rogers - canadian business leaders survey 2015

Canadian Business Leaders Survey September 2015

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Background

Vision Critical is conducting this research to assess how medium and large Canadian businesses would benefit if they adopted a cloud-based, virtually managed network service. In order to understand this issue, the current study aims to evaluate the extent to which these businesses can save time, money and resources by upgrading their old, legacy network technology with cloud-based, virtually managed network solutions. In addition, the perceptions of Canadian Business Leaders and IT Leaders will be compared on specific issues such as: The extent to which they are struggling to manage their networks given the explosion of mobile device and data usage. Spending time keeping the lights on vs. innovating in their business. Enabling a mobile workforce (i.e. enabling a workplace that allows employees to work wherever and whenever they want). Keeping up with the rapid changes in their workplace. Able to attract and retain customers and enrich the customer experience with technology. Able to minimize security risks and protect their data and information. Able to benefit from cloud technology.

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Methodology

Overview: From September 2nd to September 14th, 2015, Vision Critical conducted an online survey. Participants were recruited through the Angus Reid Forum – Vision Critical’s proprietary online access panel which includes more than 3,000 Business Leaders and the Aeroplan Advisors online B2B community.

Sample Size: The national sample size was 531 respondents, consisting of 370 Business Leaders and 161 IT Leaders. The final data was unweighted.

Qualifying Criteria: All participants were Business or IT Leaders in medium (20-499 employees) or large (500+ employees) companies.

Definitions

Business Leader: Business Owners, Business Management (at board level), or Senior Management / Executive / Director (not at board level) whose primary role is in an area outside of business technology and/or IT. IT Leader: Respondents whose primary role is in business technology and/or IT.

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Executive Summary

Business Leaders are acutely aware of the fact that managing networks and business technology is a time consuming and costly endeavor – and many feel that, when it comes to IT, they are spending more time “keeping the lights on” than they are thinking about the strategic direction of the business. IT Leaders and Business Leaders alike would like to see more of their IT team’s time and money spent on strategy and innovation as opposed to operations activities. In particular, time spent managing outdated technologies is perceived to cost businesses an average of more than 200 hours per week in wasted hours. Overall, Business Leaders and IT Leaders alike recognize that while IT as a business unit currently delivers on many “core” functional areas, such as security, help desk support and implementation and maintenance of technology, it is currently under-delivering on key strategic functions that drive overall performance ratings. Even when it comes to core functional areas such as security, Business Leaders recognize that there are gaps. Many believe that the complexity of their networks raises some concerns about security and more than one-in-four claim to have experienced at least one security breach in the past year. The ability to minimize security risks to protect data and information is currently what is most impactful in terms of driving satisfaction with IT network security. To this point, most Business Leaders agree that simplifying networks to make them easier to manage would be a significant benefit to the business.

Perspectives On IT – Business Leaders vs. IT Leaders

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Key Attitudes Towards Status Quo in IT

Business Leaders and IT Leaders alike express significant concerns about the proportion of IT resources spent on network management and keeping up with increasing data and mobility demands. These concerns grow along with business size among Business Leaders at companies of more than 100 employees – and especially among those at companies of 500+ employees.

BASE: All Respondents

[Q_Attitudes_New] To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

NOTE: Excludes “Don’t Know/Not Applicable” (approx. 3-5% of responses)

“When it comes to IT, we are spending more time keeping

the lights on than thinking about

strategic direction of the business.”

76% of Business Leaders

(and 77% of IT Leaders) agree

“A lot of our IT resources are spent

keeping our networks and

technology up and running.”



“Network management is

expensive and time-consuming.”



“It's becoming difficult to manage networks

that connect our business, employees and customers given

the explosion of mobile devices and

data usage.”



BASE: Business Leaders (n=370);

IT Leaders (n=161)


IT Leaders (n=159)


IT Leaders (n=156)


IT Leaders (n=158)

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Ideally, more effort would be

spent on innovation and

strategic planning

Current vs. Ideal Allocation of IT Effort According to Business Leaders

Right now, it is a common perception among Business Leaders that much of their IT team’s effort is spent building, maintaining and managing networks and technology and very little is spent delivering value to the business through innovation and strategic planning

BASE: All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=370)

[Q_Time_Current] CURRENTLY, what proportion of your company’s IT effort (i.e., time and staffing resources as opposed to budget) would you say is spent on each of the following

functions in a typical week?

