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Help Desk Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience
The number of organizations that outsource help desk work rose in 2015, halting a two-year decline during which IT organizations brought help desk operations back in-house. Help desk outsourcing is a strategy IT organizations turn to when budgets get tight. This study examines adoption trends and customer experience with help desk outsourcing. We report on the percentage of organizations outsourcing help desk (frequency), the average amount of work outsourced (level), and the change in the amount of work being outsourced (trend). We also present success rates for the customer’s cost and service experience. Finally, we show how these trends differ by organization size and sector. (13 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
January, 2016
Help Desk Outsourcing Levels Off After Sharp Rise
The decision to turn over an organization’s IT help desk function to a service provider has a long history. Even so, our research shows that help desk outsourcing is not as common as one might think. While the number of companies outsourcing help desk work rose slightly in 2015, that came after a two-year decline. In this Research Byte we review the five-year trend in outsourcing help desk work.
January, 2016
Vendor Discount Report (January 2016)
Market intelligence on current discounting practices for business equipment can be difficult obtain. As a result, buyers do not know whether a better deal can be negotiated. This updated report, based on our knowledge of recent deals, provides buyers with guidance concerning current discount structures on a variety of equipment. Categories include IT equipment (desktops, laptops, network equipment, printers, servers, and storage), office equipment (copiers, mail equipment), forklifts, medical equipment, test equipment, and miscellaneous equipment. Major vendors include IBM, HP, Dell, HP, Apple, and others. Includes a downloadable PDF workbook of more than 300 deals used in the report to calculate average discounts and soft cost statistics (14pp., 12 figs.).
January, 2016
Big Data Analytics
"How can rice production in India, affect wheat output in the US, the shipping industry in Norway and the rubber industry in South America?" This was the opening statement of a commercial aired by T. Rowe Price. It is baffling to think that there is a connection between sectors that seem to be so disconnected from each other. But today, this is most certainly a reality.
December, 2015
IT Budgets To Rise 2% as Shift to the Cloud Continues
IT organizations in North America plan to increase IT operational budgets by 2.0% at the median in 2016 as they continue to shift operations into the cloud, according to the 2016 outlook survey by Computer Economics.
December, 2015
IT Spending Outlook for 2016 Forecasts 2% Budget Growth
Some IT organizations are bullish about the future while others, particularly larger ones, anticipate no growth in their budgets. In this Research Byte, we review our forecast for IT operational budget growth in 2016 and compare it the five-year trend.
December, 2015
IT Spending and Staffing Outlook for 2016: Divergence Ahead
As they make budget plans for 2016, IT organizations in the U.S. and Canada are of two minds. Some IT organizations are bullish about the future and even forecasting a revival in IT capital spending. Others, particularly larger ones, anticipate no growth in their budgets and appear to be hunkering down. Meanwhile, security will be a top priority and migration to the cloud ongoing. In our annual IT budget outlook study, we provide guidance for IT executives in the U.S. and Canada as they firm up spending plans for the coming year. The study assesses IT operational and capital spending plans for 2016, priorities for IT spending and investment, and plans for hiring and outsourcing. (24 pp., 23 fig.) [Research Byte]
December, 2015
IT Workers to Get 2.9% Pay Hike in 2016
While our research indicates about half of all IT organizations plan to increase headcount in the coming year, we are still a ways off from labor shortages or wage inflation. Real incomes are finally starting to grow across broad sectors of the economy, but inflation remains largely in check. This Research Byte discloses our findings on budget plans for IT pay raises in 2016.
December, 2015
2016 IT Salary Report
The Computer Economics 2016 IT Salary Report provides total compensation (base pay plus incentive pay) for 69 specific IT job functions for more than 400 U.S. metro areas and 20 industry sectors. The executive summary also provides our forecast for pay raises and hiring in 2016 and includes job descriptions for each job function in this study. The salary tables are provided as a downloadable Microsoft Excel workbook, with total salaries reported at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th percentiles. (28 pp., 5 figs., plus salary tables) [Full Description and Free Executive Summary]
December, 2015
Agile Development Practices Still Immature
One response to what some perceive as a high rate of failure for software development projects today is the emergence of agile development, a general term for a group of software development methods that emphasize collaboration within tightly knit teams, taking advantage of adaptive planning, early delivery, continuous improvement, and the ability to respond rapidly to change. This Research Byte presents adoption ratings for agile development from our study Agile Development Adoption and Best Practices.
November, 2015
Agile Development Adoption and Best Practices 2015
After more than two decades of maturation, agile development methodologies have a track record of speeding the software development cycle, improving functionality, and raising user satisfaction ratings. While adoption remains only moderate, agile development continues to gain adherents as more organizations face the necessity of continuous adaptation to a changing environment, our research shows. In this study, we present research on how widely and deeply agile development is being embraced by IT organizations today. We look at adoption by organization size and sector, and we outline some of the best practices. (13 pp., 5 fig.) [Research Byte]
November, 2015
Which Comes First: New Processes or New System?
When implementing new enterprise systems, business process improvement is an important element in ensuring success. But what should come first? Should you redesign business processes and select the system to fit, or should you select the new system and redesign the business processes to fit the system? This Research Byte provides expert advice on how to approach this common dilemma.
November, 2015
Desktop Support Returns to Full Strength
As a percentage of the IT staff, desktop support has gone through its ups and downs over the last five years, but now appears to be regaining its footing as IT organizations strengthen their customer-facing services and return this important function to full strength. In this Research Byte we show the five-year trend in desktop support staffing.
November, 2015
Desktop Support Staffing Ratios 2015
This study provides benchmarks on typical desktop support staffing. We use two metrics to benchmark desktop support staffing: desktop support staff as a percentage of the IT staff and PCs per desktop support staff member. We also assess these ratios by organization size and sector. In addition, we provide benchmarks for the combined desktop support and help desk functions. We conclude with strategies for improving the efficiency of the desktop support staff. (19pp., 9 fig.) [Research Byte]
November, 2015
Database Administration Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience 2015
Outsourcing the database administration function usually is undertaken to reduce costs, achieve better cost predictability, and improve the level of IT functionality. To help IT executives understand their options, this study examines adoption trends in database administration outsourcing. We report on the percentage of organizations outsourcing database administration (frequency), the average amount of work outsourced (level), and the change in the amount of work being outsourced (trend). We also present success rates for the customer’s cost and service experience. Finally, we show how these trends differ by organization size and sector. (13 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
November, 2015