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Computacenter Research Reveals Network Neglect Risks Business Success

Computacenter Research Reveals Network Neglect Risks Business Success

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London, 17 March 2010

Computacenter, Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services, today launches research that reveals network neglect is risking business success, with 74% of respondents claiming the network is central to their IT strategy, but 33% not actually considering it before making a technology purchase, risking network downtime, poor performance and inefficient security.

The survey, conducted amongst more than 150 IT decision makers across UK enterprises, also uncovers that 76% believe taking no action now with their network will impact business performance, highlighting a critical need for action. Other notable findings from the research include:

Network Security Niggles

Surprisingly almost two-thirds of respondents believe the introduction of virtualisation has made their infrastructure more secure, indicating a common misconception that reducing the amount of infrastructure also decreases the number of threats, when in fact virtualisation creates a whole new set of security challenges which need to be addressed at the outset of a deployment.

Virtual Headaches

The majority of businesses (90%) believe the network is hampering virtualisation efforts, with almost as many (88%) claiming virtualisation directly causes network performance issues. In addition, 86% admit that pinpointing and solving virtual infrastructure bottlenecks is an issue and 68% claim they have underestimated the number of network issues arising from virtualisation. This highlights that network challenges around performance, availability and complexity are rife and must be addressed to maximise the adoption of virtualisation.

Colin Williams, Networking & Security Practice Leader at Computacenter, comments: “It is common to see a lack of proactive optimisation directed towards the network, particularly in difficult times when IT decision makers have so many other challenges. The inherent problem with the network is that no-one notices it until it goes wrong so in many cases it has become a victim of its own reliability. That doesn’t however mean it is currently “ready” to cope with changing business needs.”

Other notable findings from the research include:

Politics Perceived not to be a Problem

When asked if potential barriers to the success of virtualisation were down to technology or internal politics, only a fifth of IT decision makers believed there was a political struggle, which is surprising when you consider most virtualisation deployments are managed by server managers but extensively impact the network environment. As overall network convergence blurs the lines between server and storage networks, this could potentially lead to a change of roles aligned throughout the operational environment.

The Road to Cloud Misunderstood

Only 11% of respondents saw virtualisation as a means of preparing for cloud computing, which highlights a limited understanding of the cloud requirements of the network, as well as what the network can do to make cloud computing and virtualisation easier for organisations.

Williams concludes: “Our lives are more tied to networks than we realise, whether it’s communicating through Facebook, implementing unified communications to increase productivity or networks as the foundation to underpin server virtualisation, they are at the heart of everything we do. Network “readiness” must be addressed now to ensure organisations have the capability to provide new business critical services and applications that will impact businesses’ ability to compete and ultimately succeed.”

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For further information, please contact:

Alex Brooks / Kate Mills
Rocket PR
computacenter@rocketcomms.net
08453 707 024

Tessa Freeman
PR Manager
tessa.freeman@computacenter.com
+44 (0) 7801 452076