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IT Must Adapt to BYOx

Lawrence Garvin

Consumerization of IT, namely the emergence of BYOx (where x is anything from apps, data to the latest mobile devices), is having a significant impact on business operations and the strategic implementation of emerging technologies, according to the New IT Survey conducted by SolarWinds.

One in four survey respondents indicated that BYOx is the emerging technology most likely to cause disruption, in terms of its impact on the business and the time and energy IT professionals dedicate to solving related issues. The results also reveal that IT professionals are playing an increasingly valuable role in the strategic decisions that lead to the implementation of such emerging technologies, with 97% of those surveyed being relied upon to extend their responsibilities and make informed business decisions.

The days of IT's limited impact on business are long gone, replaced by the modern era of almost complete reliance on technology, especially the emerging technologies that threaten to disrupt the status quo. The shifting expectations from employees, who want to use consumer devices and applications in the workplace, are leaving an indelible mark on business processes.

As a result, more businesses recognize that IT holds an important key to success, particularly when it comes to the implementation of disruptive technologies. Likewise, IT professionals can no longer be content to stay within their traditional role. Instead, they must be prepared to take on new levels of responsibility within strategic business initiatives.

Fielded in November 2013, the survey yielded responses from 214 IT practitioners, managers and directors in the UK from small, mid-size and enterprise companies.

Survey Findings:

The evolution of technology means that IT professionals must adapt their skill-sets and levels of responsibility in order to cope with the demands of emerging and disruptive technologies.

- One in four of those surveyed suggested that BYOx is the emerging technology that is most disruptive to business

- Mobility, cloud computing, data analytics and compliance round up the top five emerging technologies

- Over 50% of respondents suggest that cloud/SaaS and information security are the top IT skill-sets that will be in high demand over the next 3-5 years, followed by mobile apps and device management

Foremost among the results of this evolution, modern IT professionals are now expected and must be prepared to help their companies make informed, strategic business decisions with regard to emerging technologies.

- 97% of all IT pros are confident that they can provide the guidance and expertise necessary to help their company make informed decisions with regards to emerging technologies

- While 97% of survey-takers said they feel at least somewhat confident in their ability to provide such advice, only one-third of those are completely confident in doing so

- To feel more empowered to provide strategic advice, slightly more than half of respondents said they need more training in their area(s) of responsibility, and nearly 40% said they need a better understanding of their company's overall business

Technology's rise in importance as a core business component may have only been outpaced by the complexity it created. This increasing infrastructure complexity has affected the role of nearly all IT professionals.

- Over half (53%) of all IT departments now manage virtualization, mobility, compliance, data analytics, SDN/virtual networks, BYOx, cloud computing and self-service automation

- 40% of respondents said increasing complexity has greatly affected their responsibilities over the past 3-5 years, and an additional 49% said it has somewhat affected their role

About the survey: The survey was conducted from November 12-18, 2013, resulting in 214 survey responses from IT practitioners, managers and directors in the UK from small, mid-size and enterprise companies.

Lawrence Garvin is a Head Geek and Technical Product Marketing Manager at SolarWinds.

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IT Must Adapt to BYOx

Lawrence Garvin

Consumerization of IT, namely the emergence of BYOx (where x is anything from apps, data to the latest mobile devices), is having a significant impact on business operations and the strategic implementation of emerging technologies, according to the New IT Survey conducted by SolarWinds.

One in four survey respondents indicated that BYOx is the emerging technology most likely to cause disruption, in terms of its impact on the business and the time and energy IT professionals dedicate to solving related issues. The results also reveal that IT professionals are playing an increasingly valuable role in the strategic decisions that lead to the implementation of such emerging technologies, with 97% of those surveyed being relied upon to extend their responsibilities and make informed business decisions.

The days of IT's limited impact on business are long gone, replaced by the modern era of almost complete reliance on technology, especially the emerging technologies that threaten to disrupt the status quo. The shifting expectations from employees, who want to use consumer devices and applications in the workplace, are leaving an indelible mark on business processes.

As a result, more businesses recognize that IT holds an important key to success, particularly when it comes to the implementation of disruptive technologies. Likewise, IT professionals can no longer be content to stay within their traditional role. Instead, they must be prepared to take on new levels of responsibility within strategic business initiatives.

