it pros survey: brazil

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IT Pros Survey: Brazil

A look at network complexity, its drivers, needed skillset,and levels of concern among IT professionals in Brazil

Conducted by C White Consulting May/June 2013

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Study Overview: areas of discussion

» What are the top drivers impacting network complexity?

» How concerned are IT pros about their ability to be successful in regard to network complexity given their existing skillset?

» How should any gaps in an IT pro’s network complexity skillset be addressed both now and in the future?

For the purposes of this study, “network complexity” is defined as the continuously growing, increasingly complicated nature of the network due to new technologies (such as SDN, virtualisation, etc.) as well as the ever-increasing responsibilities placed on IT professionals from an IT operations

perspective (by supporting new service offerings such as cloud, mobility, etc.) and business operations perspective (such as security or compliance)

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Demographics: breakdown of survey respondents

101 IT practitioners, managers and directors in the Brazil from public- and private-sectorsmall, mid-size and enterprise companies participated in a May/June 2013 online survey

16% 6%

11%

9%12%8%

9%

28%

Company Size(number of employees)

25-49 FTEs

50-99 FTEs

100-249 FTEs

250-499 FTEs

500-999 FTEs

1000-1499 FTEs

1500-4999 FTEs

5000+ FTEs

44%

15%

14%

11%

17%

IT Pro’s Role

Practitioner

Manager

Director

IT Consultant

Other IT-related 20%

79%

1%

Public/Private Sector Split

Public Sector

Private Sector

It's Complicated

4

Drivers that ImpactNetwork Complexity

5

3.19

3.17

2.87

2.71

2.52

1 2 3 4 5

Software Defined Networks (SDN)/virtual networks

Compute virtualisation

Smarter equipment and/or more complex equipment

Vendor proliferation

Video conferencing/telepresence

Technology Drivers

A1: Please rank which of the following technologies increase network complexity the most for the networks that you manage with “1” meaning “most impactful to network complexity” and “5” meaning “least impactful to network complexity”, using each number only once: [provided “other” fill-in blank option and “N/A-do not use/manage” option as well]

Top Drivers Impacting Network Complexity

#1

#2

IT professionals surveyed indicate that software defined networks (SDN)/virtual networks, followed by compute virtualisation are the top two technology drivers increasing network complexity today.

6

4.59

4.52

4.42

4.35

3.99

3.58

3.56

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Public cloud or Software as a Service (SaaS)

Mobility

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Private cloud

Distributed workforce and/or telecommuters/work-from-…

Video distribution and/or video conferencing

Voice/Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

Drivers in IT Operations

A2: IT professionals are increasingly asked to take on additional responsibilities as new IT service offerings emerge. Please rank which of the following areas increase network complexity the most for the networks that you manage with “1” meaning “most impactful to network complexity” and “7” meaning “least impactful to network complexity”, using each number only once: [provided “other” fill-in blank option and “N/A-do not use/manage” option as well]


#1

#2

IT professionals surveyed indicate that public cloud/Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), mobility and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) are the top three areas within IT Operations impacting network complexity today.

#3

7

2.25

1.61

1.59

1 2 3

Security (for example, denial of service (DoS)

attacks, Adobe vulnerabilities)

Compliance (for example, Payment Card Industry-Data Security

Standard (PCI-…

Auditing (for example, IT audits due to PCI-DSS, EU

Data Protection Directive, HIPAA and other …

Drivers inBusiness Operations

A3: IT professionals are increasingly asked to take on additional responsibilities as new business operations requirements emerge. Please rank which of the following areas increase network complexity the most for the networks that you manage with “1” meaning “most impactful to network complexity” and “3” meaning “least impactful to network complexity”, using each number only once: [provided “other” fill-in blank option and “N/A-do not use/manage” option as well]


#1

IT professionals surveyed indicate that security (for example, denial of service (DoS) attacks, Adobe vulnerabilities) is the top Business Operations driver increasing network complexity today.

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IT Pro’s Level of Concern regarding His/Her Network Complexity Skillset

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A3: Based on the definition of “network complexity” above, how much has increased network complexity changed your IT role/responsibilities within the last 3-5 years? [choose one: “it has greatly affected my role/responsibilities”, “it has somewhat affected …”, “it has not affected …”, “do not know”]

Level of Concern: IT Pro’s Network Complexity Skillset

Nearly 80% of IT professionals said network complexity has either somewhat affected or greatly affectedtheir role/responsibilities within the last 3-5 years.

