navigating it complexity - research report by idg

A World of Insights1

Navigating IT Complexity

Presented by IDG Research ServicesProduced for ShoreTel

October, 2010


Research Objectives and Methodology

The primary objective of this research program is to explore IT decision makers’ attitudes toward and acceptance of technology complexity with a focus on IP telephony solutions. More specifically, the survey was designed to identify the extent to which companies are struggling with IT complexity as a macro issue, the perceived contributors to IT complexity, adoption of IP telephony, and attitudes/experiences regarding complexity in IP telephony solutions.

The research was conducted online among the CIO and Network World audiences between September 14, 2010 and October 4, 2010. Participants were offered the opportunity to enter a drawing for a $250 cash prize at the end of the survey.

Respondents were screened for title (IT manager and above or LOB executive), core job responsibilities (strategic focus), company size of 50 or more employees, and for the implementation or planned implementation of IT telephony solutions. A total of 324 qualified respondents are represented in this summary; 186 respondents are members of the CIO audience, 138 respondents are members of the Network World audience. The margin of error for a sample size of 324 is +/‐ 5.4 percentage points.


Highlighted Findings

IT Complexity as a Market Dynamic. Respondents were asked a number of questions to help assess general perceptions relating to IT complexity, not just within their organizations but across the market at large. Survey results show that IT decision makers bothrecognize the significance of IT complexity and are resigned to its existence as an inescapable fact.

Over four out of five respondents (85%) strongly agree or agree that IT complexity due to integration issues, incompatible or proprietary technologies is a significant challenge facing organizations today.

Roughly four out of five respondents (81%) strongly agree or agree that IT complexity is inevitable and that it can not be eliminated.

Perceived Causes of Business Technology Complexity. IT’s need to support a diverse set of technologies (55%), a lack of standards across technologies (47%), and conflicting proprietary technologies (44%) are the factors respondents most often identify as contributors to business technology complexity at organizations today.

The CIO audience was significantly more likely to identify the need to support an increasingly diverse set of technologies as a key contributor than the Network World audience (60% vs. 49%).

Respondents from organizations with 5,000 or more employees are significantly more likely than smaller organizations to feel technology complexity arises as a result of vendors too narrowly focusing their solutions (39% vs. 23% incidence for both 500‐4,999 employee and <500 employee companies).

Participants in this survey from midsize companies (500‐4,999 employees) and large enterprises (5000+ employees) are significantly more likely (48% and 49%, respectively) than participants from small companies (<500 employees, 35%) to report that integration of legacy technology is contributing to business technology complexity today.



Approaches to Reducing Complexity. Respondents most often (57%) report that having a strategy to replace legacy solutions with multiple, less complex solutions is the most effective way to reduce IT complexity at organizations today.

Participants whose organizations’ efforts have yielded a reduction in complexity are significantly more likely than those whose organizations’ efforts have not resulted in less complexity to report that leading vendors must acknowledge complexity and overhaul legacy offerings (23% vs. 13%) in order to reduce complexity.

IT Complexity at “Home”. Nearly six out of ten respondents (57%) report that IT complexity poses an extreme or significant challenge for their own organization. These results are fairly consistent across organizations of varying sizes (64% for enterprises with 5,000+ employees, 59% for companies with 500‐4,999 employees, and 51% for SMBs with <500 employees) as well as when comparing the CIO audience to the Network World audience (56% vs. 59% respectively).

Organizational Contributors to IT Complexity. Addressing IT security and compliance (51%), aligning technology solutions with business objectives (47%), and addressing the expectations and demands of users (41%) are the IT areas most frequently identified by respondents as the biggest contributors to IT complexity within their own organization.

The CIO audience is significantly more likely than the Network World audience to report that integrating information into business processes is one of the biggest contributors to IT complexity (45% vs. 31%).

Moving to an IP telephony model is identified by respondents as one of the biggest contributors to IT complexity only 12% of the time.



Steps Taken to Reduce Complexity at “Home”. Implementing standards (32%), reducing/limiting/consolidating the number of technologies in use (14%), and reducing/limiting the number of vendors in place (11%) are the steps respondents are most often reporting they are taking to manage and reduce IT complexity in their organizations.

CIO respondents are twice as likely to report that they are reducing/limiting/consolidating the number of technologies in usecompared to Network World respondents (18% vs. 9%).

