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How CIOs Risk Becoming Irrelevant
During the late 1990s the median IT organization in North America experienced double-digit IT operational budget growth. Even as recently as 2006 to 2008, IT budgets were growing in the 4% to 5% range. But today, IT budgets are growing only 2 % at the median and the outlook for 2012 is unchanged.
December, 2011
A Tug of War in Help Desk Staffing
Help desk staffing is in a state of flux right now, and right now increasing demands from the business are driving up headcount. In fact, the help desk staffing ratio took a big jump in 2019, bringing it to its highest level in the past five years. Some help desk roles are being expanded, but it remains to be seen if other factors will reduce demand for this important function. This Research Byte summarizes our full report on help desk staffing ratios.
January, 2020
Why Have IT Manager Staffing Levels Suddenly Become More Volatile?
The ratio of IT managers to total IT staff has been a remarkably steady metric over the years. Nevertheless, this staffing ratio took a jump last year and fell back again this year. Although economic conditions can explain some of the volatility, there are other factors at work. This Research Byte examines possible causes.
August, 2019
Application Developer Staffing Ratio Takes Another Dip
The ratio of application developers to the entire IT staff is a critical metric for IT managers. Why? Because developers tend to make up the largest part of most IT organizations, and they also tend to be among the higher-paid IT employees. Thus, it is vital for IT leaders to keep abreast of trends in application developer staffing ratios. This research byte summarizes our findings in the full report, Application Developer Staffing Ratios.
November, 2019
What’s Behind the Decline in Business Analysts?
With digital transformation taking center stage in recent years, we have predicted that the business analyst role would continue to rise in prominence within IT organizations. However, the number of business analysts as a percentage of the total IT staff has dropped for the second straight year. Were we wrong, or are there other factors behind the decline?
January, 2020
Desktop Support Staffing Declines to Three-Year Low
Today’s desktop and laptop computers are not the hot commodity they were 30 years ago, but they still require a great deal of support. However, when viewed as a percentage of the total IT staff, the percentage of desktop support personnel has now reached a three-year low. This Research Byte explores some reasons behind the decline.
February, 2020
Network Support Staffing Plateaus, Despite Increasing Pressure
The importance of computer networks cannot be overstated in this digital age. However, the level of network support staffing has plateaued in recent years and shows no signs of increasing. In other words, the increasing need for more bandwidth, better security, analytics, and reliability has not driven up the ratio of network support staff to total IT staff in the typical organization. This Research Byte summarizes the five-year trend in network support staffing ratios.
May, 2020
Enterprise Security Orchestration Platforms – Gravitating Towards AI-Enabled Tools and Contextual Indicators
The traditional enterprise security platform is evolving.They now incorporate more capabilities into a single enterprise SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) platform. The SOAR value proposition has become more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, because organizations require multi-functional capabilities to secure themselves against new threats.These tools help solve security challenges resulting from a distributed workforce, more BYOD devices, and cloud solutions. This Research Byte summarizes our full RadarView report on the subject.
October, 2020
How Are We Doing? Surveying Users and Reporting IT Performance Metrics
Two distinct but related IT management best practices-user-satisfaction surveys and IT performance metrics-are either growing slightly or remaining at a consistent level. But in both cases, many companies could use some help in practicing these two disciplines formally and consistently. This Research Byte provides a summary of our full report on user-satisfaction surveys and IT performance metrics adoption and best practices.
July, 2019
Understanding IT Procurement Contracts
Nearly all IT projects require some sort of procurement, whether it is for hardware, software, or services. Therefore, IT project managers need to understand the major element of IT procurement contracts, as outlined in this post.
November, 2008
IT Security Staffing Catching Up with Existential Threats
After years of remaining flat in the face of mounting security threats, IT security head count has finally risen as a percentage of the total IT staff. Until 2020, despite a growing array of threats and rising IT security budgets, IT organizations had not been increasing the size of their security teams and instead focused on technology to fight the problem. This Research Byte looks at the factors behind these trends.
November, 2020
Nobody Loves Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an IT security best practice that provides an extra layer of protection for system access, by asking a user for a second means of identification. It mitigates risk of unauthorized access and yet, despite these benefits, our annual survey of IT management best practices shows that too few companies apply two-factor authentication formally and consistently. This Research Byte explores some reasons for the lukewarm adoption of 2FA.
February, 2020