30%

49%

22%

0%

Impact of Network Complexity on IT Rolein Last 3-5 Years

It has greatly affected my role/responsibilities

It has somewhat affected my role/responsibilities

It has not affected my role/responsibilities

Do not know

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A4(b,c,e): How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (please provide the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement by selecting from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 10 (“agree completely”): [provided “N/A” as well]


IT professionals agree (moderately so) that their existing skillset has fully prepared them to deploy all the IT network management solution(s) necessary to manage their company’s current complexity challenges;

however, IT pros also agree (slightly more so) that they are concerned regarding their ability to succeed given ever-increasing responsibilities that directly impact network complexity.

6.58

5.99

6.50

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

With my existing skillset, I am concerned about my ability to succeed given the new technologies (such as smarter equipment) and ever-increasing IT operations (such as cloud) and business operations (such as compliance)

responsibilities I've been given, a

With my existing skillset, I am fully prepared to deploy all the IT network management solution(s) necessary to manage our current network

complexity challenges.

IT professionals should have a "generalist" IT skillset (such as network) rather than a "specialist" IT skillset (such as server/application).

(1 (“do not agree at all”) 10 (“agree completely”))

Do NC drivers hinder an IT Pro’s success given his/her existing skillset?

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A4(a,d): How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (please provide the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement by selecting from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 10 (“agree completely”): [provided “N/A” as well]


IT professionals agree (moderately so) that their company is prepared for growing network complexity challenges, yet IT pros agree slightly less that they have already invested in all of the IT network management

solution(s) necessary to address current network complexity challenges.

5.49

6.39

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

My company has already invested in all of the IT network management solution(s) necessary to address our current network complexity

challenges.

My company is prepared for our growing network complexity challenges.


How confident are IT pros that their companies are prepared for growing network complexity challenges?

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A9: What else does your company still need to do/obtain in order to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity? (please choose all that apply) [provided “other” fill-in-the-blank response as well]


Over 65% of IT professionals feel that their company still needs to train IT staff in order to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity. Nearly the same number of IT pros (65%) feel that their company needs to add network management tools/software, and 45% feel their company needs to better prioritise

existing IT resources in order to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity.

66.3%

65.3%

44.6%

37.6%

33.7%

5.0%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Train IT staff

Add network management tools/SW

Better prioritize existing IT resources

Increase IT budget

Increase IT staff

Other

What else does an IT pro’s company still need to do/obtain in order to be as prepared as possible for growing network complexity?

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Addressing Gaps in an IT Pro’s Network Complexity Skillset

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A10: What is the single most important skill/skillset needed TODAY by IT professionals to combat the challenges of network complexity? (please choose only one) [provided “other” fill-in-the-blank response as well]

Addressing Gaps: IT Pro’s Network Complexity Skillset

Nearly one-fourth of all IT professionals feel that understanding of the business is the single most important skillset needed today to combat the challenges of network complexity, followed closely by cloud/Software-as-a-

Service (SaaS).

23.8%

21.8%

14.9%

13.9%

11.9%

6.9%

5.9%

1.0%

0.0%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Understanding of the business

Cloud or SaaS


Information security

Network engineering

Project management

Mobile applications and device management

Other

Server management

The single most important skillset needed today by IT prosto combat the challenges of network complexity:

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A5(a): How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (please provide the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement by selecting from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 10 (“agree completely”): [provided “N/A” as well]


One-fifth (20%) of IT professionals solidly agree that their higher education sufficiently prepared them for their current IT role. Another 37% of respondents somewhat agree that their higher education sufficiently prepared them, while one-fourth (25%) of IT professionals are relatively undecided. And the remaining 19% believe that

their higher education did NOT sufficiently prepare them for their current IT role.

5.02

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

My higher education (university degree(s) and/or vocational training) sufficiently

prepared me for my current IT role.


Did higher education sufficiently prepare IT prosfor their current IT roles?

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A11: What will be the single most important skill/skillset needed IN FIVE YEARSby IT professionals to combat the challenges of network complexity? (please choose only one) [provided “other” fill-in-the-blank response as well]


Cloud/Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) surpasses understanding of the business (today’s single most important skillset) when IT pros look 5 years into the future to determine what will be the single most important skillset

needed to combat the future challenges of network complexity. Information security remains high on the list, and mobile applications/device management jumps up the skillset radar as well.

