Yet 41% of companies still take a month or more to action network changes
European businesses are inadequately prepared to support day-to-day business functions despite continuous investment in their IT infrastructure according to a study released today by Avaya, a global provider of business communications and collaboration systems and services.
The study – which reflects results of a survey of more than 250 CIOs, IT and network managers across EMEA – found that despite over two-thirds (74%) of businesses undergoing a network refresh within the last three years nearly a quarter (24%) worried about 24/7 availability and a fifth (21%) were concerned about responding faster to the requirements of the business.
The results suggest that network investment is focused on managing the network in extreme situations rather than on a day-to-day basis. The majority of companies (88%) have a business continuity plan in place in case of a major disaster yet 41 per cent still take a month or more to make a change to their network. Just over a fifth (22%) claimed they could make required changes in a day.
Companies seem to realise that this situation is unsustainable. Bring Your Own Device (21%) and IT virtualisation (25%) were identified as the main emerging technologies which would require an infrastructure upgrade. Over a quarter (27%) plan to invest in 10 Gig Ethernet within the next 18 months while a fifth (21%) will invest in Network Access Control.
Looking to the future, Cloud Networking has an overwhelmingly positive reception from senior IT managers with just under half (48%) believing a hybrid mixture of private and public Cloud would be most appropriate for their organisation. Only 11 per cent feel Cloud has no role within their business.
“With huge increases in traffic from Unified Communications, video and IT virtualisation many organizations’ networks are just not fit for purpose. It seems IT departments are prepared for out-of-the-blue disaster scenarios but unable to cope with business as usual. The good news is that the CIOs we questioned recognise this and are looking at technologies, such as 10 Gig Ethernet, that will help them better manage emerging trends and those technologies that are still on the horizon.” David Scutt, Head of Video and Networking, UK and Ireland, Avaya commented.