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DBA Outsourcing Moderately Successful But Slow Growing
Outsourcing database administration can be a sucessful strategy, however, it is not widly embraced. Companies that outsource this function tend to maintain the amount of work outsourced, but there is little growth in this area. In this Research Byte we review the outsourcing profile for this important function.
November, 2015
IT Strategic Planning a Best Practice in Good Times and Bad
More than three-quarters of IT organizations today conduct long-term strategic planning, making this one of most mature and widely embraced management best practices of any that we track. In this Research Byte, we presents adoption, practice level, and maturity ratings for this IT management practice.
October, 2015
IT Strategic Planning Adoption and Best Practices 2015
In the current environment, IT strategic planning is more essential than ever. The strategic plan can help an IT organization look beyond economic uncertainty, stay focused on long-term goals, and guide it through the accelerating shift to the cloud, a transformation that will provide the flexibility needed to navigate the ongoing volatility in global markets. In this study, we describe the fundamental components of an IT strategic plan, assess current adoption trends by organization size and sector, and outline some key steps for starting the process. (13 pp., 5 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
Oracle v. Rimini Street Verdict Clarifies Ground Rules for Third-Party Maintenance
Earlier this month, the jury reached its verdict in the Oracle v. Rimini Street lawsuit, a closely-watched case involving third-party maintenance (3PM) in the enterprise software industry. Assuming the jury’s verdict stands up against potential appeals, the case sets an important precedent for how 3PM providers should operate to ensure they are not violating the intellectual property rights of the software owners. We expect customer use of third-party maintenance will increase as a result of this verdict.
October, 2015
Vendor Discount Report (October 2015)
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.).
October, 2015
IT Training Budgets Remain Depressed
Heading into 2016, IT training budgets have still not returned to pre-recession levels. Instead they appear to have stabilized at a new, lower level, despite the recovery in IT operational spending. In this Research Byte we review the five-year trend in annual training budgets.
October, 2015
Benchmarks for IT Training Budgets 2015
There are many factors influencing the changing requirements for training by IT organizations today, ranging from the evolving composition of the IT staff to the introduction of new cloud, infrastructure, and mobile technologies. This study provides IT organizations with benchmarks for setting competitive IT training budgets for their organizations in the wake of these changes. We provide benchmarks for spending on IT training per IT staff member and as a percentage of the IT budget. We also assess variation in training budgets by organization size and sector, and we look at the change in training expenditures over time. (11 pp., 5 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
ERP Choices Expand on the Salesforce.com Platform
The Salesforce.com platform is a popular framework for development of cloud-based business systems. In fact, there are now at least five providers in the AppExchange network that offer some or all of the functionality that would fall under the banner of ERP. This Research Byte provides a new update on these providers, which include FinancialForce, Rootstock, Kenandy, AscentERP, and Sage Live.
October, 2015
Data Management Staffing Maintains Slight Gain
Data management personnel as a percentage of the IT staff has been rising, but only slightly, over the past five years as organizations continue to expand their business intelligence capabilities and tighten security. This Research Byte analyzes the trend.
October, 2015
Data Management Staffing Ratios 2015
Data management is a mission-critical function that crosses departmental borders and involves business intelligence, data warehousing, and data architecture, among other functions. This category of IT employees, as we define it, has been gradually rising and the number of IT staff members directly involved with data management 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., 9 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
Business Analysts on the Rise Once Again
The importance of the IT business analyst appears to be rising again after suffering a momentary retreat during the early part of the recovery period. This Research Byte shows the five-year trend in staffing of this function as a percentage of the IT staff.
October, 2015
Business Analyst Staffing Ratios 2015
The business analyst serves as a bridge between the IT organization and the users he or she serves. It is a multifaceted function that is important for ensuring that IT application systems meet business objectives. In this study, we assess staffing levels for the business analyst using four metrics: business analysts as a percentage of the IT staff, business analysts as a percentage of the Application Group, applications per business analyst, and users per business analyst. We also present ratios by organization size and sector. (18 pp., 9 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
Data Center Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience 2015
Data center outsourcing remained relatively stable over the course of the recession, but now appears to be rising. As business growth resumes, IT organizations face decisions as to how best to support that increased growth, including whether to upgrade infrastructure, turn to off-premises hosting service providers, or move some computing resources to the cloud. In this study, we examine data center outsourcing trends to provide IT executives with insight into how broadly and eagerly their peers are undertaking data center outsourcing as a strategy. We also examine the success rates organizations are having reducing cost and improving service through outsourcing this critical function. Finally, we show how these trends differ by organization size and sector. (18 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
Data Center Outsourcing Scores High on Service Success
While the percentage of organizations outsourcing data center operations remains relatively low, those that do outsource some or all of their data center generally find it improves IT service levels. In this Research Byte we examint the oursorcing profile for data center outsourcing.
October, 2015
ERP Investment Remains Strong Despite Poor Success
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption and investment rates remain high, with ERP continuing to expand its footprint in the enterprise. Nevertheless, ERP suffers from poor customer experience. In this Research Byte we review the adoption profile for ERP.
October, 2015