IT execs' WAN management demands not being met
IT execs' WAN management demands not being met
Apr 14, 2005: Senior IT executives are spending far longer managing their networks than they wish, with service providers generally failing to relieve them of the burden by taking up the slack.
That is according to the results of a survey carried out on behalf of global virtual network operator (VNO) Vanco, which found that 27 percent of IT executives globally spend one day or more per week managing aspects of their WAN that they would traditionally expect to be the responsibility of their network service provider. In the Asia Pacific Region, this figure is 22 percent.
The research, conducted among 321 senior IT executives worldwide, also revealed the most pressing issues preventing the optimal running of networks. Nearly half (48 percent) of IT executives worldwide cited the inability to quickly identify network faults as a major issue that has impacted the effectiveness of their networks. The same percentage said that the inability to quickly restore full network service after a discontinuity was a major issue they have encountered.
“Asset Based Carriers are failing large enterprises on both counts – they are holding prices high after a customer is in a contract and failing to deliver a good level of service,” says Grant Ellison, Vanco Australasia's general manager. “In today’s business critical environments, organisations cannot afford to have any form of network downtime and their service providers should be able to give them this guarantee. It’s incredible that so many IT executives are having to spend a huge amount of time on core WAN management that their service providers should be responsible for. Service providers must work harder to ensure they are delivering great service as this will increasingly become a key differentiator as market consolidation continues.”
In identifying priorities for their networks over the next two years, 66 percent of Asia Pacific respondents said network cost reduction was their most important focus. Globally, this figure was slightly lower at 60 percent. These global results are considerably higher than the response to the same question in the 2004 research study, where less than half (47 percent) of IT executives gave cost reduction as their main priority for the forthcoming years.
Network security remains the second overall priority, but the real climber is the focus on bandwidth. In 2004, increased bandwidth was given as the fifth overall priority for IT executives (15 percent), whereas these latest set of findings reveal that well over a third (37 percent) of respondents now view increased bandwidth as a priority for the next two years. This growing need reflects the bandwidth requirements for increasingly complex and centralised applications which are being demanded by modern business.
Cost remains an imperative when selecting a network service provider, with nearly half (48 percent) of IT executives worldwide saying that lowest overall cost was their most important decision-making factor. The next most important criteria were geographic coverage, network reliability and highest service capability, reflecting the demand for 24/7 service excellence and support on a global basis.
Ellison added: "Cost issues were high on the agenda for IT executives last year and I’m not at all surprised to see this remaining a priority, but more significant is the gap between service expectations and reality. IT executives want to innovate and develop their networks but need service providers to step up to the mark and help them achieve this."
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