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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
COVID-19: Enterprise Resilience Is Tested Like Never Before
With the ongoing pandemic many stories emerged of resilience, responsiveness, and innovation, as many of us are forced to live in the future. People were asked to act against their nature and shift from a collaborative workplace environment to isolation at home, further blurring the lines between work and life. This led to a need to strengthen the digital muscle hinged around remote-first working, cloud acceleration, smart IT operations, and automated business operations. Infosys seems to have already laid down the digital rail tracks which helped boost revenue and profit, reflecting resilience and adaptability of its business model in this time of crisis.
October, 2020
IT Asset Management Adoption Grows, Despite Complicating Factors
For IT organizations, the dream of having all IT assets fully documented and tracked within a formal system remains elusive. While IT organizations have been able to bring certain assets under control, as soon as one area has stabilized, the technology changes. Employee-owned devices and technologies designed to simplify IT asset management such as SaaS keep moving the goal line. This Research Byte provides a summary of our full report on IT asset management adoption and best practices.
August, 2019
Coronavirus Impact on IT Budgets Still Coming
Benchmarking IT spending and staffing is a complicated task in the best of economic conditions. Benchmarking in the middle of a global pandemic and recession is even more difficult, but also more important. As we prepare the launch of the 31st edition of our annual IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks report, this is the challenge.
July, 2020
QA Staffing and the Changing Nature of Software Development
IT quality assurance has always been a small but vital role in IT organizations. However, the role of quality assurance as a discrete job position is in a state of flux. The changing nature of software development is a big influence in QA staffing. This Research Byte examines the reasons for the trend and provides a summary of our full report on IT quality assurance staffing ratios.
October, 2020
Three Ways to Benchmark IT Spending
Benchmarking is a time-tested way for IT executives to justify their IT budgets and focus on continuous improvement. Whether it is to compare their IT spending levels with industry peers, defend current spending levels, justify new spending requests, or identify opportunities for cost improvement, benchmarking is the only way to objectively measure an organization’s IT budget against industry standards.
February, 2013
ITIL Adoption Unlikely To Show Significant Growth
Although large IT organizations are continuing to embrace the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the number of organizations committed to full ITIL implementation remains relatively small. When practiced correctly, ITIL should have a deep impact on an IT organization’s core processes. This Research Byte provides a summary of our full report on ITIL adoption and best practices.
April, 2019
Intelligent Platforms Changing the Automation Landscape
The RPA industry has shifted toward hyperautomation, which leverages AI, ML, and NLP to enable end-to-end automation. Tool vendors have evolved their solutions into enterprise-class suites covering the entire automation lifecycle by bundling process discovery, workflow orchestration, prediction and recommendation, document processing, analytics, and unified dashboards. Software vendors such as SAP, Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle have also entered the AI-led automation marketplace by embedding automation in their applications and platforms, organically or inorganically.
October, 2020
Data Management Staffing Catching up with Data Explosion
The data explosion is finally making an impact on data management staffing. Through the middle of the 2010s, data management head count plateaued. But in the last two years, data management staffing has risen sharply. This Research Byte examines the reasons for the slowing trend and provides a summary of our full report on server support staffing ratios.
September, 2020
Penetration Testing Just the Beginning of Good Security
Penetration testing is just one part of a comprehensive security program that needs to be taken seriously long before the white hats are called in. This consistent, formal process is what is missing many penetration testing efforts. This Research Byte looks at the process to make penetration testing most effective.
February, 2020
Big Blue bets big on Cloud-First Enterprise
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna’s announcement about a strategic move to spin off their managed infrastructure services business on October 8, 2020 is reverberating across the business and technology landscape. However, keeping the magnitude of the announcement aside, this is in line with IBM’s time-tested modus operandi of divesting slower growth and maturing businesses, such as their exit from the PC business. While this strategic shift is considerably late compared to other players, it is the right move that leverages their Red Hat acquisition to target the fast growing multi-cloud market.
October, 2020
Artificial Intelligence: Should Robots Have Rights?
In 1950, Alan Turing proposed a test for the ability of a machine to exhibit intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from that of a human being. Over the 70 years since, artificial intelligence has become more and more sophisticated, and there have already been claims of computers passing the Turing Test. As AI applications, and especially AI-enabled robots, continue their evolution, at what point do humans begin to, in fact, perceive them as living beings? And as this perception takes hold, will humans begin to feel obligated to grant them certain rights?
October, 2020