SolarWinds IT Trends Report 2015: Business at the Speed of IT (North America)

IT TRENDS REPORT 2O15: BUSINESS AT THE SPEED OF IT

S U R V E Y C O N D U C T E D B Y C W H I T E C O N S U L T I N GD E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

A L O O K AT T H E C U R R E N T S T AT E O F S I G N I F I C AN T N E W T E C H N O L O G Y AD O P T I O N , B AR R I E R S T O AD O P T I O N AN D N E E D S O F I T P R O S T AS K E D W I T H D E L I V E R I N G B U S I N E S S I M P AC T

( N O R T H AM E R I C A)

STUDY OVERVIEW

IT and IT’s ability to successfully adopt significant new technologies is critical to long-term business success. The new measures of IT performance are not just availability, reliability and uptime—but also business productivity, growth and profitability. However, barriers and challenges, including, for some, business leadership, continue to stall adoption and therefore business impact.

• Nearly all—93 percent—of respondents indicated that adopting significant new technologies is at least somewhat important to their organization’s long-term success; of those, 48 percent said it is important and another 20 percent said it is extremely important

• Budget limitations ranked as the top barrier to adopting those significant new technologies, followed by inability to convince decision makers of the need and/or benefit and a shortage of IT personnel to implement and/or manage the technology, respectively

• While 66 percent of survey-takers indicated they view their organizations’ CIO as an enabler in adopting significant new technologies, nearly one-quarter said their CIO is either a barrier or uninvolved

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K E Y F I N D I N G S

© 2015 SOLARWINDS WORLDWIDE, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

STUDY OVERVIEW

Without empowering IT to effectively overcome these barriers, organizations struggle to achieve expected results from technology adoption within anticipated timeframes, and to ensure overall business-critical technology performance.

• More than half of IT professionals surveyed said it took longer than anticipated—23 percent said much longer—for the last significant new technology their organization adopted to start impacting business and/or end-user efficiency

• Only half of the survey-takers said their organizations’ last adoption of a significant new technology achieved expected return on investment within the projected timeframe; while one-third said it took longer than expected—11 percent of those said it took much longer

• Nearly 90 percent of respondents said their organizations’ end-users were negatively affected by a performance or availability issue with business-critical technology in the past 12 months; nearly a quarter of those reported that such issues occurred six times or more

3



STUDY OVERVIEW

To better empower IT to overcome these barriers and drive the success

of their businesses through technology adoption, organizations must

first provide IT with more resources, better training and development

and greater autonomy.

• Nearly 50 percent of survey-takers said more resources, such as budget, personnel

and time, ranked as their number one need to feel more empowered

• More or better training and development (32 percent), greater IT department

autonomy (29 percent), stronger CIO support when liaising with other business

leaders (26 percent) and more or better strategic counsel and guidance from the CIO

(24 percent) rounded out the list of IT’s top five needs ranked number one by IT

professionals surveyed

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STUDY OVERVIEW

5

D E M O G R AP H I C S : S U R V E Y R E S P O N D E N T S


231 IT practitioners, managers and directors in the U.S. and Canada from public- and private-sector small,mid-size and enterprise companies participated in a December 2014 online survey

6%10%

11%

15%

8%14%

35%

Company Size(number of employees)

50-99 FTEs

100-249 FTEs

250-499 FTEs

500-999 FTEs

1000-1499 FTEs

1500-4999 FTEs

5000+ FTEs

46%

23%

23%

4% 4%

IT Pro’s Role

Practitioner

Manager

Director

IT Consultant

Other IT-related

53%47%

0%

Public/Private Sector Split

Public Sector

Private Sector

It's Complicated

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

6

I M P O R TAN C E O F AD O P T I N G F O R L O N G - T E R M S U C C E S S


20%

48%

25%

7%

1%

18%

40%

26%

13%

3%

15%

51%

28%

7%

0%

23%

49%

23%

5%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Extremely Important

Important

Somewhat Important

Not Important at All

Do not know

Importance of Adopting Significant New Technologies for Long-Term Business Success

