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ERP Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2015
ERP systems have become the platform for integration of data, information, and applications in the well-managed enterprise today. This study helps IT executives understand how aggressively their peers are investing in ERP and the risks and rewards presented by those investments. We report worldwide adoption and investment rates by sector, organization size, and geography. We also measure customer experience in terms of the success rates for return on investment (ROI) and total cost of ownership (TCO). Finally, we identify the functional areas where organizations are planning or considering making new investments in ERP. We wrap up with our recommendations for improving the ROI of ERP installations. (17 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
IT Contingency Worker Use Cyclical, Not Secular
The use of contingency workers by IT organizations dropped for the second year in a row, pulling back from a substantial spike during the early stages of the recovery to return to an historically more normal level. In this Research Byte we review the five-year trend in contingency workers as a percentage of the IT staff.
October, 2015
Current Use of IT Contingency Workers 2015
As a percentage of the IT staff, the use of contingency workers has fallen back to normal levels after a surge in their use during the recovery period. Nevertheless, the use of contractors among IT organizations remains an important and well-established strategy and one that many IT organizations employed aggressively during the recovery. This study helps IT decision-makers understand how organizations are balancing the use of contingency workers with full-time employees in the current environment. (11 pp., 5 fig.) [Research Byte]
October, 2015
Data Center Staffing Drops Sharply
Data center staffing as a percentage of the typical IT workforce took a sharp drop over the past year as IT organization modernize data centers, outsource data center operations, and embrace software as a service. In this Research Byte we review the current year fall in this key metric.
September, 2015
Server Support Staffing Ratios 2015
Server support personnel have been declining as a percentage of the typical IT staff. 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. We also assess how industry sector can influence server support staffing ratios. We conclude with recommendations for improving server support productivity. (17 pp., 8 fig.) [Research Byte]
September, 2015
Project Management Offices Put to Full Use
The majority of IT organizations that have project management offices (PMOs) make full use of them. In this Research Byte, we profile this IT management best practice by showing ratings for adoption, practice level, and maturity.
September, 2015
Project Management Office Adoption Trends 2015
It has become common for organizations to impose some degree of standardization on its project management processes in an effort to increase success rates. In this study, we examine the trend toward adoption of project management offices (PMOs), a best practice that has reached maturity and proved its worth. We present recent adoption trends, examine the influence of size and sector on adoption, and provide recommendations for how to measure the success of the PMO. (11 pp., 5 fig.) [Research Byte]
September, 2015
IT Project Management Survives and Thrives
IT project management is one function that appears to have survived the recession relatively unscathed to become a stable fixture in most IT organizations, despite sluggish growth in IT capital spending. In this Research Byte we review the five-year trend in project management staffing.
September, 2015
IT Project Management Staffing Ratios 2015
In this study, we examine the question of how many project managers a typical IT organization requires. We present six 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, application developers per project manager, and capital budget 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. (22 pp., 11 fig.) {Research Byte]
September, 2015
Web Staffing Rout Could Be Long Term
Despite more demands on web systems, the percentage of the IT staff dedicated to web and e-commerce functions dropped sharply year over year. In this Research Byte, we review the decline in web and e-commerce staffing as a percentage of the IT staff.
September, 2015
Web/E-Commerce Staffing Ratios 2015
Online sales continue to grow, and investments in cloud architecture, mobile applications, and social networking are placing new demands on web and e-commerce functions. In this study, we provide benchmarks for staffing functions related to web and e-commerce development and operations. We benchmark web staffing with three ratios: web/e-commerce staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per web/e-commerce staff member, and applications per web/e-commerce staff member. Benchmarks are provided by organization size. We also assess the influence of sector on web staffing. (17 pp,.9 fig.) [Research Byte]
September, 2015
Web Outsourcing Mostly Steady
Web and e-commercing outsourcing remains popular and its use is slightly rising. In this Research Byte, we review the five-year trend in the frequency of outsourcing web and ecommerce systems.
September, 2015
Web/E-Commerce Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience 2015
The outsourcing of web and e-commerce systems and operations is rising again. Online sales are growing, business is shifting to mobile platforms, and organizations are reluctant to invest in aging data center infrastructure. As such, they are turning to outsourcing partners that can provide the latest expertise and a flexible, scaled approach to Internet infrastructure and systems. To help IT executives better assess their options, this study reports the percentage of organizations outsourcing web/e-commerce operations (frequency), the average amount of work outsourced (level), and the change to the amount of work being outsourced (net growth trend). We also present data on cost and service experience and on how these trends differ by organization size and sector. (8 fig., 14 pp.) [Research Byte]
September, 2015
Enterprise Architecture Gains Momentum as IT Best Practice
This Research Byte presents data from the IT Management Best Practices study that shows enterprise architecture has become one of the fastest-rising practices in IT organizations today.
September, 2015
IT Management Best Practices 2015/2016
Much of the mission of the IT organization is to automate and improve business processes throughout the enterprise. But the IT organization itself also has its own need for process improvement and automation. The best-run IT organizations not only focus their process improvement efforts on those of other departments, they also seek to optimize their own IT management processes internally. In this study, we examine the growth and maturity of 30 IT management practices which we have grouped into five major categories: IT governance practices, IT financial management practices, IT operational management practices, IT security and risk management practices, and software development practices. (182 pp., 168 figs.) [Full Report Description and Sample Pages] [Research Byte]
September, 2015