Midsize (500‐4,999 employees) and small (<500 employees) companies are also significantly more likely than enterprise organizations (5,000+ employees) to report that they are reducing/limiting/consolidating the number of technologies in use inorder to manage or reduce complexity (17% and 18% vs. 5% respectively).

Success Reducing Complexity? Nearly two‐thirds of respondents (63%) report that their efforts to manage IT complexity have resulted in a measurable reduction in complexity within their organization.

Organizational Attitudes Toward Complexity.

My company is proactive in dealing with IT complexity: 57% rating their company either 5 out of 5 or 4 out of 5 where a rating of 5 represents an extremely good descriptor (70% among those who have seen a measurable reduction in IT complexity vs. 34% among those who have not reduced IT complexity).

My company is actively addressing IT complexity as a strategic IT priority: 55% (69% among those who have seen a measurable reduction in IT complexity vs. 31% who have not seen a quantifiable reduction in IT complexity indicating that efforts are making a difference). The largest companies are most likely to report this is an accurate descriptor of their organization’s approach to IT complexity.

My company culture encourages adoption of new innovations regardless of the technology complexity they might entail: 51%

Complexity does not get in the way of our getting the most out of our IT investments: 40% (45% among those who have seen a measurable reduction in IT complexity vs. 30% among those who have not reduced IT complexity).



Perceptions of IP Telephony Complexity. Three out of ten respondents are of the mind that today’s IP telephony solutions are either extremely or very complex; however, only 14% of respondents feel that IP telephony solutions are not very complex or not at all complex.

The CIO audience is significantly more likely than the Network World audience to report that they find IP telephony solutions to be either not very complex or not at all complex (17% vs. 8% respectively).

Interestingly, respondents with the largest IP telephony deployments (either enterprise wide or spanning multiple sites) tend to have the lowest incidence of finding this technology extremely/very complex.

Challenges with IP Telephony. The inability to implement IP telephony solutions without a high level of involvement from the vendor (41%), expensive vendor service and support (38%), and challenges integrating IP telephony solutions with business processes (37%) are the challenges that respondents most frequently experience or expect to experience when dealing with IP telephony solutions.

Members of the Network World audience are significantly more likely than members of the CIO audience to experience (or expect to experience) complex management and administration protocols when dealing with IP telephony solutions (30% vs. 17%).

Respondents from smaller organizations (either <500 employees or 500‐4,999 employees) are significantly more likely to face (or expect to face) a lengthy learning curve for users than are respondents from larger enterprises (29% vs. 27% vs. 13% respectively).



Factors Driving IP Telephony Complexity. Respondents most commonly agree with the following statements about today’s IP telephony solutions:

Some of the leading IP telephony solutions today are complex because they consist of many different technologies bolted together (65% strongly or somewhat agree).

IP telephony vendors are not doing enough to reduce the complexity that characterizes many of their (60% agree with this statement).

Some of the IP telephony solutions today are complex because they are older traditional TDM solutions that have only been enabled for an IP platform (58%).

Similarly 58% of participants believe that complexity could be eliminated from IP telephony solutions, however, vendors are driven by other interests that discourage this.

Complexity is responsible for much of the overall operating and maintenance costs of IP telephony (57%).



Relevancy of ShoreTel’s IP Telephony Solution. Nearly six out of ten respondents (58%) rate the description of ShoreTel’s IP telephony solution as either extremely or very relevant to their organization. It is important to note that this rating was made on an “unbranded offering.” Respondents did not know which vendor’s offering we were describing.

Only about one in ten respondents (12%) rate this solution as being not very relevant or not at all relevant to their organization.

Roughly seven out of ten respondents (70%) that have not yet deployed an IP telephony solution believe this solution would be either extremely or very relevant to their organization, this is the highest frequency of any segment of the sample.

Benefits Expected from Adopting Described Solution. Lower total cost of ownership is the benefit which respondents are most likely (53%) to expect from adopting ShoreTel’s IP telephony solution.

Having the ability to give users communications and collaboration tools they can do more with is a potential benefit which Network World respondents are more likely to expect as a by product of adopting ShoreTel’s solution than are respondents from the CIO audience (54% vs. 42%).

Having the ability to give users communications and collaboration tools they can do more with is a potential benefit which respondents from midsize companies (500‐4,999 employees) are more likely to expect as a by product of adopting ShoreTel’s solution than are respondents at small (<500 employees) and large enterprises (5000+ employees) (60% vs. 41% vs. 39% respectively).

