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Innovator, Firefighter, or Ghost? Cisco Survey Explores IT's Impact on Business

While the majority (63 percent) of IT professionals are confident in their ability to respond to the needs of the business, almost a third (27 percent) still equated the visibility of their IT department into their company's business initiatives to a foggy day in London, according to the 2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey.

2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey Infographic

The top research findings reveal:

· Applications and user expectations are becoming more complex: almost three-fourths of IT participants (71 percent) reported that IT is deploying more applications today than one year ago.

· IT and the network are increasingly recognized as enabling the business: a higher percentage (78 percent) stated the network is more critical for delivering applications than it was at this time last year.

· IT-business alignment is improving, but IT is not always involved when the decisions are made: nearly nine out of 10 (89 percent) IT leaders collaborate with line of business leaders at least on a monthly basis, indicating a mutual business understanding of the critical and growing role of the network for application delivery. However, more than one-third (38 percent) of IT professionals surveyed said they are brought into the planning and deployment process late.

Among other findings, the Cisco Global IT Impact Survey also provided insight into IT sentiment toward emerging trends such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and the Internet of Things. Results showed that one-third (34 percent) say they've seen an actual SDN deployment as often as they've seen Bigfoot, Elvis, or the Loch Ness Monster, while less than half (42 percent) claim to be vaguely familiar with the Internet of Things.

Additional findings:

Increasing Alignment between IT and Business Leaders, But More Work Is Needed

- When asked to compare the visibility of IT within their organization, 36 percent said "innovator" was the best description of how business leaders viewed their role. Additionally, 34 percent claimed "orchestrator" was the best fit, 15 percent chose "firefighter," 7 percent said "ghost," and 7 percent selected "fortune teller."

- Although survey data indicates the majority of IT leaders feel they are closely aligned with business practices, business applications are still being deployed without their knowledge. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of IT said business leaders and other non-IT teams roll out new applications without engaging IT either "all the time" or "sometimes."

- Furthermore, more than one-third (38 percent) of IT professionals surveyed claim they are brought into the planning and deployment process either "during the rollout process" or "the day before rollout." This data indicates that when businesses move ahead with new initiatives without first consulting IT, the network may be challenged with handling the new applications.

- IT leaders were asked to describe their attitudes toward asking business decision makers for budget toward network infrastructure upgrades. 18 percent said they would rather "break out of prison or train for a triathlon" than ask for additional budget.

- When asked how they know if they're doing a good job, one-quarter (26 percent) said "nobody calls us." Nearly another quarter (23 percent) chose "I sleep at home instead of the office."

Industry's New Business Opportunities Challenge Network Readiness

- Even with the business understanding of the growing role of the network for application delivery, 82 percent of respondents acknowledged that user experience with standard business applications is affected by network performance, even in basic applications such as Web, file services and email.

- When asked about the leading causes responsible for slowing down a new application rollout over the past year, most cited budget (34 percent), while 26 percent of respondents claimed data center infrastructure readiness, cloud readiness and network limitations such as bandwidth. One-quarter (25 percent) cited "general procrastination" as the leading cause.

- 71 percent are planning to deploy SDN solutions in the next 12 months. The main reasons? One-third (33 percent) cite cost savings, while another third (33 percent) said fast scalability of infrastructure.

- Almost three quarters (71 percent) report IT is deploying more applications than a year ago, but 41 percent claimed their networks were not ready to support "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies, while 38 percent said they were not ready to support cloud deployments.

- When asked to gauge their readiness for Internet of Things applications and deployments, nearly half (48 percent) believe it will open up new business opportunities.

- Survey participants ranked cloud readiness (29 percent) as the most important network initiative to their business in the upcoming year, followed by "converging IT technology and operations technology" (28 percent) and "data center consolidation/virtualization" (27 percent).

- When asked to rank the most difficult IT initiative over the past year, moving applications to the cloud (40 percent) ranked first, with data center virtualization ranking second (38 percent). This data aligns with the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey, which found that some IT professionals would rather get a root canal, dig a ditch, or do their own taxes than address network challenges associated with cloud deployments.

- Also consistent with the results of the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey was security being selected as the No. 1 roadblock to a successful implementation of cloud services or mobility, as 80 percent cited it as a challenge.

Image removed.

About the Survey

The Cisco Global IT Impact Survey, which included participation from more than 1,300 IT decision makers in 13 countries, was commissioned by Cisco and distributed by Insight Express to measure the impact of IT professionals on the decisions that shape their businesses, as well as measure the relevance of the network to the business.