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

In general, how important is adopting significant new technologies (those that each require over 10% of the annual IT budget) to your company’s long-term business success? [choose only one]

Over two-thirds of all IT pros surveyed indicate that adopting significant new technologies is important or extremely important to their company’s long-term business success. By business size, one-fourth of IT pros

from small, mid-size and enterprise companies (respectively) found adoption only somewhat importantto their company’s long-term business success.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

7

F I V E B I G G E S T B AR R I E R S TO I T AD O P T I O N


77%

48%

36%

43%

41%

41%

52%

55%

34%

20%

49%

0%

74%

58%

42%

50%

37%

47%

47%

45%

26%

16%

58%

0%

79%

52%

36%

49%

34%

39%

59%

54%

26%

16%

51%

0%

77%

42%

34%

39%

45%

40%

50%

58%

40%

23%

46%

0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Budget limitations

Convincing bus dec makers of need/benefit

Lack of IT empowerment

Lack of skills needed to implement/manage

Inability to prove ROI

Disruption to bus/end user perf during implementation

Need to continue supporting old, legacy tech

Security/Compliance concerns

Concerns over IT managing hetero/multi-vendor environs

Concerns over IT never having implemented a sig new tech

Shortage of IT personnel to implement/manage

Other

Top Barriers to IT Adoption of Significant New Technologies – Most Mentioned (%)

Overall Small Bus Mid-Size Bus Enterprise

What are your FIVE biggest barriers to IT adoption of significant new technologies (those that each require over 10% of the annual IT budget)? [rank 1-5 with 1 “biggest barrier”, also provided “other” write-in option]

Over three-fourths of all IT pros surveyed indicate that budget limitations is one of their top 5 barriers to IT adoption, with one-third listing budget limitations as their biggest barrier. By weighted rank, budget limitations is also the #1 barrier, followed by (#2) convincing decision makers of the need/benefit of IT adoption and (#3) shortage of IT personnel to

implement and/or manage the technology. Across all business sizes, budget limitations is both #1 most mentioned and #1 by weighted rank. Behind budget (in weighted rank), IT pros in small businesses indicate the inability to prove ROI as #2 and the need to support old, legacy systems as #3 while IT pros in enterprise indicate lack of IT empowerment as #2 and

lack of skills as #3. The top 3 for IT pros in mid-size businesses aligns with that of the overall findings.

#1 by weighted rank

#2 by weighted rank (tie)

#2 by weighted rank (tie)

#4 by weighted rank

#5 by weighted rank

#7 by weighted rank

#6 by weighted rank

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

8

E N G AG I N G T H E C I O


42%

47%

36%

16%

7%

26%

4%

24%

40%

32%

11%

8%

29%

5%

26%

56%

30%

12%

10%

21%

7%

54%

46%

39%

20%

5%

27%

3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

During the initial exploratory stage (for strategic guidance)

During the resource planning stage (budget & staff)

Duing the procurement/purchasing phase (for final approval/sign-off)

During the implementation stage

I am NOT required to engage my CIO/equivalent highest ranking ITexecutive

I seek my CIO's input throughout the project life of a significant newtechnology

Other

Point(s) at Which IT Pro is Required to Engage CIO

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

At what point(s) in adopting a significant new technology (one requiring over 10% of the annual IT budget) are you required to engage your Chief Information Office (CIO) (or the equivalent highest ranking technology executive within your company if you do not have a CIO)? [choose all that apply, also provided “other” write-in option]

Nearly half of all IT pros surveyed are required to engage their CIO in the resource planning stage, two-fifths engage in the initial exploratory stage, and one-third engage during the procurement/purchasing phase. By business size, one-fourth of IT pros from small and mid-size companies (respectively) are required to engage

their CIO in the initial exploratory stage while over half of enterprise IT pros are expected to do the same.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