Both small (37%) and midsize (36%) companies are significantly more likely to report an improved focus on strategic projects as a possible by product of adopting ShoreTel’s solutions than enterprise respondents (18%).


Detailed Findings – IT Complexity Perceptions

* Represents a statistically significant difference between Network World respondents and CIO respondents

Bases: 324 Total respondents, 186 CIO respondents, 138 Network World respondents

Q: Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements.

Network World

CIO

Total

41%

32%

36%

43%

53%

49%

4%

3%

4%

9%

10%

10%

2%

1%

2%

IT complexity due to integration issues, incompatible, and proprietary technologies is a significant challenge for organizations today.

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree

Network WorldCIO

Total

40%42%41%

39%40%40%

*13%5%8%

5%9%7%

3%4%

4%

IT complexity is inevitable. It can be managed but not eliminated.

Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree


Detailed Findings – Perceived Causes of Technology Complexity

Other

Vendors focusing too narrowly on their solutions to win market share

Technology being inherently complex

Lacking the appropriate internal skill sets/knowledge re: technology

Vendors protecting their complex legacy technologies or acquisitions

Vendors using complexity to generate revenue from service & support

Needing to keep pace with end user expectations

Vendors leveraging complexity to create co‐dependency with customers

Vendors not making enough effort to simplify their solutions

Difficulty integrating legacy technology

Conflicting proprietary technologies

Lack of standards across technologies

Needing to support an increasingly diverse set of technologies

1%

30%

28%

30%

35%

34%

30%

35%

38%

41%

46%

43%

49%

4%

26%

31%

31%

30%

31%

37%

35%

34%

45%

43%

49%

*60%

3%

28%

30%

31%

32%

32%

34%

35%

36%

43%

44%

47%

55%

Total CIO Network World



Q: What factors do you believe are contributing most actively to business technology complexity today?


Detailed Findings – Approaches to Reducing Complexity



Network World

CIO

Total

53%

60%

57%

17%

22%

19%

*19%

9%

13%

12%

10%

10%

Coming up with a strategy to trim or replace complex legacy solutions and move to multiple less complex solutions

For today's leading vendors to acknowledge complexity and overhaul their legacy solutions

Working with support teams of legacy vendors to steadily reign in/manage complexity

Not sure

Q: Which of the following approaches do you feel is or would be most effective at helping reduce or remove IT complexity at organizations today?


Detailed Findings – Severity of Challenge Posed by Complexity


Network World

CIO

Total

12%

6%

9%

47%

49%

48%

38%

37%

37%

4%

6%

5%

0%

1%

1%

Extreme Challenge Significant Challenge Average Challenge Not Really a Challenge Not a Challenge At All

Q: To what extent is IT complexity a challenge for your own organization?


Detailed Findings – Organizational Contributors to IT Complexity

Other

Moving to an IP telephony model

Ongoing networking‐related issues

Implementing unified communications successfully

Managing remote and mobile users

Integration of technology in general

Integrating communications/collaboration tools into business processes

Integrating information into business processes

Addressing the expectations and demands of users

Aligning technology solutions with business objectives

Addressing IT security and compliance

3%

*17%

19%

23%

37%

32%

33%

31%

38%

45%

49%

4%

9%

16%

16%

33%

40%

40%

*45%

44%

48%

53%

4%

12%

17%

19%

35%

36%

37%

39%

41%

47%

51%




Q: In your organization, which areas of IT are the biggest contributors to IT complexity?


Detailed Findings – Steps Taken to Reduce Complexity

N/A/None

Don't know

Other

Using out‐of‐box/packaged solutions

Application consolidation/software portfolio rationalization

Seeking/implementing simplified solutions that are easy to integrate

Outsourcing IT services

Leveraging vendor expertise/support

Investing in training/developing specific skill sets

Leveraging next generation technologies such as the cloud, SOA, and…

Reviewing, refreshing, upgrading technology

Working with business users to define technology roadmap to support IT‐…

Reviewing legacy apps or systems for replacement or retirement

Reducing/limiting number of vendors

Reducing/limiting/consolidating number of technologies in use

Implementing standards

1%

2%

17%

2%

1%

4%

8%

8%

9%

7%

5%

10%

8%

10%

9%

29%

1%

0%

17%

3%

4%

4%

3%

5%

6%

7%

8%

7%

11%

12%

18%

33%

1%

1%

17%

3%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

7%

7%

8%

10%

11%

14%

32%



Q: What steps is your company taking to manage or reduce IT complexity? (open‐end)


63%

37%

All RespondentsYes No

Detailed Findings – Success Reducing Complexity


Q: Have your company’s efforts to manage IT complexity resulted in a measurable reduction in complexity within your organization?

