Is Your IT Team Reactive or Strategic?
-
Is Your IT Team Reactive or Strategic?
Reactive groups focus on responding to individual user challenges and requests, while strategic teams achieve IT operational excellence and drive innovation. -
Gadget Glut
More than two of five survey respondents said there are an average of at least five managed devices per technician at their organization, and 22% said there are more than 10. -
Peak Performance, Part I
70% said their company takes advantage of data storage backup on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis to optimize IT efficiency and effectiveness, while 66% are turning to centralized anti-virus and anti-malware scanning. -
Peak Performance, Part II
57% said their organization deploys app monitoring to optimize IT efficiency and effectiveness, and the same percentage cited centralized patch management as a way their company does this. -
Dollar Differentiator
36% of aligned and strategic companies grew revenues by more than 10% between 2014 and 2015, compared to 21% of reactive organizations which did. -
Accountability Factor
44% of strategic organizations have formal service level agreements (SLAs) covering the availability and performance of IT services, but only 9% of reactive companies do. -
Prudent Policy
69% of strategic companies have adopted password management, compared to 54% of reactive organizations. -
Remote Control
63% of strategic organizations deploy remote device access and control, but just 52% of reactive companies do. -
Machine > Manual
56% of strategic companies have automated activities, deployments and remediations, while only 43% of reactive companies have done so. -
SOP
58% of aligned/strategic organizations have come up with IT device and configuration standards, in contrast to 40% of reactive companies which have. -
Top Priorities for Aligned/Strategic Companies
Completing IT projects on time: 34%, Delivering higher service levels/IT service availability: 29%, Improving customer experience: 23%, Reducing IT costs: 23%, Improving employee productivity: 17%
What's the difference between strategic companies and the rest of the pack? For starters, the former grows revenue at a much faster rate than the latter, according to a recent survey from Kaseya. The resulting "IT Operations Benchmark Survey 2016" report distinguishes organizations into a number of categories, including those considered strategic and those considered reactive. Aligned/strategic companies are defined as those which achieve IT operational excellence and strategically drive business innovation, while also tracking and managing against service level agreements (SLAs) or availability and performance expectations. In addition, they're more likely to invest in innovation and productivity drivers such as remote device and access control and the automation of activities and deployments. Reactive companies, in contrast, focus mainly on responding to individual user challenges and requests. "(Non-aligned/strategic companies) can never find enough free time or limit unplanned interruptions to turn their attention to more strategic projects that will support their company's overall growth goals," according to the report. "Instead, they are stuck in a cycle of repetitive manual updates and stressful reactive firefighting." Representatives of an estimated 1,200 global small and medium businesses took part in the research.