2016 it monitoring survey results - opsview · pdf fileit monitoring survey results 3...

2016IT Monitoring Survey Results


03.04.05.06.07.08.09.10.11.12.13.14.15.

Respondent DemographicsTop IT Monitoring ChallengesTop IT Monitoring FeaturesIdentifying the Source of an IssueToo Many AlertsMonitoring New TechnologiesProviding Adequate ReportingMaintaining Legacy ToolsCompleting IT Projects as Quickly as the Business NeedsFreeing Up Staff to Work on Important IT ProjectsToo Many ToolsVendor SupportSummary Findings

IT Monitoring Survey Results


Respondent DemographicsA total of 409 IT people from around the globe responded to the survey, including people who work in small and large companies, and in technical and IT management roles.

Of the total 409 respondents, 75% were in technical positions at their company while 25% were in a management role.

Respondents worked at companies ranging in size between:

• 1 to 500 (52%)• 501 to 1000 (27%)• Greater than 1000 (21%).

The number of devices being monitored by the IT team is evenly distributed between:

• 1 to 100 (28%)• 101 to 1000 (38%)• Greater than 1000 (34%).

1001+

501-1000

0-500

Number of employees

1001+

101-1000

0-100

Monitored Devices

52%

27%

21%

28%

38%

34%

1. Survey Question: What are your greatest IT monitoring challenges? (choose your top 5 challenges)When asked about their greatest monitoring challenges, the top five answers were:

• No single view (59%)• Difficulty in creating reports (55%)• Poor information (47%)• Can’t monitor new technologies (41%)• Can’t quickly identify issues (37%)

Respondents at companies with greater than 1,000 employees had the same top challenges, though a higher percentage (65%) responded that “no single view” was their greatest challenge.

Respondents in management roles felt even more strongly that “no single view” (70%) was the top challenge. However, respondents in technical roles ranked “difficulty in creating reports” (58%) as their top challenge.


IT Monitoring Challenges

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Oth

er

Not

sec

ure

enou

gh

Poor

sup

port

from

ven

dors

Inab

ility

to s

cale

Can'

t mon

itor

clo

ud s

ervi

ces

Syst

em is

too

slow

Can'

t mon

itor

new

tech

nolo

gies

Can'

t qui

ckly

iden

tify

issu

es

Too

man

y to

ols

Poor

info

rmat

ion

Diffi

culty

tocr

eate

repo

rts

No

sing

le v

iew

59%

55%

47% 41%37% 33%

32%29%

18% 16%14% 6%

2. Survey Question: How important are the following features of IT monitoring software? (choose your top 5 features) When asked which features were most important, respondents ranked six features above the rest:

1. Dashboards and reporting (56%)2. User interface (53%)3. Integrates with technologies (52%)4. Alerts and notifications (51%)5. Ease of configuration (50%)6. Ability to customize (50%)

Respondents at companies with greater than 1,000 employees put a higher percentage of importance on “dashboards and reporting” (64%) and “easy of configuration” (60%) than that of the total respondents. Respondents in management positions put an even higher percentage of importance on “dashboards and reporting” (71%), while “integrates with other technologies” (56%) was the most selected feature among those in technical roles.


IT Monitoring Features

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Oth

er

Free

to u

se

Prof

essi

onal

sup

port

Secu

rity

Auto

dis

cove

ry

Spee

d

Scal

abili

ty

Cust

omiz

atio

n

Ease

of c

onfig

urat

ion

Aler

ts a

nd n

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catio

ns

Inte

grat

e w

ith te

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logi

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Use

r int

erfa

ce

Das

hboa

rds

/rep

ortin

g

56%53% 52% 51% 50%

42% 42% 41%36%

30%25%

1%

50%

3. Survey Question: We have too many tools and dashboards, slowing down response time to critical issues and making it difficult to identify the source of an issue.

In the next grouping of questions, we asked our respondents if they agreed with specific IT monitoring statements, from strongly agree to strongly disagree. When asked if too many tools and dashboards was slowing down response time, 35% of total respondents answered that they either strongly agreed or agreed.

A higher percentage of respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees or in management roles agreed, with a slightly lower percentage of respondents in technical roles agreeing:

52% of those at companies with greater than 1,000 employees agreed 46% of those in management roles agreed32% of respondents in technical positions agreed


Too Many Tools and Dashboards

OtherAll respondents agree

35%

65%

4. Survey Question: My IT tool(s) send too many alerts and cause us to waste too many resources trying to weed through the alerts.

Sorting through too many IT monitoring alerts, especially symptomatic alerts, can cause IT teams to waste precious time and resources, so we asked our respondents how they felt about their current IT monitoring software alerts. We found that 48% of total respondents strongly agreed or agreed that their tools sent inefficient alerts.