9

I T P R O P E R C E P T I O N O F C I O I N V O LV E M E N T


14%

66%

9%

11%

18%

55%

18%

8%

12%

67%

10%

12%

14%

69%

6%

11%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

A barrier

An enabler

Uninvolved

Do not know

IT Pros Perceive their CIO as …

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

In general, how would you describe your CIO (or the equivalent highest ranking technology executive within your company if you do not have a CIO) in regard to adopting significant new technologies? [choose only one]

Two-thirds of all IT pros surveyed consider their CIO an enabler in regard to adopting significant new technologies. By business size, slightly more small business IT pros consider their CIO either a barrier or

uninvolved compared with mid-size and enterprise companies. As business size increases, the percentage of IT pros who feel their CIO is uninvolved in the adoption of significant new technologies decreases.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

10

P R I M ARY R O L E O F C I O


48%

13%

49%

38%

23%

37%

3%

53%

5%

42%

32%

26%

37%

3%

44%

16%

38%

44%

28%

41%

0%

48%

14%

56%

37%

20%

35%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Budget approvals

IT training & development

Strategic counsel & guidance

Liaison to the business

IT project management

Involved in all areas of IT

Other

IT Pro Perception of CIO’s Primary Role(s)

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

What is the primary role of your organization’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) (or the equivalent highest ranking technology executive within your company if you do not have a CIO)? [choose all that apply, also provided “other” write-in option]

Almost half of all IT pros surveyed consider their CIO’s primary role as providing strategic counsel & guidance while nearly the same number consider their CIO’s primary role to be budget approvals. Over one-third

consider the CIO’s primary role as a liaison to the business while another one-third consider the CIO’s role as being involved in all areas of IT. By business size, more enterprise IT pros consider the primary role to be

strategic counsel & guidance while more IT pros in mid-size companies consider the role to be a liaison to the business.

#1

#2

#3

#4

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

11

AD D I T I O N A L S U P P O R T N E E D E D F R O M C I O


32%

24%

16%

29%

49%

20%

26%

4%

18%

21%

16%

26%

58%

16%

16%

3%

36%

18%

13%

34%

48%

23%

21%

3%

34%

28%

17%

27%

48%

21%

32%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Provide more/better IT training & development

Provide more/better strategic counsel & guidance

Provide more/better IT project management

Allow for more autonomy of the IT department

Provide more/better resources (such as budget/staff/time for projectexecution)

Provide more timely approvals

Provide stronger support of IT when liaising with business

Other

IT Pro to CIO: Would You Please …

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

How could your Chief Information Officer (CIO) (or the equivalent highest ranking technology executive within your company if you do not have a CIO) better aid you in carrying out your IT role/responsibilities? [choose all that apply, also provided “other” write-in option]

Nearly half of all IT pros surveyed would like their CIO to provide more/better resources (such as budget/time/staff for project execution) while one-third would like more/better IT training & development. Over one-fourth would like for their CIO to allow for more autonomy of the IT department while one-fourth would like the CIO to provide stronger support of IT when liaising with the business. By business size, less than one-fourth

of IT pros in any given company size feel the CIO needs to provide more timely approvals.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

12

T I M E N E E D E D TO C O M P L E T E S TAG E S


2.90

2.77

2.71

3.57

4.50

4.54

2.84

2.92

2.61

3.58

4.37

4.68

2.90

2.92

2.54

3.69

4.51

4.44

2.92

2.67

2.83

3.52

4.53

4.55

1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

Research

Budget acquisition

Deployment/implementation

Testing

IT training

End user training

Time Needed to Complete Each Stage AFTER Adoption Decision Has Been Made (weighted rank average)

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

Once the decision has been made to adopt a significant new technology (one requiring over 10% of the annual IT budget), which of the following stages typically takes the longest to complete? [rank 1-6 with 1 “longest”]

Overall, IT pros surveyed indicate that the Deployment/Implementation stage takes the longest to complete (by overall weighted rank average), with over one-fourth ranking it as their longest stage of the six stages. The Budget Acquisition stage and then Research stage follow as the next longest stages. The shortest stage based on length of time needed to

complete is End User Training. By business size, enterprise IT pros rank Budget Acquisition as the longest stage, followed by Deployment/Implementation stage, then Research stage while IT pros in small and mid-size businesses (respectively)

rank Research stage second-longest and Budget Acquisition third-longest, both behind Deployment/Implementation stage.

