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Desktop Support Staffing Ratios 2022
When viewed as a percentage of the total IT staff, the percentage of desktop support personnel remains essentially unchanged. In this study, we use four metrics for benchmarking: desktop support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, PCs per desktop support staff member, applications per desktop support staff member, and users per support staff member. We also assess these ratios by organization size and sector. In addition, we provide benchmarks for the end-user support group, comprised of desktop support, help desk support, and IT training/documentation staff. We conclude with strategies for improving the efficiency of desktop support staff.
January, 2022
IT Management and Administration Staffing Ratios 2022
When it comes to IT managers, it is important to find the sweet spot. Too many, and the IT group can become top-heavy and bureaucratic, too few and IT staff members can feel unsupported and without direction. This report examines how many IT managers a well-run IT organization typically requires, along with staffing metrics for two related administrative functions: IT finance/vendor management and administrative support. To benchmark IT management, we use two metrics: IT managers as a percentage of the IT staff and users per IT manager. We provide metrics for small, midsize, and large organizations. To provide further perspective, we consider the five-year trend in IT managers as an average percentage of the IT staff.
January, 2022
Web/E-Commerce Staffing Ratios 2021
Web/e-commerce support staffing has been generally flat as a share of the typical IT staff over the past five years. But the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a substantial increase in digital interactions with customers, partners, and suppliers. Therefore, we expect staffing demands to increase for web/e-commerce personnel in the coming years. This Research Byte summarizes the five-year trend in web/e-commerce staffing ratios.
November, 2021
Server Support Staffing Ratios 2021
Although the demand for server support personnel has declined since 2012, in recent years there have been small increases, indicating a flattening of the staffing ratio. How many server support staff members does an organization need today? 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 metrics. We conclude with recommendations for improving server support productivity.
November, 2021
Business Analyst Staffing Ratios 2021
Business analysts as a percentage of the IT staff has risen from its previous decline, and we expect that this will be the trend. The business analyst serves as a bridge between the IT organization and business users. It is a multifaceted role that is important for ensuring that IT application systems meet business objectives. In this study, we assess staffing levels for the business analysts using four metrics: business analysts as a percentage of the IT staff, business analysts as a percentage of the delivery group, applications per business analyst, and users per business analyst. We also present ratios by organization size and sector.
November, 2021
Help Desk Staffing Ratios 2021
The help desk not only plays a key role in maintaining user productivity, but it also serves as the day-to-day face of the IT organization. This report provides staffing benchmarks for the help desk (service desk). We look at the trend in help desk staffing over a five-year period and provide five benchmarks by organization size and sector: help desk staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per help desk staff member, applications per help desk staff member, first-call resolution rate, and help desk tickets per end-user support staff member. Because companies organize the end-user support function in different ways, we also provide benchmarks for a combined help desk and desktop support staff. We conclude with recommendations on optimizing help desk staffing levels.
October, 2021
Database Administration Staffing Ratios 2021
As enterprises collect more data and connect more applications, they must ensure that data is secure, reliable, and accessible. But despite these increased demands, companies are restraining the growth in their database administration staff. This report helps IT managers determine whether they are keeping pace with industry standards by providing four benchmarks: database administrators (DBAs) as a percentage of the IT staff, DBAs as a percentage of the Data Center Group, users per DBA, and business applications per DBA. We present benchmarks for small, midsize, and large organizations and examine the influence by sector on these benchmarks. We conclude with best practices for optimizing DBA staffing.
October, 2021
IT Project Management Staffing Ratios 2021
In this study, we assess how many project managers a typical IT organization requires. We present five 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, and application programmers per project manager. Our analysis also includes the influence of organization size and industry sector. We conclude with recommendations on assessing the performance of the project management function.
May, 2021
Communications System Support Staffing Ratios 2021
Corporate communications systems have become more complex, although the number of IT specialists who support these systems has stabilized in the past few years. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, IT organizations can benefit from a periodic assessment of their communications system support staffing levels. This study uses three metrics to make that assessment: support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, percentage of support staff in relation to organization size, and support staff spending per user. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by organization size, and by sector.
January, 2021
Application Developer Staffing Ratios 2021
The way that enterprise applications are internally developed and maintained has changed. With these changes, the need for application developers is in flux, and IT organizations can benefit from a periodic assessment of their staffing levels. This report uses three metrics to make that assessment: developers as a percentage of the IT staff, users per developer, and applications per developer. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by organization size and by sector. We also provide a benchmark for the larger Application Group, which includes personnel engaged in web development and support, quality assurance, data management, and business systems analysis.
February, 2021
Trends in Telecommuting in the IT Workforce 2020
The practice of working remotely has skyrocketed over the past 11 years for many reasons, and in early 2020 it got a huge boost with growing concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus. This report examines the reasons for the rise in telecommuting, how often IT workers do so, and what benefits companies and employees are enjoying—while also being mindful of possible disadvantages. We conclude with best-practice recommendations for a sound telecommuting policy. (10 pp., 4 fig.)
March, 2020
ERP Support Staffing Ratios 2021
For many IT organizations, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are at the center of the application portfolio. In this report, we analyze ERP support requirements in several ways. First, we look at the ERP support staffing ratio, which is the number of ERP users divided by the number of ERP support personnel. We then assess this ratio by the size of the ERP installation. We also examine the data to determine the ratios by vendor. We examine the ratio by sector, age of installation, years since last upgrade, extent of modification, and type of deployment (on-premises, cloud, or hosted) as well. Finally, we provide recommendations on optimizing ERP staffing levels. (20 pp., 10 fig.)
January, 2021