About six in ten (59%) respondents from the Network World audience

report they have achieved a measurable reduction in complexity

within their organization.

Roughly two‐thirds (67%) of respondents from CIO’s audience

report they have achieved a measurable reduction in complexity

within their organization.


Detailed Findings – Organizational Attitude Toward Complexity


Q: How well do each of the following statements describe your company?

Network World

CIO

Total

20%

19%

20%

36%

34%

35%

20%

26%

23%

16%

15%

15%

8%

5%

6%

My company is actively addressing IT complexity as a strategic IT priority

5‐ Describes my company extremely well 4 3 2 1‐ Does not describe my company at all

Network World

CIO

Total

20%

15%

17%

34%

33%

34%

26%

26%

26%

14%

20%

18%

5%

5%

5%

My company culture encourages adoption of new innovations regardless of the technology complexity they might entail



Detailed Findings – Organizational Attitude Toward Complexity cont.



Q: How well do each of the following statements describe your company?

Network World

CIO

Total

14%

9%

11%

28%

30%

29%

26%

37%

32%

22%

21%

22%

*10%

4%

6%

Complexity does not get in the way of our getting the most of our IT investments


Network World

CIO

Total

17%

15%

16%

39%

42%

41%

30%

30%

30%

9%

8%

9%

4%

5%

5%

My company is proactive in dealing with IT complexity



Detailed Findings – Perceptions of IP Telephony Complexity


Network World

CIO

Total

6%

2%

3%

28%

26%

27%

58%

55%

56%

8%

15%

12%

0%

3%

2%

Extremely Complex Very Complex Somewhat Complex Not Very Complex Not at all Complex

Q: In your opinion how complex are today’s IP telephony solutions?


Detailed Findings – Experienced/Expected Challenges with IP Telephony

Cumbersome to do MACs (moves, adds and changes)

Difficult to scale the same given solution up or down

Problems stemming from not being truly native IP solution

Complex management and administration protocols

Downtime during installation

Lengthy learning curve for users

Expensive operating and maintenance costs

Hard for users to get the most out of the solution

Need for significant support resources

Lengthy learning curve for administrators

Business process integration challenges

Expensive vendor service and support

Inability to implement without vendor assistance

15%

14%

24%

*30%

24%

29%

31%

33%

34%

32%

38%

40%

38%

13%

15%

20%

17%

22%

20%

23%

24%

27%

32%

37%

37%

44%

14%

15%

22%

22%

23%

24%

26%

28%

30%

32%

37%

38%

41%




Q: Which of the following have you experienced, or do you expect to experience with IP telephony solutions?


Detailed Findings – Causes of IP Telephony Complexity

Solving the problem of complexity in IP telephony solutions is likely tocome from a new provider, rather than from one of the leading

vendors today

Complexity is unavoidable in IP telephony solutions because it isinherent to the technology/process

Complexity is responsible for much of the overall operating andmaintenance costs of IP telephony

Some of the IP telephony solutions today are complex because theyare older traditional TDM solutions that have only been enabled for

an IP platform

Complexity could be eliminated from IP telephony solutions, however,vendors are driven by other interests that discourage this

IP telephony vendors are not doing enough to reduce the complexitythat characterizes many of their solutions

Some of the leading IP telephony solutions today are complexbecause they consist of many different technologies bolted together

40%

*46%

*65%

63%

62%

*67%

65%

35%

34%

52%

54%

55%

55%

65%

37%

39%

57%

58%

58%

60%

65%


Percentages based on the number of respondents who strongly agree/somewhat agree with each statement



Q: Please rate your level of agreement with the following statements.


Detailed Findings – Relevancy of ShoreTel’s IP telephony Solution


Network World

CIO

Total

18%

17%

18%

42%

39%

40%

28%

32%

30%

11%

9%

10%

1%

3%

2%

Extremely Relevant Very Relevant Somewhat Relevant Not Very Relevant Not at all Relevant

Q: In your experience, how relevant would the following IP telephony solution be for your organization?