#1 LONGEST Stage by weighted rank

#2 by weighted rank

#3 by weighted rank

#4 by weighted rank

#5 by weighted rank

(Longest stage) (Shortest stage)

#6 SHORTEST Stageby weighted rank

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

13

M O V I N G F R O M AD O P T I O N TO I M P R O V E D E F F I C I E N C Y


6%

8%

29%

32%

23%

2%

11%

5%

40%

34%

8%

3%

7%

2%

33%

30%

30%

0%

5%

12%

24%

33%

24%

3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Much shorter length of time than planned/expected

Slightly shorter length of time than planned/expected

About the amount of time planned/expected

Slightly longer length of time than planned/expected

Much longer length of time than planned/expected

Do not know

Length of Time Needed for Last Significant New Technology to Move from Adoption to Efficiency

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

Please think about the last significant new technology your organization adopted: how long did it take to move from adoption to improved business/employee efficiency? [choose only one]

Nearly one-third of all IT pros surveyed indicate it took slightly longer than planned/expected to move the last significant new technology their organization adopted from adoption to improved business/employee efficiency. Another 29% indicate it took about the amount of time planned/expected, while 23% say it took much longer

than anticipated. By business size, over half of IT pros in mid-size businesses and enterprises (respectively) say it took longer than planned/expected.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

14

AC H I E V I N G E X P E C T E D R E T U R N O N I N V E S T M E N T ( R O I )


4%

10%

37%

21%

11%

18%

3%

13%

50%

8%

5%

21%

7%

7%

46%

20%

10%

12%

2%

10%

28%

26%

13%

21%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Much shorter length of time than planned/expected

Slightly shorter length of time than planned/expected

About the amount of time planned/expected

Slightly longer length of time than planned/expected

Much longer length of time than planned/expected

Do not know

Length of Time Needed for Last Significant New Technology to Achieve Expected ROI

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

Please think about the last significant new technology your organization adopted: how long did it take to achieve expected return on investment (ROI)? [choose only one]

Over one-third of all IT pros surveyed indicate it took about the amount of time planned/expected to achieve expected ROI from the last significant new technology their organization adopted. Another one-fifth indicate it took slightly longer than anticipated. By business size, nearly half of IT pros in mid-size businesses say it took

about the amount of time planned/expected while only 28% of enterprise IT pros say the same.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

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D I S R U P T I O N TO U S E R S D U R I N G I M P L E M E N TAT I O N


5%

41%

44%

7%

3%

8%

42%

42%

5%

3%

3%

38%

51%

7%

2%

5%

43%

42%

7%

3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Not affected at all

Minimally affected (no complaints, little/no performance issues)

Affected (received complaints, some performance issues)

Greatly affected (substantial performance issues)

Do not know

Amount Business/End Users Were Affected While Implementing Last Significant New Technology

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

Please think about the last significant new technology your organization adopted: how much were business/end users affected during the implementation process? [choose only one]

Nearly all IT pros surveyed indicate business/end users were affected (minimally affected, affected and greatly affected combined) from the last significant new technology their organization adopted, however, less than one-tenth were greatly affected. By business size, slightly more IT pros in mid-size businesses indicate their

business/end users were affected to a greater extent overall when compared to small business and enterprise.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

16

I T I N F R AS T R U C T U R E M I G R AT E D TO T H E C L O U D


What is your best estimate of the percentage of your IT infrastructure that has been migrated to the cloud (public, private or hybrid)? [choose only one]

Three-fifths of all IT pros surveyed have migrated less than 25% of their IT infrastructure to the cloud while one-tenth have not migrated anything to the cloud and 16% have migrated half or more of their IT

infrastructure to the cloud. As business size increases, the likelihood that nothing has been migrated to the cloud decreases.

