Archive for August, 2011
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 In a year that IT security experts have labeled the “Year of the Hack,” Bit9’s Third Annual Endpoint Survey of 765 IT executives revealed that Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks — like the one that infiltrated RSA, a division of EMC, and defense contractors this year – are of most concern to IT and security professionals.
However, despite the concerns about APT attacks, the survey also showed that executives are not doing enough to protect against unauthorized software and malware from infecting their desktops, laptops and servers.
Sixty percent of the respondents said they are concerned about APT attacks, more than double the next closest response, showing the growing anxiety among IT executives around modern threats.
The second biggest hacking concern among IT executives, at 28 percent, is having one of their own employees steal company data and post it online, much like what happened at the Department of Defense (DoD) with WikiLeaks. In third place, at 26 percent, are concerns around a vendor partner being hacked, much like what happened to Epsilon earlier this year. And in fourth place, at 25 percent, are concerns over a cloud application breach, much like what happened with Sony.
Risky behavior common
While worry remains high around cyber security breaches, the survey also showed a surprising 60 percent of the IT executives use either a written policy based on an “honor system,” or have an open software environment without a security policy in place. However, risky behavior doesn’t stop there. A narrow majority of companies surveyed (51 percent) said they allow their employees to download and install software.
The companies that allow employees to download software often find digital music sites like iTunes, social media sites and instant messaging software on its endpoints. Additionally, almost 80 percent of companies allow employees to use removable storage devices, exposing companies to the loss of sensitive data and intellectual property while increasing exposure to malware.
“Breaches that occurred in the first half of 2011 have changed the rules of security by exposing high profile companies like RSA, Sony, Lockheed Martin and numerous others,” said Tom Murphy, chief strategy officer, Bit9. “Our data finds that companies are increasingly worried about advanced persistent threat attacks, but they continue to engage in risky behaviors. Companies are gambling on a losing game by failing to put security policies in place. It’s not a case of if a breach will occur, but when and how severe.”
Additional findings from the survey include:
- Companies continue to allow employees to engage in risky behaviors: IT executives have become even more hands-off in their software usage policy over the past three years, with 51 percent of respondents admitting that users have full rights to download and install applications. These relaxed download policies have increased 12 percent from 2010 when 39 percent said they did not have a policy that prohibits employee downloads. That figure increased by 22 percent from 2009 figures. Additionally, nearly 30 percent of IT executives allow the use of personal mobile devices at work that connect to the company Intranet.
- Endpoint security failures can take down networks: While the majority said they have not experienced network outages due to unauthorized software or malware, almost 20 percent of IT executives admit that unusual software found on the endpoint has resulted in crashing the company’s networks. These crashes meant lost productivity. Of those who experienced downtime, 30 percent said the crashes took down their network for three to six hours and 89 percent said the crashes lasted two hours or less.
- Successful breach of company’s inbox stirs emotions: More than a quarter of IT executives would be mildly embarrassed by a breach exposing their company’s inbox, while more than half admitted to being mortified. Most noteworthy is that seven percent claim that their company would be out of business if such a breach would occur.
The Third Annual Endpoint Survey from Bit9 Inc., the market leader in adaptive application whitelisting, provides insight from IT and security professionals in technology/software, government and defense, financial services/banking, and retail. The survey is designed to gauge endpoint security issues, employee behaviors and topline concerns that enterprise professionals grapple with every day.
View the full results
Tags: Advanced Persistant Threat attacks, application whitelisting, Bit9, cloud application breach, DOD, EMC, risky company security behavior common, RSA, Sony, survey, Wikileaks
Posted in Cloud, IT, Security, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 A high tech home office By Allan Maurer
Telework helps companies, workers, states and the nation save money, oil, vehicle wear and tear, and generally increases productivity. Resistance to having workers telecommute remains in private industry, but government agencies will be turning to that option increasingly and we suspect private industry will as well. But Chris Knotts at Government Computer News thinks even the word “telework” will be “as outdated as a rotary phone” in ten years.
Knotts, writing “10 ways telework will change in the next 10 years,” says most knowledge workers in coming years won’t “telework.” They will he says, “Simply work in whatever location makes the most sense.”
He predicts wireless carriers will increase speeds to match wired networks and security breakthroughs will reduce hacking concerns dramatically.
He also says we’ll be online all the time and the concept of “going online” will seem antiquated. The network will just be there, just about everywhere.