A purpose‐built, native‐IP solution consisting of an open architecture with an all‐in‐one IP phone system with integrated unified communications and contact center capabilities. Because of the open architecture your company’s important business and

productivity applications integrate seamlessly with the solution’s communications interface. Unlike legacy PBX solutions that are only IP‐enabled or solutions made up of bolted‐together technologies, this solution is built from the ground up for IP telephony

with no compromises. Moreover, it is appliance‐, as opposed to server‐based, making it scale modularly to any size company with any number of sites. Moreover, without the moving parts server‐based solutions have, it is fundamentally more reliable.


Detailed Findings – Benefits Expected from Adopting ShoreTel’s Solution

Other

Being able to focus energies away from telephony to strategic projects

Providing my company with tools to compete more effectively

Easily integrates with your company's critical business processes

Technology adapts to your company's work environment/culture

Better alignment of communications workforce and business direction

Reducing complexity from my company's environment

Giving users communications and collaboration tools to do more with

Lower total cost of ownership

7%

33%

37%

28%

38%

41%

45%

*54%

49%

9%

30%

28%

36%

40%

43%

48%

42%

56%

8%

31%

32%

33%

39%

42%

47%

47%

53%




Q: What benefits do you believe your organization might experience from adopting the type of IP telephony solution just described?


Respondent Profile – Job Title

Line of Business Technology Executive

CEO/President

(NET) Business Management

Manager/supervisor of IS/IT or related function

Director of IS/IT or related function

Chief IT Architect

Executive VP/Sr. VP/VP of IS/IT or related function

CTO

CIO

(NET) IT Management

3%

4%

7%

*48%

20%

7%

6%

4%

9%

93%

4%

1%

5%

13%

*32%

2%

*12%

6%

*29%

95%

4%

2%

6%

28%

27%

4%

10%

6%

20%

94%




Q: Which of the following best describes your job title or function?


Respondent Profile – Deployment of IP telephony systems

Limited to call center or remote employees

Focused on connecting between offices

Not yet deployed but plan to deploy in the next 12‐24 months

Deployment limited to one or a small number ofbranches/departments

Large deployment to multiple sites

Enterprise‐wide to all sites and employees

7%

9%

16%

20%

21%

27%

6%

9%

12%

19%

23%

31%

6%

9%

14%

20%

22%

29%



Q: How would you describe your company's current IP telephony deployment?


Respondent Profile – Areas of Responsibility

My primary focus is giving support to users with their day‐to‐day IT issues

In my company I fulfill all the roles of an IT manager

My focus is primarily on the administration of IT matters in my company

My primary role is to evaluate technologies for IT executives

I am involved more in the strategic management of IT

My primary focus is to drive the IT direction of my company

I am a senior IT decision‐maker in my company

*17%

10%

*21%

*24%

30%

30%

50%

0%

5%

0%

0%

33%

*40%

*66%

7%

7%

9%

10%

31%

36%

59%




Q: Which of the following statements describes your role/responsibilities at work?


Respondent Profile – Industry

Other

Government: Federal

Construction

Food/Beverages/Consumer packaged goods

Aerospace/Defense

Pharmaceuticals/Biotechnology/Life sciences

Transportation/Warehousing

Media/Entertainment/Travel/Leisure

Chemicals/Energy/Utilities

Government: State or Local

Telecommunications

Wholesale/Retail trade

Auto/Industrial/Manufacturing

Hardware/Software/Networking

Other public sector/Nonprofit (including Education)

Healthcare

Business/Professional services

Financial services/Real estate/Insurance

9%

2%

1%

2%

3%

1%

1%

4%

3%

8%

8%

4%

4%

10%

9%

9%

8%

12%

6%

1%

2%

2%

2%

3%

4%

4%

5%

4%

4%

8%

*10%

6%

8%

8%

10%

15%

7%

1%

2%

2%

2%

2%

3%

4%

4%

6%

6%

6%

8%

8%

8%

8%

9%

14%




Q: Which of the following best describes your organization's industry or function?


Respondent Profile – Company Size

20,000 ormore

10,000 ‐19,999

5,000 ‐ 9,999 1,000 ‐ 4,999 500 ‐ 999 100 ‐ 499 50 ‐ 99 Less than 50

13%

8% 7%

18%

14%

28%

12%

0%

17%

4%

6%

24%

11%

32%

6%

0%

15%

6%7%

22%

13%

30%

8%

0%

Network World CIO Total


Q: Approximately how many people are employed in your entire organization or enterprise?


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