10%

26%

33%

11%

12%

4%0%

3%

% of IT Infrastructure Migrated to Cloud(Overall)

0% migrated

1-9% migrated

10-24% migrated

25-49% migrated

50-74% migrated

75-99% migrated

100% migrated

Do not know

18%

16%

45%

5% 13%

3%

0%

0%

By Business Size: Small

0% migrated1-9% migrated10-24% migrated25-49% migrated50-74% migrated75-99% migrated100% migratedDo not know

15%

28%

28%

10%

12%

5%0% 3%

By Business Size: Mid-Size


6%

29%

33%

14%

11%

4%0%

4%

By Business Size: Enterprise


FULL SURVEY RESULTS

17

AR E A S O F I T I N F R AS T R U C T U R E M I G R AT E D TO C L O U D


26%

34%

11%

53%

42%

13%

4%

18%

29%

8%

45%

50%

18%

8%

28%

33%

8%

51%

31%

18%

0%

27%

36%

14%

56%

45%

9%

4%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Database

Software

Security (Testing aaS)

Applications

Storage

No areas have been migrated to the cloud

Other

Area(s) of IT Infrastructure Already Migrated to the Cloud

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

Which area(s) of your IT infrastructure have been migrated to the cloud (public or private)? [choose all that apply, also provided “other” write-in option]

Over half of IT pros surveyed indicate Applications have been migrated to the cloud while two-fifths have already migrated Storage and one-third have migrated Software. As business size increases, so does the

percentage of IT pros who have migrated Applications and Software (respectively) to the cloud. More Enterprise IT pros have migrated Storage than their mid-size business counterparts.

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

18

I S S U E S AF F E C T I N G T H E U S E O F B U S - C R I T I C A L T E C H


How many times in the past twelve months has your organization experienced a performance and/or availability issue that affected the end user’s ability to use a business-critical technology in performing his/her role/responsibilities? [choose only one]

Nearly two-thirds of all IT pros surveyed indicate that 1-5 times in the past 12 months performance and/or availability issues have affected the end user’s ability to use business-critical technology while another 15% say that has happened 6-10 times. By business size, almost one-fourth of IT pros in mid-size businesses have seen

their end users affected 6-10 times while just over one-tenth of small business and enterprise IT pros (respectively) have seen the same.

6%

64%

15%

4%5% 6%

No. of Times in Past 12 Months that Performance and/or Availability Issues

Have Affected End User’s Ability to Use Business-Critical Technology

(Overall)None

1-5 times

6-10 times

11-15 times

16+ times

Do not know

16%

58%

13%

3% 3%8%

By Business Size: Small

None

1-5 times

6-10 times

11-15 times

16+ times

Do not know

3%

67%

23%

2%5%0%

By Business Size: Mid-Size

None

1-5 times

6-10 times

11-15 times

16+ times

Do not know

5%

64%

12%

6%5%

8%

By Business Size: Enterprise

None

1-5 times

6-10 times

11-15 times

16+ times

Do not know

FULL SURVEY RESULTS

19

I M PAC T O F R E S O LV I N G B I G G E S T P E R F O R M AN C E I S S U E


32%

13%

19%

16%

19%

2%

18%

16%

18%

29%

16%

3%

38%

8%

21%

13%

16%

3%

33%

15%

18%

13%

21%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Network traffic

Application data

Database performance

Hosted environments

SaaS apps that integrate with your business

Other

Performance Issue Whose Resolution Produces Greatest Overall Benefit to IT, Business & End Users

Overall

Small Bus

Mid-Size Bus

Enterprise

If you had the ability to instantaneously resolve current performance issues, in which ONE area (over all others) would solving performance issues result in the greatest overall benefits for IT, the business, and end users? [choose only one, also provided “other” write-in option]

Nearly one-third of IT pros surveyed indicate that resolving network traffic performance issues would result in the greatest overall benefits for IT, the business, and end users while one-fifth (respectively) indicate that

either resolving database performance or resolving SaaS apps that integrate with the business would result in the greatest benefits. By business size, more small business IT pros consider the resolution of hosted

environment performance issues as providing the greatest benefit when compared to mid-sized and enterprise IT pros.

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