Fielded in November 2013, the survey yielded responses from 214 IT practitioners, managers and directors in the UK from small, mid-size and enterprise companies.

Survey Findings:

The evolution of technology means that IT professionals must adapt their skill-sets and levels of responsibility in order to cope with the demands of emerging and disruptive technologies.

- One in four of those surveyed suggested that BYOx is the emerging technology that is most disruptive to business

- Mobility, cloud computing, data analytics and compliance round up the top five emerging technologies

- Over 50% of respondents suggest that cloud/SaaS and information security are the top IT skill-sets that will be in high demand over the next 3-5 years, followed by mobile apps and device management

Foremost among the results of this evolution, modern IT professionals are now expected and must be prepared to help their companies make informed, strategic business decisions with regard to emerging technologies.

- 97% of all IT pros are confident that they can provide the guidance and expertise necessary to help their company make informed decisions with regards to emerging technologies

- While 97% of survey-takers said they feel at least somewhat confident in their ability to provide such advice, only one-third of those are completely confident in doing so

- To feel more empowered to provide strategic advice, slightly more than half of respondents said they need more training in their area(s) of responsibility, and nearly 40% said they need a better understanding of their company's overall business

Technology's rise in importance as a core business component may have only been outpaced by the complexity it created. This increasing infrastructure complexity has affected the role of nearly all IT professionals.

- Over half (53%) of all IT departments now manage virtualization, mobility, compliance, data analytics, SDN/virtual networks, BYOx, cloud computing and self-service automation

- 40% of respondents said increasing complexity has greatly affected their responsibilities over the past 3-5 years, and an additional 49% said it has somewhat affected their role

About the survey: The survey was conducted from November 12-18, 2013, resulting in 214 survey responses from IT practitioners, managers and directors in the UK from small, mid-size and enterprise companies.

Lawrence Garvin is a Head Geek and Technical Product Marketing Manager at SolarWinds.

Hot Topics

The Latest

IT and line-of-business teams are increasingly aligned in their efforts to close the data gap and drive greater collaboration to alleviate IT bottlenecks and offload growing demands on IT teams, according to The 2025 Automation Benchmark Report: Insights from IT Leaders on Enterprise Automation & the Future of AI-Driven Businesses from Jitterbit ...

A large majority (86%) of data management and AI decision makers cite protecting data privacy as a top concern, with 76% of respondents citing ROI on data privacy and AI initiatives across their organization, according to a new Harris Poll from Collibra ...

According to Gartner, Inc. the following six trends will shape the future of cloud over the next four years, ultimately resulting in new ways of working that are digital in nature and transformative in impact ...

2020 was the equivalent of a wedding with a top-shelf open bar. As businesses scrambled to adjust to remote work, digital transformation accelerated at breakneck speed. New software categories emerged overnight. Tech stacks ballooned with all sorts of SaaS apps solving ALL the problems — often with little oversight or long-term integration planning, and yes frequently a lot of duplicated functionality ... But now the music's faded. The lights are on. Everyone from the CIO to the CFO is checking the bill. Welcome to the Great SaaS Hangover ...

Regardless of OpenShift being a scalable and flexible software, it can be a pain to monitor since complete visibility into the underlying operations is not guaranteed ... To effectively monitor an OpenShift environment, IT administrators should focus on these five key elements and their associated metrics ...

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Overall outage frequency and the general level of reported severity continue to decline, according to the Outage Analysis 2025 from Uptime Institute. However, cyber security incidents are on the rise and often have severe, lasting impacts ...

In March, New Relic published the State of Observability for Media and Entertainment Report to share insights, data, and analysis into the adoption and business value of observability across the media and entertainment industry. Here are six key takeaways from the report ...

Regardless of their scale, business decisions often take time, effort, and a lot of back-and-forth discussion to reach any sort of actionable conclusion ... Any means of streamlining this process and getting from complex problems to optimal solutions more efficiently and reliably is key. How can organizations optimize their decision-making to save time and reduce excess effort from those involved? ...

As enterprises accelerate their cloud adoption strategies, CIOs are routinely exceeding their cloud budgets — a concern that's about to face additional pressure from an unexpected direction: uncertainty over semiconductor tariffs. The CIO Cloud Trends Survey & Report from Azul reveals the extent continued cloud investment despite cost overruns, and how organizations are attempting to bring spending under control ...

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Azul