We would question his prediction that “Tablets will replace desktop and laptop PCs.” Although he says future tablets will be micro-thin, foldable with screens that unroll to as much as 20 to 50 inches, and access most apps and information in the cloud, we don’t see that revolution in the near future. In fact, we still think most tablets are inadequate for many work uses. We think lightweight but fully featured laptops are more likely to gain ground. Personaly, we are not giving up our dual-screen desktop setup until they pry our cold, dead fingers from the full-sized ergonomic keyboard.
Knotts says that in the future, “Everything will move to the cloud.” That’s hard to argue with, except that it won’t happen until cloud networks become entirely reliable and secure. We have to work everyday and if all our apps are in a cloud that’s experiencing stormy weather, it would rain out our work day. We still really prefer having access to our own information and apps via hard drives, especially with inexpensive terrabyte plus drives available.
He sees 3D video becoming the norm. Back in the 1980s, we wrote a book on lasers (Lasers, Lightwave of the Future). We envisioned a future in which 3D conferences via holograms could restore the nuances of personal meetings to electronic ones. But we’re not so sure all this 3D technology is such a big deal. It certainly won’t go far until it escapes the need for special viewing glasses and equipment. Also, home workers may not be anxious to don business attire and grooming for a virtual meeting.
We’re also not sure the generation gap Knotts sees is all that much of a reality. Studies we’ve read suggest that workers of all ages see telework options as a perk – not only that, many are even willing to take a pay cut if they can work at home a significant portion of the time.
Nevertheless, we suspect telework will become the norm rather than the exception in coming years, probably led by the government sector, where it can produce substantial cost and energy savings.
Personally, we suggest those who do telework or plan to will have a much better time of it if they use multiple monitors, buy a high quality office chair (we got ours at a fire sale price from a startup that shut its doors), and buy fast equipment and Internet service.
Also, say what you will about Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, but if you’re deskbound at home, they are not only conduits to information from a vast network of professionals, co-workers, and others, they substitute for the water cooler and office interactions so many people seem to miss when working at home.
Tags: 10 ways telework will change, Chris Knotts, dual montiors, GCN, home office equipment, multiple monitors, telecommuting
Posted in Facebook, Hardware, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Mobile, Tech Culture, Tech Space, Telecommunications, Viewpoint | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 Responsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTG), a provider of email and cross-channel marketing solutions, has found that retailers are more focused on using their email marketing programs to promote their social communities and less focused on email for social sharing in a its Viral & Community Links in Emails 2011 report.
Email marketing continues to be a key tactic for raising awareness of and driving traffic to retailers’ communities on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Among the top online retailers tracked by the Retail Email Blog, 88% of them include community links in their promotional emails, up from 75% in 2010, approaching near universal adoption.
“This report is a strong endorsement of email’s ability to raise awareness of and drive traffic to brands’ social media pages on an ongoing basis,” said Ed Henrich, Senior Vice President of Professional Services at Responsys. “It’s also further evidence that cross-channel integration is increasingly vital to future marketing success.”
Facebook and Twitter dominate retailers’ community efforts, although YouTube has grown to become a strong third-place contender. Every retailer in the study linked to Facebook from their emails; 84% linked to Twitter; and 29% linked to YouTube.
However, fewer retailers are including share-with-your-network (SWYN) links in their emails, instead relying on their websites to spur social sharing. The percentage of retailers that include a SWYN link in every promotional email dropped to 25% from 26% in 2010 after rising from 12% in 2009.
“Three times as many retailers include share-with-your-network (SWYN) links on their product pages as regularly as they include them in their emails,” said Chad White, Research Director at Responsys and author of the Viral & Community Links in Emails 2011 report. “That’s a strong indication that retailers are sold on the benefits of SWYN, but that placement further down the sales funnel is more effective in general.”
Meanwhile, forward-to-a-friend (FTAF) usage continues its long-term decline, dropping to 41% from 44% in 2010 and 48% in 2009. Overall, 52% of retailers now include some viral mechanism — either SWYN or FTAF — in their emails, down from 56% in 2010.
Information on how to btain a copy of the complimentary Viral & Community Links in Emails 2011 report.
Tags: Ed Henrich, email marketing, facebook, LinkedIn, Report, responsys, twitter, Viral & Community links in emails report
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 Sarah Rotman Epps So far, Apple’s iPad has not faced significant competition from competitors, with HP deserting the market and dumping its Touchpads for $99, the Xoom over-priced, and none of them taking significant market share. A Forrester analyst thinks the coming Amazon tablet could change that, however, and could sell up to five million tablet computers this year.
