Latest Reports

• 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

• European IT Budgets Rising Despite Pandemic

  In our first annual IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks study focused entirely on Europe, organizations are poised for strong IT operational budget growth despite contending with a global pandemic. Budget increases are set to be well above inflation. European companies across nearly every sector are planning controlled-but-steady IT growth. The outlook for the year is looking strong for IT organizations, even with the coronavirus pandemic—or perhaps, because of it. This Research Byte describes one of the top findings of our European companion to our flagship IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks.

  December, 2020

• Retail IT Spending Needed for Digital Transformation

  The retail sector is going through a major transformation. Brick-and-mortar stalwarts are filing for bankruptcy or disappearing entirely. E-commerce and the digital customer experience are taking an increasing part of the shopping dollar. And all of that was happening before the COVID-19 pandemic forced major restrictions on brick-and-mortar shopping. Traditional retail is in a “change or die” mode, and the transformation of IT is going to decide who survives. This Research Byte is a brief summary of our special report on IT spending trends in the retail sector, which is available for free download.

  October, 2020

• Agile Not for Everyone

  After a steady rise in recent years, the growth in agile development is starting to taper off. Adoption was flat year over year, and we may be closing in on the ceiling for agile. Agile development is an important tool for organizations with high-level development needs, such as software and cloud providers. However, for companies that do little custom development, agile might not be right for them. This Research Byte explores some reasons for the lukewarm growth of agile among corporate IT organizations.

  March, 2020

• In a Year Where Security Is Paramount, Many Drop the Ball

  Computer Economics, a division of Avasant Research has released its major annual study on 34 IT management best practices, and one important category of practices–IT security and risk management–is showing mixed results. This is a bad sign in 2020, considering the changing threat landscape and the ramifications of the pandemic. This Research Byte highlights our findings on IT security best practices, along with an overview of the contents of the full study. The full study analyzes the growth and maturity of all 34 best practices, which are grouped into five major categories: IT governance, IT financial management, IT operational management, IT security and risk management, and application development.

  October, 2020