- Changing IT infrastructure strategies are a driving force behind major shifts in IT’s attitudes, roles and responsibilities, according to INAP’s “State of IT Infrastructure Management” survey
- Cybersecurity poses top infrastructure challenge for 2019; only 1 in 4 IT professionals is very confident their organization has adequate resources and staff to secure servers and data
RESTON, Va., Dec. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Internap Corporation (NASDAQ: INAP), a global provider of performance-driven, full-spectrum data center and cloud solutions, today announced the results of its “State of IT Infrastructure Management” survey, which asked 500 IT professionals about their organization’s current and future plans for IT infrastructure, their perspectives on their current roles and responsibilities, and their thoughts on the future of IT as a whole.
Overall, two main trends emerged from the results: The pervasive migration of IT infrastructure away from on-premise data centers to colocation facilities and the cloud will continue full force over the next three years, and as a result, IT practitioners have an incredible desire to see roles and responsibilities move away from data center and infrastructure upkeep toward value-added activities.
“As enterprise digital transformation initiatives accelerate, it’s no surprise that IT teams are leading the way and that organizations are re-examining their IT infrastructure strategies to drive efficiencies and results,” said Jennifer Curry, Senior Vice President of Global Cloud Services at INAP. “Forty-four percent of IT professionals feel that senior management sees their role as ‘purely keeping the lights on,’ yet nearly 80 percent believe that they could bring more value to their organizations if they spent less time on routine tasks, like server monitoring and maintenance. With their infrastructure off premise and the right tools and partners in place, IT teams can focus on true business unit alignment and unlock IT’s potential as a center of innovation.”
INAP’s full “State of IT Infrastructure Management” survey report can be downloaded here.
Key data from this survey includes:
- What’s driving IT away from on-premise solutions? The primary reason for moving IT infrastructure to the cloud or a colocation facility is to improve infrastructure or data center resiliency or availability, e.g., disaster recovery, high uptime (44 percent,) followed by improving infrastructure or data center security (38 percent) and network performance (36 percent).
- Security is key. When asked to select the one quality most needed in an infrastructure solution, over a third of IT professionals (37 percent) chose security—more than double the rate of the second highest response. In addition, more than a third of respondents identified cybersecurity as their top concern for 2019.
- IT professionals want their time back for higher value activities. The average IT pro is interrupted by infrastructure issues six times per month during personal time or non-work hours. If they were to be given 16 hours back previously spent on routine infrastructure tasks, 14 percent of that time would be spent reclaiming their work-life balance, 12 percent would be spent researching new technology and software, and 11 percent would be spent developing and innovating new applications and/or products.
- Safeguarding IT infrastructure presents a struggle. Only 27 percent of IT professionals are “very confident” their organization has adequate resources, tools and staff to secure its servers, applications and data. In fact, 52 percent say that the time it takes their teams to address critical patches and updates leaves their organizations exposed to security risks. Respondents also estimated that, on average, one in four servers is not fully up-to-date on security patches and updates. One out of six IT professionals say that 50 percent or fewer are up-to-date.
From infrastructure strategies to the mission of the IT department itself, the survey results illustrate a critical business function at a crossroads.
Methodology
The data was derived from a survey of 500 IT professionals with data center, server and cloud infrastructure responsibilities who work at businesses and enterprises (100+ employees in the United States and Canada.) The State of IT Infrastructure Management survey, commissioned and written by INAP and facilitated by Precision Sample, was hosted online between September 26 – October 15, 2018. The margin of error is ± 4.38% at the 95% confidence level.
About INAP
Internap Corporation (NASDAQ: INAP) is a global provider of performance-driven, full-spectrum data center and cloud solutions. Through its portfolio of high-density colocation, managed cloud hosting and powerful network services, INAP partners with its customers, who range from the Fortune 500 to emerging startups, to create secure and scalable IT infrastructure solutions. INAP operates in 53, primarily Tier 3 design data centers in 21 metropolitan markets and has 102 POPs around the world. INAP has over 1 million gross square feet in its portfolio, with approximately 600,000 square feet of sellable data center space.
For more information, visit www.inap.com
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