Countries that participated in the survey included: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Related Links:

www.cisco.com/go/impactsurvey

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Innovator, Firefighter, or Ghost? Cisco Survey Explores IT's Impact on Business

While the majority (63 percent) of IT professionals are confident in their ability to respond to the needs of the business, almost a third (27 percent) still equated the visibility of their IT department into their company's business initiatives to a foggy day in London, according to the 2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey.

2013 Cisco Global IT Impact Survey Infographic

The top research findings reveal:

· Applications and user expectations are becoming more complex: almost three-fourths of IT participants (71 percent) reported that IT is deploying more applications today than one year ago.

· IT and the network are increasingly recognized as enabling the business: a higher percentage (78 percent) stated the network is more critical for delivering applications than it was at this time last year.

· IT-business alignment is improving, but IT is not always involved when the decisions are made: nearly nine out of 10 (89 percent) IT leaders collaborate with line of business leaders at least on a monthly basis, indicating a mutual business understanding of the critical and growing role of the network for application delivery. However, more than one-third (38 percent) of IT professionals surveyed said they are brought into the planning and deployment process late.

Among other findings, the Cisco Global IT Impact Survey also provided insight into IT sentiment toward emerging trends such as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and the Internet of Things. Results showed that one-third (34 percent) say they've seen an actual SDN deployment as often as they've seen Bigfoot, Elvis, or the Loch Ness Monster, while less than half (42 percent) claim to be vaguely familiar with the Internet of Things.

Additional findings:

Increasing Alignment between IT and Business Leaders, But More Work Is Needed

- When asked to compare the visibility of IT within their organization, 36 percent said "innovator" was the best description of how business leaders viewed their role. Additionally, 34 percent claimed "orchestrator" was the best fit, 15 percent chose "firefighter," 7 percent said "ghost," and 7 percent selected "fortune teller."

- Although survey data indicates the majority of IT leaders feel they are closely aligned with business practices, business applications are still being deployed without their knowledge. More than three-quarters (76 percent) of IT said business leaders and other non-IT teams roll out new applications without engaging IT either "all the time" or "sometimes."

- Furthermore, more than one-third (38 percent) of IT professionals surveyed claim they are brought into the planning and deployment process either "during the rollout process" or "the day before rollout." This data indicates that when businesses move ahead with new initiatives without first consulting IT, the network may be challenged with handling the new applications.

- IT leaders were asked to describe their attitudes toward asking business decision makers for budget toward network infrastructure upgrades. 18 percent said they would rather "break out of prison or train for a triathlon" than ask for additional budget.

- When asked how they know if they're doing a good job, one-quarter (26 percent) said "nobody calls us." Nearly another quarter (23 percent) chose "I sleep at home instead of the office."

Industry's New Business Opportunities Challenge Network Readiness

- Even with the business understanding of the growing role of the network for application delivery, 82 percent of respondents acknowledged that user experience with standard business applications is affected by network performance, even in basic applications such as Web, file services and email.

- When asked about the leading causes responsible for slowing down a new application rollout over the past year, most cited budget (34 percent), while 26 percent of respondents claimed data center infrastructure readiness, cloud readiness and network limitations such as bandwidth. One-quarter (25 percent) cited "general procrastination" as the leading cause.

- 71 percent are planning to deploy SDN solutions in the next 12 months. The main reasons? One-third (33 percent) cite cost savings, while another third (33 percent) said fast scalability of infrastructure.

- Almost three quarters (71 percent) report IT is deploying more applications than a year ago, but 41 percent claimed their networks were not ready to support "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies, while 38 percent said they were not ready to support cloud deployments.

- When asked to gauge their readiness for Internet of Things applications and deployments, nearly half (48 percent) believe it will open up new business opportunities.

- Survey participants ranked cloud readiness (29 percent) as the most important network initiative to their business in the upcoming year, followed by "converging IT technology and operations technology" (28 percent) and "data center consolidation/virtualization" (27 percent).

- When asked to rank the most difficult IT initiative over the past year, moving applications to the cloud (40 percent) ranked first, with data center virtualization ranking second (38 percent). This data aligns with the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey, which found that some IT professionals would rather get a root canal, dig a ditch, or do their own taxes than address network challenges associated with cloud deployments.

- Also consistent with the results of the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey was security being selected as the No. 1 roadblock to a successful implementation of cloud services or mobility, as 80 percent cited it as a challenge.

Image removed.

About the Survey

The Cisco Global IT Impact Survey, which included participation from more than 1,300 IT decision makers in 13 countries, was commissioned by Cisco and distributed by Insight Express to measure the impact of IT professionals on the decisions that shape their businesses, as well as measure the relevance of the network to the business.

Countries that participated in the survey included: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Related Links:

www.cisco.com/go/impactsurvey

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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