[Q_Time_Ideal] IDEALLY, what proportion of your company’s IT effort (i.e., time and staffing resources as opposed to budget) would be spent on each of the following functions in a

typical week?

27 21

30

26

19

18

24

35

Delivering value to the business through innovationand strategic planning

Building/maintaining network redundancies for datastorage and recovery

Updating/maintaining/managing networks, securityprotocols and systems

Setting up/updating/managing devices/technology

+11

-1

-4

-6

CURRENT IDEAL .VS. Net Difference

(Ideal - Current)

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Current vs. Ideal Allocation of IT Effort According to IT Leaders

Similarly, IT Leaders recognize that ideally they would be spending more time on strategic initiatives.

BASE: All Respondents – IT Leaders (n=161)

[Q_Time_Current] CURRENTLY, what proportion of your company’s IT effort (i.e., time and staffing resources as opposed to budget) would you say is spent on each of the following

functions in a typical week?

[Q_Time_Ideal] IDEALLY, what proportion of your company’s IT effort (i.e., time and staffing resources as opposed to budget) would be spent on each of the following functions in a

typical week?

25 22

28

23

20

20

28 36

Delivering value to the business through innovationand strategic planning

Building/maintaining network redundancies for datastorage and recovery

Updating/maintaining/managing networks, securityprotocols and systems

Setting up/updating/managing devices/technology

+8

=

-5

-3

CURRENT IDEAL .VS. Net Difference

(Ideal– Current)

Ideally, more effort would be

spent on innovation and

strategic planning

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Current vs. Ideal IT Budget Allocation – Business vs. IT Leaders

From a budget point of view, Business Leaders and IT Leaders estimate that approximately one-third of their company’s IT budgets are spent on strategic activities, whereas they would like to see that closer to half.

BASE: All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=370), IT Leaders (n=161)

[Q_Budget_Current] CURRENTLY, what proportion of your company’s IT budget would you say is spent on each of the following functions?

[Q_Budget_Ideal] IDEALLY, what proportion of your company’s IT budget would be spent on each of the following functions?

72

54

28

46

Strategic activities such asplanning and innovation

Operational activities suchas managing andmaintaining existingbusiness technologies

BUSINESS LEADERS

63

51

37

49

CURRENT IDEAL VS. CURRENT IDEAL VS.

IT LEADERS

PROPORTION OF IT BUDGET SPENT PROPORTION OF IT BUDGET SPENT

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Estimated Hours Per Week Wasted Managing Outdated Networks/Systems

Three-in-four agree that a lot of time is wasted managing legacy networks. According to IT Leaders, an average of nearly 170 hours per week is wasted managing outdated network technology and systems. The perception of Business Leaders is that it is even higher, estimating it to be over 200 hrs/wk on average and upwards of 450+ hrs/wk at Canada’s largest companies of 500 or more employees.

214

168

Average Hours/Week Wasted

BASE = Agree with statement “A lot of time and money is wasted managing old, legacy

network technology/systems” – Business Leaders (n=249); IT Leaders (n=124)

[Q_Attitudes] Approximately how many hours per week – in total across all of your

employees – would you say are wasted managing these outdated networks and systems?

“A lot of time and money is wasted

managing old, legacy network

technology/ systems.”



BASE = All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=339); IT Leaders

(n=157)

[Q_Attitudes_New] To what extent do you agree or disagree with

the following statements?

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Proportion of IT Time Spent on Various Areas

Both Business Leaders and IT estimate that the majority of their IT team’s time is spent on the support, management and monitoring of IT systems, leaving a small proportion of their time spent on innovation and improving processes.

BASE: All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=245), IT Leaders (N=161)

Q.IT_Role. [Mean Summary] Thinking of a typical week, approximately what proportion of your IT team’s time is spent on each of the fol lowing areas?

26

18

32

39

17

14

26

28

IT Leaders

Business Leaders

Working with business units to help them be innovative and improve processes

Supporting staff/employees with their IT needs

Supporting those from the outside who utilize or rely on your IT systems and networks

Monitoring and managing systems and communications

81%

74%

% Time Spent Supporting, Managing and Monitoring IT Systems

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Monitoring/updating/maintaining networks that support business to minimize down-time

Providing world-class security for the business' IT / network systems

Helping improve business processes to create greater efficiencies and productivity

Supporting the business by providing and setting up new devices / technology (e.g. Computers etc.)