Reports say Amazon plans to launch its Android-based tablet in October. Up to now, Android tablets have failed to make much of a dent in Apple’s market share, taking only 20 percent, despite having more features than the iPad, such as the ability to run Flash graphics, increased processing power, and so on. We took some heat in the comments for a review that saw little future for the Motorolla Xoom, but, as we predicted, it failed to do much business.
Forrester Senior Analyst Sarah Rotman Epps notes that Apple’s iPad, which has sold 28.7 million devices globally, clearly leads in the space. But, she says, if Amazon can sell between three and five million units before the end of 2011, it will emerge as the most notable challenger to the iPad.
Epps writes that Amazon will have to price its tablet – which is expected to run Google’s Android operating system – at under $300 to achieve those numbers. HP’s fire sale of its TouchPad’s stirred up a widely report buying frenzy that quickly exhausted the available supply, but also suggests their is a substantial market for budget-priced tablets.
Epps says of the Amazon tablet, “If it’s launched at the right price with enough supply, we see Amazon’s tablet easily selling 3 million to 5 million units in Q4 alone, disrupting not only Apple’s product strategy but other tablet manufacturers’ as well. Apple will maintain a strong lead in market share, but Amazon will gain ground quickly and give product strategists from media, software, retail, banking, and other firms a reason to kick app development for Android tablets into high gear.”
It would also have to compete with the Barnes & Noble Color Nook, priced at $250, but the Amazon device, which is expected to have a 9 inch screen, may offer additional features as well.
If other consumers are much like us, they may be waiting to see the second or third wave of tablet devices, including Amazon’s, before buying. We would consider a device that combined Kindle functions with tablet functions such as computing and games if priced under $300.
See also: iPad sales accelerate
B&N Reports Massive Nook Growth
Tags: Amazon tablet, Apple, B&N reports massive nook growth, Barnes & Noble Color Nook, Foreester Reserach, iPad, iPad sales accelerate, market research, Motorolla Xoom, Sarah Rotman Epps, which tablet is best, will the Amazon tablet challenge the iPad?
Posted in Apple, Hardware, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 WASHINGTON, DC – Results from a survey by Facebook-focused Social Code, show that for ads with a ‘Like’ button, older Facebook users have a higher click-through-rate while younger Facebook users will tend to click ‘Like’ directly within the Facebook ad.
SocialCode, a DC-based full-service Facebook agency working with global brands and agencies to translate their marketing goals on to Facebook, disclosed the results from a new Facebook advertising research study. The research examined over four million data points across over 50 clients from a wide variety of industries to get a better understanding of how age and gender affect click-through rates (CTR) and ‘Like’ rates on Facebook.
“In general, younger Facebook users are more comfortable using the ‘Like’ button than older users at this point,” said Laura O’Shaughnessy, CEO, SocialCode. “With inline fan ads on Facebook, older users have a high level of interaction and curiosity about the ads as evidenced by their high CTRs, whereas younger users have a higher propensity to click the ‘Like’ button right in an ad on Facebook.”
He added, “We assume that while older users are adopting Facebook at a high rate, they are also the newest subset to join the social network, meaning they may not have high friend numbers so ads are less likely to have social context in advertisements.”
AGE FINDINGS
The SocialCode study found that while age has a strong positive effect on whether a user will click; it oftentimes has the opposite effect on the likelihood of the user becoming a fan of a page.
- 50+ year-old users, the oldest segment in the study, are 28.2 percent more likely to click through and 9 percent less likely to ‘Like’ than 18-29 year-old users, the youngest group observed
- Versus the rest of the younger population on Facebook, 50+ users see a 22.6 percent higher CTR and 8.4 percent lower ‘Like’ rate
GENDER FINDINGS
When broken down by gender, age has a much more pronounced effect on CTR for women than it does for men, whereas for men there is a stronger effect on ‘Like’ rate than women.
