Auvik, a provider of cloud-based network management software, shared the results of its 2023 Network IT Management Report. An annual report, the 2023 edition includes findings from a survey of 4,500 IT professionals across North America, shedding light on the challenges facing in-house IT professionals and MSPs when it comes to network visibility, management and security.
One key finding of the report involves gaps in network visibility and security facing the majority of IT teams, especially as remote and hybrid work continues. Eighty-six percent of the respondents support a remote workforce at least some of the time, but only half are performing SaaS and cloud monitoring or Wi-Fi management – critical components of the enterprise network in today’s hybrid world.
SaaS and cloud applications (e.g. Salesforce, Slack, G Suite, Microsoft 365, Zoom, etc.) are how employees get work done. These apps as well as the Wi-Fi employees use at home (or at a hotel, a coffee shop, etc.) pose potential security risks to the enterprise network, and thus IT teams must have visibility and solutions for enabling their workforce to be productive while minimizing risk. In recognition of this need and current gaps, 30 percent of the survey respondents reported they plan to invest in Wi-Fi management and/or SaaS and cloud monitoring solutions within the next 12 months.
“A growing trend we at Auvik have observed – and which the findings of our 2023 report reinforce – is that IT teams are increasingly measured on their ability to deliver a seamless experience to end users and keep them productive,” said Alex Hoff, co-founder and chief product officer at Auvik. “Forty-five percent of this year’s respondents said they are measured on the satisfaction of their end-user or customer. When an employee experiences slowness on their device, network or in an application they are using, the responsibility to resolve that issue falls to the IT team, who are often working with blind spots and a constantly-changing environment.”
In January, more than 2 million people experienced power outages due to the storms in California, and many of those individuals then went to coffee shops or friends’ or relatives’ homes to work, introducing new Wi-Fi connections, potentially new devices and other components that affect the end-user experience. IT teams must have the tools to monitor, manage and support employees’ work experiences from any location, at any time.
Another serious visibility and security gap facing IT teams is network configurations. The Auvik report found 45 percent of IT teams do not fully know the configuration of their networks, and 21 percent responded that individuals outside of ITOps, perhaps in adjacent departments like DevOps, are making configuration changes.
What’s more, 20 percent of respondents said configuration changes occur on a daily basis, and another 33 percent said they happen at least weekly. With unknown and non-IT employees making frequent changes to the network’s configuration, the security risks increase significantly.
Additional key report findings include:
- 41.5 percent of respondents said network documentation is updated monthly or less often – despite 53 percent reporting that configuration changes happen daily or weekly
- 61 percent of respondents believe a lack of time and money restrcgt their ability to serve their colleagues and clients better
- Budget/costs, security and shortage of skilled professionals are the top three challenges facing IT teams
- 73 percent of respondents outsource some of their network-related tasks
- 42 percent of respondents are tracked on the percentage of uptime and downtime at their organization
“The network has evolved from assets solely owned by the IT organization to anything that allows the team to connect to their application, which results in greater change and complexity for the end user experience,” continued Hoff. “This means greater chances for a poor end user experience and decreased productivity, security risks, and network downtime, which directly impacts the bottom line. According to the Information Technology Industry Council, a single hour of server downtime costs most small to mid-sized enterprises $300,000 and can cost larger organizations more than $5 million. Visibility is critical to reach what is called The Last Mile of the Office Network and ensure the remote workforce remains safe, connected and productive.”
Download the full 2023 Network IT Management Report.
To see how Auvik can help your organization, start a free trial and visit auvik.com for more details.