Providing help desk support to business users when things go wrong or change

Helping the business create stronger engagement with customers to improve experiences

Enabling mobility to help the workforce work wherever they want/be more productive

Providing strategic direction by planning for the future technology needs of the business

Driving value by introducing technology/processes to ensure competitive market leadership

Collecting intelligence from customers to enhance loyalty programs and custom applications

Importance of Selected IT Functions

IT Leaders and Business Leaders are generally in agreement when it comes to the importance of various IT functions. Most agree that maintaining and securing networks and improving business processes are fundamental to IT.


Q_IT_Importance. Thinking about the role of IT in the future success and growth of your business, how important are each of the following elements for your IT team to focus on?


72%

67%

66%

62%

62%

59%

59%

57%

56%

42%

69%

63%

69%

59%

58%

58%

58%

57%

54%

44%

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

% Important (8-10 on a 10 point scale)

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IT Team’s Performance

Monitoring, updating and maintaining the networks that support the business to minimize down-time

Providing world-class security for the business' IT and network systems


Providing and setting up new devices and technology, such as computers, mobile phones and pagers

Enabling mobility in the business to help the workforce work wherever they want and be more productive


Helping the business create stronger engagement with customers and improve customer experiences


Driving value by introducing technology and processes to ensure competitive differentiation/market leadership

Collecting intelligence from customers to enhance our loyalty programs and custom applications

50%

49%

49%

45%

38%

33%

30%

29%

29%

27%

56%

56%

53%

53%

43%

51%

45%

47%

45%

38%

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

% Rated Performance as 8-10 (on a 10 point scale)


Q_IT_Performance. And how would you rate your IT team’s performance on each of these measures?


When it comes to their IT team’s performance, however, there is less agreement between IT Leaders and Business Leaders – especially when it comes to strategic planning, and driving value for the business. While IT Leaders perceive stronger performance on the strategic direction of the IT team (50%+ rated it high) , only 1 in 3 Business Leaders give it the same performance rating.

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Relative Importance of Key IT Functions

Through a Shapely Value Regression analysis where all of these IT functions are considered together, it is clear that strategic functions such as improving business processes, providing strategic direction and driving value for the business by introducing technology and processes to ensure competitive differentiation/market leadership are relatively more important compared to tactical functions when it comes to evaluating IT’s performance.

14%

14%

11%

11%

10%

10%

8%

8%

7%

6%

12%

15%

13%

15%

6%

7%

7%

9%

8%

8%



Driving value for the business by introducing technology and processes to ensure competitive differentiation/market leadership

Monitoring, updating and maintaining the networks that support the business to minimize down-time


Enabling mobility in the business to help the workforce to be more productive

Helping the business create stronger engagement with customers and improve customer experiences

Providing world-class security for the business' IT and network systems

Supporting the business by providing and setting up new devices and technology, such as computers, mobile phones and pagers

Developing intelligence from customers to enhance our loyalty programs and custom applications

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

Q_PERFORMANCE_OVERALL. And overall how would you rate your current IT systems, processes and strategy?

Q.IT_Performance. And how would you rate your IT team’s performance on each of these measures?

Rel

ativ

e Im

po

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ce

R2 = 71% IT Leaders

75% Business Leaders

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Drivers of IT Performance Ratings: Business Leaders vs. IT Leaders

More strategic tasks such as improving business processes and driving value are currently seen as areas for improvement for IT among Business Leaders and IT Leaders alike – although providing strategic direction is perceived to be more of a core strength among IT Leaders. Developing customer intelligence and engagement is not currently perceived to be a core IT function by either side, while providing world-class security and providing/setting up new technology is considered to be “table stakes”.


Q_PERFORMANCE_OVERALL. And overall how would you rate your current IT systems, processes and strategy?

Q.IT_Performance. And how would you rate your IT team’s performance on each of these measures?

Re

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Performance Rating

Higher Performance Higher Importance

Lower Performance Higher Importance

Improve business processes

Providing strategic direction

Driving value for the business

Monitoring, updating and maintaining

networks

Providing help desk support

Enabling mobility Stronger engagement with customers Providing world class

security

Providing and setting up new technology

Developing intelligence

Lower Performance Lower Importance

Higher Performance Lower Importance

R2 = 71% IT Leaders


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Q_SATISFACTION_SECURITY. How satisfied are you with the security of your IT networks?