- Overall, women are 11 percent more likely to click on an ad
- ‘Like’ rates are almost even for men and women; men are actually 2.2 percent more likely to ‘Like’ an ad than women
- For women, CTR is 31.2 percent higher for the 50+ age group versus 18-29 year olds, men only see a 16.2 percent difference between the age groups
- Versus all age groups, 50+ women’s CTR is 22 percent higher versus a 16.4 percent difference for males
- The oldest male segment has an 11.7 percent lower ‘Like’ rate than the youngest segment, and 9.5 percent lower ‘Like’ rate versus all age groups. Women only see a 7.2 percent and 7.9 percent difference respectively
The age and gender research study conducted by SocialCode examined over four million data points for ads containing a ‘Like’ button across over 50 clients in different verticals for the past ten months. While performance varies greatly based on multiple variables, this study looks at the aggregate trends for
Tags: age and gender affect CTR on Facebook, DC, Facebook advertising, Facebook marketing, Social Code, survey
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Potomac, Studies, surveys, reports, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
 By Tom Salonek
is based on my own experiences founding and running my company, a computer training and consulting firm, over the past 20 years. We’ve grown steadily over the past 20 years and I’ve learned a lot about leadership, management and staying sane as a small business owner in a very dynamic industry.
Although there are many, many lessons learned a handful have been critical to our success. The following five “takeaways” are the ones I believe have been the real keys to a decade of sustained, manageable growth.
Takeaway 26 – Make time to set your strategy
Ever notice that some things on your “to do” list never seem to get done, at least not until someone in the organization calls a meeting to get the task on your prioritized short list? It’s the old adage of the squeaky wheel getting all the grease. To make something happen, we have to decide it’s important enough to set aside time to actually do it.
The reality of a startup is the tyranny of the urgent…. the most recent or loudest email, customer call or crisis gets our attention. Yet this won’t grow a firm in the long run. Early in the days of Intertech, I felt it was crucial to set aside time to think about the future and our goals.
We continue an evolved version of this today. Leaders participate in an annual retreat away from the company to set our strategy for the coming year, with the objective of establishing the top three goals for each of our divisions. While getting away is a crucial aspect of this work, a great deal of the work happens before we ever leave town. Retreat participants all complete an exhaustive survey in advance, while employees not participating in the retreat take part in a half-day working session where they share ideas and provide feedback.
Takeaway 34 – Recruiting
I’m often asked what I like best about my job. The answer is that I like all of it because I have great people. They’re competent in their roles and committed to the firm. Put these two together—commitment and competence—and great stuff gets done.
There are tons of books on recruiting but I’ve got some pretty simple advice. In a nutshell, BE PICKY. In the software world, the difference between a top performer and a bottom performer is a factor of eight to 10. I’m guessing it’s similar in your business as well. We’re all nothing without great talent.
Takeaway 38 – Execution makes all the difference
When asked to name the main reason for the success of their organizations, 75 percent of the CEOs leading Inc. Magazine’s top 500 companies said it was due to “superior execution in a mundane business.”
I’m not suggesting execution without thinking and I’m also not suggesting planning everything in such great detail that you never get anything done. Think then do… don’t wait for perfection. It doesn’t exist. If you’re not happy with the way you did something don’t spend time blaming or figuring out why it happened. Make a commitment to do it better next time. That’s how you become good at execution.
Takeaway 50 – I think, therefore I am
The legendary personal development pioneer Earl Nightingale said “We become what we think about.” In my mind, this means having a positive attitude, believing in what’s possible and anticipating the future before it happens.
I see many new leaders who panic during a crisis. It’s easy to do, I know. Want to create a REAL crisis in your organization? When faced with adversity be scared, don’t think through the solution and/or bury your head in the sand. Others will certainly follow you right to the brink of disaster.
Takeaway 70 – Relax with the process
If you feel like you don’t have time for retreats, creating strong recruiting processes, strategizing and all the non-urgent yet critical things I’ve outlined above, remember this.
I’ve never had more employees, clients, or vendors than I have right now. Our business has grown steadily and exponentially during some of the toughest economic conditions this country has ever faced. And yet I’ve never had a more manageable life than the one I have today. Good systems and programs save—not take—time.
Finally, take a look at some of the business templates and tools we’ve created as downloads on our site. They’re free – just enter code 978.
Tom Salonek is the founder and CEO of Intertech, a successful technology and training company in the upper midwest. Intertech twice has been awarded a place on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing companies in the nation and is a seven-time “Best Places to Work” winner in Minnesota. Building a Winning Business 70 Takeways is Tom’s first book. He also blogs at www.tomsalonek.com
Editor’s note: Salonek’s blog is well worth checking out. It’s actionable info.
