has declined. In this report, we analyze the percentage of organizations outsourcing application maintenance (frequency), the average amount of work outsourced (level), and the change in the amount of work being outsourced (trend). We also assess the customer experience by showing how many IT organizations successfully lower costs by outsourcing this function. (18 pp, 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
February, 2018
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Zoho Looks to Challenge Bigger CRM Players with Bundled Apps
At its recent analyst day in Pleasanton, cloud software company Zoho announced impressive worldwide growth and a host of new products. But despite the growth, Zoho admits that headwinds remain for the 21-year-old company.
February, 2018
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ERP Dead Last in Economic Experience in 2018
Despite its maturity, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems continue to struggle to demonstrate return on investment (ROI). Moreover, as shown in Figure 2 of the Computer Economics Technology Trends 2018 study, ERP not only has the lowest ROI rating of all the technologies in our study, but organizations also struggled with cost certainty. The study polled 219 IT organizations on their experience with 14 leading technologies and ranked them based on their risk rates (how often they came in at the expected cost or less) and reward rates (the percentage of companies reporting that they broke even or saw a positive return on investment).
February, 2018
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Technology Trends 2018
This major study provides insight into the customer experience and adoption rates for 14 technologies that are top-of-mind for many companies. The study also delves into satisfaction of the customer experience and the specific types of solutions under consideration. With this information business leaders are in a better position to assess the potential risks and rewards of each of these technologies. They also can gain insight into just how aggressively competitors and peers are making these investments. (101 pp., 102 figs.) [Full Description and Sample Pages] [Research Byte]
February, 2018
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Disaster Recovery Planning Adoption and Best Practices
As recent outages demonstrate, the ability to recover operations quickly and effectively after a disaster should be an organizational priority. However, too few companies are planning for disaster recovery formally and consistently. In this study, we first look at adoption trends for disaster recovery planning by organization size and sector. We also discuss the elements that every disaster recovery plan should contain, and steps IT organizations should take in establishing such plans. (16 pp., 6 fig.) [Research Byte]
February, 2018
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Too Few Companies Formally Plan for Disaster Recovery
The range of disasters, natural and otherwise, that can cripple a company are staggeringly wide. At the extreme, a flood of Biblical proportions takes out scores of Houston-area businesses. Or mission-critical IT systems fail at Delta Airlines, resulting in thousands of canceled flights and $100 million in lost business. But, sadly, not enough companies are taking disaster recovery planning seriously.
February, 2018
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A Rapid Implementation of ERP Financials at BLD Brands
The implementation of any complex, enterprise-wide system can be fraught with difficulties. Installations can take more than a year and, in some cases, never work as advertised. So it was encouraging to hear about BLD Brands, a company of 3,700 workers and 134 locations, implementing a suite of financial modules in less than three months.
February, 2018
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Acumatica Continues Expansion of Industry-Specific ERP
The enterprise resource planning (ERP) market continues to evolve, with consolidation the order of the day and newer cloud ERP vendors swooping in to grab headlines and customers. One of these is Acumatica, the Seattle-based ERP cloud vendor that celebrated its 10-year anniversary at its partner and customer conference in late January.
January, 2018
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IT Project Management Staffing Ratios 2018
In today’s environment of fast-paced change, the role of the IT project manager is critical. Nevertheless, too few IT organizations adequately staff the project manager function. In this study, we examine the question of how many project managers a typical IT organization requires. We present five benchmarks: project managers as a percentage of the IT staff, project managers as a percentage of the Application Group, users per project manager, applications per project manager, and application programmers per project manager. All of these ratios are presented by organization size. In addition, we look at the influence of sector on the key ratios. We conclude with recommendations on assessing the performance of the project management function. (24 pp., 11 fig.) [Research Byte]
January, 2018
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