NOTE: Excludes “Don’t Know/Not Applicable” (approx. 4% of responses)

Overall Satisfaction with IT Security

While overall, there is a high level of satisfaction with IT Security, Business Leaders are somewhat less satisfied than IT Leaders.

5%

11%

51%

48%

44%

40%

IT Leaders

Business Leaders

Not at all satisfied Not very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied

88%

95%

% “Satisfied”

17

Security Breach Incidents

More than one-in-four Business Leaders and IT Leaders report that they have experienced at least one security breach at their company in the past year, Almost as many more say that they’d prefer to not reveal the number of security breaches they’ve experienced.

57% 26%

16%

# Security Breaches in past year

49%

29%

22%

Business Leaders IT Leaders “The complexity of the company's

networks raises some concerns

about security.”





[Q_SECURITY_BREACH] To the best of your knowledge, approximately how many, if any, security breaches has your company experienced during the past year?

18

Satisfaction with IT Security Elements

Both Business and IT Leaders are most satisfied with their IT network’s ability to minimize security risks. IT Leaders are more likely to be satisfied with all aspects of IT network security. However, Business Leaders see room for improvement when it comes to being more proactive, collaborative and timely.


[Q_Satisfaction_Security_Elements] How satisfied would you say you are with each of the following elements of your IT network security?


Minimize security risks to protect your data and information

Easily manage user profiles, applications and settings

Proactively manage your networks and IT systems to avoid technical problems before they occur

Enable collaboration - specifically with teams and individuals not at the same location

Rapidly deploy new services and functions where and when needed

50%

41%

39%

35%

28%

55%

53%

47%

52%

37%

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

% Satisfied with Network Elements (Top 3 Box)

19


[Q_Satisfaction_Security_Elements] How satisfied would you say you are with each of the following elements of your IT network security?

Q_SATISFACTION_SECURITY. How satisfied are you with the security of your IT networks?

Drivers of Security Satisfaction: Business vs. IT Leaders

The ability to minimize security risks is, by far, considered to be the most important aspect of network security. Proactive management of networks and IT systems and ease of managing users are considered important, but not critical, while collaboration and rapid deployment of new services are not currently driving satisfaction with IT networks.

Re

lati

ve Im

po

rtan

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Satisfaction with IT Security Elements

Higher Satisfaction Higher Importance

Lower Satisfaction Higher Importance

Ability to minimize security risks to protect

your data and information

Ability to proactively manage your networks and IT systems to avoid

technical problems before they occur

Ability to easily manage user profiles,

applications and settings

Ability to enable collaboration -

specifically with teams and individuals not at

the same location

Ability to rapidly deploy new services and

functions where and when needed

Lower Satisfaction Lower Importance

Higher Satisfaction Lower Importance

R2 = 38% IT Leaders


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Common Perceptions – Business Leaders vs. IT Leaders

Business and IT Leaders are in agreement that simplifying networks would be a significant benefit to their business and that they struggle to keep up with changes in technology. They also agree that cloud-based management of network systems is the direction that many businesses are going.

BASE: All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=370); IT Leaders (n=161)



Simplifying networks to make them easier to manage would be a significant benefit to the business.

Cloud-based management of network systems is the direction that many businesses are going.

We struggle to keep up with the rapid changes in technology that impact our business.

87%

79%

65%

84%

82%

66%

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

% Agree (Somewhat or Strongly)

21

Divergent Perceptions – Business Leaders vs. IT Leaders

There is more disagreement between IT Leaders and Business Leaders when it comes to believing that they companies make effective use of applications, use technician’s time wisely and make use of the most up-to-date technology when it comes to customer retention and acquisition.

BASE: All Respondents – Business Leaders (n=370); IT Leaders (n=161)



67%

61%

53%

75%

75%

74%

Business Leaders

IT Leaders

% Agree (Somewhat or Strongly)

Sending technicians to business branches/offices to maintain networks is not a good use of their time.

We make effective use of applications/technology designed to enrich our customers' experience with the business.

We use the most up-to-date technology to facilitate acquisition and retention of customers.