Tags: best pracftices, book, Business advice, execution, lessons for tech startups, process, recruiting, strategy, Tom Salonek
Posted in best practices, Business advice, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Monday, August 29th, 2011
 Streamsend, a California-based email marketing service provider, says there are 10 key steps small businesses should take to power email campaigns with social applications like Facebook, reaching whole new audiences and attracting more prospects with increasingly targeted messages.
“Actually, it is very simple – social marketing is a powerful way to build your prospect list, effectively sharing your message with offers that attract,” reports Dan Forootan, president of StreamSend Email Marketing. “And email marketing is unsurpassed for invaluable measurement on what content is working, and how well. Combine the power of these two media and you get unprecedented reach, targeting and audience-building capabilities.
“Here are ten steps we help businesses take to maximize their email-social connection with new business prospects.”
1. Engage! – Social Marketing is a fabulous prospecting and customer engagement tool; build your audience with it by providing authentic content that adds value to their lives and businesses.
2. Get on the Right Track – Get enough of this valued information in front of the user so that you are “Liked” – then you know you’re on the right track and you’re halfway there. Conversely, don’t ignore lack of acceptance – re-tune your message and content until you’re back on track.
3. Spread the Wealth — Use email marketing newsletters to announce new Linked-In, Facebook or Twitter feeds, directing readers to your social networking site for sign-up.
4. Build a Free Facebook Fan Page – This public profile enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users. And don’t be shy: share that link with your all your audiences or other pages you might have.
5. Keep it Fresh — Use email plus social to add new items to your Fan page. When you can put your email marketing piece right on a Facebook tab you are giving a prospect a chance right there to tell you what they are looking for. Give them what they want and you are giving them a reason to come back.
6. Make the Affinity Connection – Search and “Like” all the related business fan pages you think might have common customers or who might become a customer.
7. Zero in on List Candidates — Post more custom Fan pages that have “opt-ins” to your list opportunities; contests or newsletters can accomplish this well.
8. Read your Stats – See who’s reading what in your communications and send auto-emails to your prospects based on what interests them the most.
9. Build your List – By getting your customers to both “like you” and get on your list, you are building a strong foundation for them to opt-in. Remember, social “likes” only go so far; over time your message will fall down your visitors’ newsfeeds so that you may not be seen.
10. Take the Next Step – Continually ask your social visitor to opt-in to your list, get a coupon, etc., so you can “take a next step” together – into a mutually profitable relationship.
Tags: best practices, email marketing, StreamSend
Posted in best practices, Business advice, Internet/New Media, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 29th, 2011
 Finding the right mobile app for your needs can be more of a pain in the nether regions than necessary. A West Coast startup just landed funding to help mobile device users find the apps that do what they want without jumping through a lot of search hoops. Palo Alto, CA-based Quixey — a search engine for apps – has raised $3.8 million in Series A funding. The $3.8 million investment will help fuel growth and partnership development.
Quixey invented a new type of search — functional search — specifically for apps. Quixey’s functional search scans blogs, review sites, forums and social media sites to learn exactly what each app can do. Quixey has hundreds of pieces of data about each app. Quixey searches apps across all platforms — including mobile, web, desktop and browser apps.
Quixey is fundamentally different from other search engines. Other search engines require users to know an app’s name or official description to find the right app. Since Quixey knows exactly what each app can do, users can search by answering the question, “What do you want to do?”
The investment was co-led by U.S. Venture Partners and WI Harper Group with participation by Webb Investment Network in addition to a follow-up investment by Innovation Endeavors.
Tags: CA, financing, mobile, Palo Alto, Quixey, U.S. Venture Partners, WI Harper Group
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Money, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, August 29th, 2011
 A survey by network monitoring firm Endace shows that senior networking, operations and security professionals in telecommunications, online services, retail, manufacturing and healthcare have serious concerns about the impact that the transition to 10 gigabit-per-second networking is having on their ability to see into their networks.
Between February and June 2011, an independent research agency based in North America conducted more than 200 telephone interviews with networking and security professionals from 100 organizations with revenues of at least $10 billion and a national presence across North America. The object was to try to understand what impact the migration to 10Gb/s networking was having on operations and how it was affecting the ability to measure, monitor and protect critical systems.
The results indicate that close to three-quarters of the organizations have made the transition to 10Gb/s networking in at least one area of their data networks. An additional 12 percent of the organizations plan to make the transition in the next 12 months. Slightly less than half of the respondents said their organizations have 40Gb/s and/or 100Gb/s networking on their IT roadmaps for the next three to five years.