29.0%

25.0%

17.0%

12.0%

9.0%

3.0%

3.0%

2.0%

0.0%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Cloud or SaaS

Understanding of the business

Information security

Mobile applications and device management

Project management


Network engineering

Other

Server management

The single most important skillset needed in 5 years by IT prosto combat the future challenges of network complexity:

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A7: If you did not already possess the single most important skill needed TODAY to combat the challenges of network complexity, how would you realistically go about obtaining it? (please choose all that apply) [provided “other” fill-in-the-blank response as well]


Nearly 75% of IT professionals would obtain training in order to gain necessary skills/certifications for combating network complexity. Almost half (45%) would participate in vendor learning, 42% would increase

their experience/expertise organically, and 40% would participate in peer-to-peer learning such as forums and best practices.

74.0%

45.0%

42.0%

40.0%

36.0%

34.0%

23.0%

14.0%

0.0%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Obtain training

Participate in vendor learning

Increase experience/expertise organically

Participate in peer-to-peer learning (such as …

Obtain certification

Participate in distance learning

Turn to online influencers/resources

Gain an/another university degree (undergraduate …

Other

Resources used for obtainingany additional skills/certifications needed

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U4: What (if any) barriers have you encountered while trying to obtain network management training (please think about the entire process – from gaining approval to be trained through trying to complete the actual training)? [open-ended/fill-in-the-blank]


Slightly over one-fourth of IT professionals (27%) consider time constraints a barrier to training, and another 18% consider training content lacking; however another one-fourth of IT pros do not feel they have any

barriers to training.

26.6%

24.5%

18.1%

12.8%

12.3%

8.5%

4.3%

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Time to train

No barriers

Training content

Budget

Other

Approval process

Travel restriction/ban

Barriers (if any) to network management training

Sampling of Noteworthy Open-Ended Responses

Time to Train: “conflict with business priorities”, “availability of dates/schedules”, “the time required [to be] absent from work”, “time to devote to training”

Training Content: “inflexibility of program contents”, “better training that meet[s] the demands of the business”, “training content is deficient …”, “… too much theory …”, “value of training”, “lack of practical training”, “lack of quality courses available … and excessive cost (without improvement proportional to quality” …”

Budget: “high cost of training …”, “certification prices”, “course price”

Approval Process: “bureaucracy for proof of the usefulness of the training (justifications that were not easily translated by simple numbers”, “lack of understanding of the importance of this type of training”, “justify the need to management/exec directors”

Travel Restriction/Ban: “[lack of] availability in my region”

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A6(a,b,c): How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (please provide the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement by selecting from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 10 (“agree completely”): [provided “N/A” as well]


IT professionals moderately agree that both gaining approval to participate in training and scheduling a time for training (on their own or with a third party) are relatively painless processes. Slightly less IT pros are in

agreement that most/all of their training for skills/certification takes place during work hours(rather than before/after hours).

5.76

5.75

5.30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Gaining approval for me to participate in training (ie vendor learning, distance learning, certifications, onsite training, offsite

training) is a relatively painless process within my company.

Scheduling a time for me to train (ie vendor training, distance learning, certifications, onsite training, offsite training) on my own

or with a third party is a relatively painless process.

I undertake most/all of my training for needed skills/certification during work hours.


The Continuing Education Process

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A5(b,c,d): How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (please provide the degree to which you agree or disagree with each statement by selecting from 1 (“do not agree at all”) to 10 (“agree completely”): [provided “N/A” as well]


IT professionals show little agreement on whether today’s higher education is sufficiently preparing the next generation of IT pros to meet tomorrow’s technology demands. IT pros do agree (moderately so) that the amount

of training required for graduates entering the IT workforce sufficiently prepares them for entry-level positions. And IT pros are in even more agreement (though still moderately so) that graduates should have a “generalist” IT

skillset rather than a “specialist” IT skillset.

4.29

5.48

6.64

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Today's higher education (university degree(s) and/or vocational training) is sufficiently preparing the next generation of IT professionals to meet tomorrow's technology demands.

The amount of training required for university graduates and vocational graduates entering the IT workforce sufficently prepares

them for entry-level positions.

University and vocational graduates should have a "generalist" IT skillset (such as network) rather than a "specialist" IT skillset (such

as server/application).


Today’s Educational Standards and Tomorrow’s IT Professionals

it pros survey: brazil

Technology

impactnetwork complexity

welltop drivers

usemanage option

technology drivers

fillin blank option

following areas

pros survey

business size