As with the previous question, a higher percentage of respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees or in management roles agreed, with a slightly lower percentage of respondents in technical roles agreeing:

60% of respondents at companies with greater than 1,000 employees agreed55% of respondents in management roles agreed44% of respondents in technical roles agreed


Too Many Alerts


48%52%

5. Survey Question: It is difficult to monitor new technologies and services with my IT monitoring tools.

Monitoring new technologies with your IT monitoring software can be difficult if the software is outdated or inadequate, so we asked respondents about their situations. 36% of all participants agreed or strongly agreed that it was difficult to monitor new technologies and services with their current tools.

Again, a higher percentage of respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees or in management roles agreed, with a slightly lower percentage of respondents in technical roles agreeing:



Monitoring New Technologies


36%

64%

6. Survey Question: My IT tools do not provide adequate reporting, making it difficult to make decisions and demonstrate value to stakeholders.

Difficulty in creating reports was one of the top challenges from survey question one, so it is not surprising that 45% of respondents agreed that their IT tools do not provide adequate reporting.

Again, a higher percentage of respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees or in management roles agreed, with a slightly lower percentage of respondents in technical roles agreeing:



Providing Adequate Reporting


45%55%

7. Survey Question: We spend too much time and effort maintaining legacy tools.

Configuration and maintenance of legacy tools can use up valuable IT resources. In fact, from survey question two, ease of configuration was one of the most important features needed in an IT monitoring solution. Hence, it is not surprising that 68% of all respondents specified that they believe their company spends too much time maintaining legacy tools.

Unlike our other questions, a higher percentage of respondents in technical roles agreed, while a slightly lower percentage of respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees or in management roles agreed:



Effort Maintaining Legacy Tools


68%

32%

8. Survey Question: We struggle to complete IT projects as quickly as the business needs.

Completing IT projects as quickly as the business needs can be a challenging task and this is reflected in the response to question eight. 48% of our total respondents agree or strongly agree that they struggle to complete IT projects as fast as the business would like.

IT managers and respondents from companies with over 1000 employees agreed at an even higher percentage, with those working in technical roles agreeing at a slightly lower percentage:



Completing IT Projects as Quickly as the Business Needs


48%52%

9. Survey Question: More efficient IT operations would free up staff to work on important IT projects.

Research shows that IT leaders spend an average of 72% of their budgets keeping-the-lights-on, and just 28% on new projects. Further, Columbia Business School Professor Rita Gunther McGrath, who examined this issue in her book, “The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business”, says, “I think it should be no more than 50%.” Most IT leaders agree with her, but struggle to achieve that 50-50 split. Hence, it is not surprising that 86% of respondents agree that more efficient IT operations would free up staff to work on important IT projects. IT managers and technical leaders from companies of all sizes agreed at a similar percentage.


More Staff to Work on Important IT Projects


86%

14%

10. Survey Question: How many IT monitoring solutions are you using today?

“No single view” and “Too many tools” were both identified as IT monitoring challenges in survey question two. These findings relate to the response on how many monitoring tools respondents are using. 69% of respondents had three or more tools, with 9% having more than five.

As might be expected, respondents from companies with greater than 1,000 employees generally had more monitoring tools; 18% had more than five monitoring tools, whereas just 7% of respondents from companies with less than 1,000 employees had five or more monitoring tools.


Too Many IT Monitoring Tools?

OtherUse 3 or more tools

69%

31%

11. Survey Question: Vendor support and services are important when choosing an IT monitoring solution.

The earlier survey questions focused on product functionality, but we also wanted to gather input on the importance of support and services. The results show that most respondents agree that vendor support and services are an important selection criteria when choosing an IT monitoring solution (72%).

Percentage agreement was generally consistent across all respondents, though respondents from smaller companies (less than 1,000 employees) and respondents in technical roles had a slightly higher percentage agreement:

74% of respondents at companies with 1,000 employees or less agreed73% of respondents in technical roles agreed


Vendor Support


72%

28%

Hey!

Many IT professionals report that they face significant challenges in monitoring their IT environments, which negatively impact service delivery and reduce IT efficiency. These challenges include:

• Too many tools and dashboards• Too many symptomatic alerts • Difficulty in monitoring new technologies and services• Inadequate reporting• Too much time maintaining legacy monitoring tools• Inability to scale, easily configuration and secure

As a result, many IT organizations can’t quickly identify issues, and free up resources to complete new projects at the speed of the business. Respondents from larger companies reported greater challenges than those from smaller com-panies. Also, respondents from technical and management roles have differing views on the significance of the chal-lenges, however, both groups suffer.

Regardless of your company size or responsibilities, if you are experiencing any of the challenges uncovered in this survey, Opsview can help.

Please visit us at opsview.com.


Summary Findings

An effective IT monitoring solution can help you address the challenges raised in the survey.Opsview Monitor is an advanced IT monitoring solution helping IT teams to work more efficiently.


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