“Today’s bigger, faster networks present huge opportunities for business growth and improved functionality as well as huge challenges,” said Tim Nichols, vice president of global marketing at Endace.
“However, the majority of organizations that we spoke to expressed concerns about their software’s ability to manage these huge throughput environments. In fact, close to half of the respondents we talked to reported experiencing significant difficulties investigating and remediating network events.”
Highlights of the survey include:
- 84 percent of respondents have concerns about their incumbent vendors’ abilities to manage 10Gb/s throughput environments
- 47 percent of respondents believe they are missing potentially significant network events due to failing or under-performing systems
- 78 percent of organizations recognize “strong correlation” between network security and their ability to satisfy government mandated information security requirements (compliance)
- 65 percent of organizations surveyed do not record network traffic for the purposes of forensic analysis of network events
- 33 percent of organizations reported having experienced some kind of data loss in the last 12 months with 39 percent being unable to accurately identify what was lost
- 42 percent of organizations admitted to having been the victim of a cyber-attack in the last 12 months, with 67 percent of those admitting to serious problems investigating the attack
These results appear to indicate that the shift to 10Gb/s networks may result in significant network security blind spots that may expose organizations to unacceptable levels of risk. In addition, it seems likely that organizations are not asking the right questions of application vendors and run the risk of making investments that won’t scale to meet their needs within the amortization window.
However, there is now an accurate way for organizations to use their own network traffic to figure out the point that a system fails to see every threat and avoid the risk to reputation damage and litigation from preventable security breaches.
A comprehensive overview of the survey results
Tags: 10/GB/s, Endace, IT, network monitoring, survey
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Security, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 29th, 2011
 Companies with leadership that sees technology as a strategic weapon in the business arsenal were more likely to report an increase in revenue than those which see it primarily as “necessary,” according to the 2011 Technology Trends Survey frm SWC Technology Partners.
The survey reveals a number of developments affecting today’s mid-market IT department. Among the report’s findings was a clear correlation between how respondents embraced technology and their financial success. The survey also revealed a surprising and prevailing lack of adoption of cloud computing.
The Value of Technology
Respondents whose company leadership held a “strategic” perception of information technology (IT) were more likely to report an increase in revenue, profit margin and market share than those respondents who viewed IT as “necessary”.
Additionally, 88% of respondents who indicated that their company leadership held a “strategic” perception of IT were optimistic or cautiously optimistic about the company’s business outlook over the next 12 months.
“It’s easy to respond to challenging economics by cutting costs,” says Elliott Baretz, Vice President of SWC. “So often we end up going too far and, in the end, damaging our ability to execute. A strong business needs to remain focused on what gives it a competitive advantage. I think this is why we saw such a strong correlation between today’s thriving respondents and how they value technology. In today’s economy understanding the value of technology is a prerequisite to success.”
Cloud Computing: Surprising Lack of Adoption
The survey clearly reflected a reality that Cloud Computing is still very early in its evolution. Only 3 percent of respondents indicated that their company has adopted a Cloud Computing solution for the entire organization. And, over half of the respondents indicated that their company is not pursuing a single Cloud computing initiative. Respondents indicated Privacy and Security as the single, biggest concern when considering Cloud Computing.
“The technology industry can be rife with hype,” said Baretz. “As professionals in this space we have to look past the rhetoric and analyze our options in an objective manner. The survey is telling us that Cloud Computing is an option and not just ‘the’ answer.”
Reliance on a Single Individual: Remains but Lower
The number of respondents reporting that their organization is absolutely dependent on a single individual for his or her systems knowledge and/or expertise dropped 7% since 2009.
“We call this the lottery factor,” said Baretz. “What if your IT Manager wins the lottery and quits? Can your company survive? How painful will it be? We believe the growth of our managed services practice speaks to this dynamic. So often our managed services team is brought in to cost effectively distribute dependency and improve performance.”
The company says 210 mid-market IT and business leaders participated in the 2011 Technology Trends Survey. The majority of responders were IT senior leaders and management from organizations in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana in industries including manufacturing, retail, education, construction, healthcare, accounting and non-profit. More than half of the respondents manage environments with a user base between 100 and 2,000 individuals.
Tags: cloud computing, IT, survey, SWC Technology Partners, value of technology
Posted in IT, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
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