IT managers express concern over IP revolution

IT workers reveal struggle to proactively manage rapidly expanding IP networks

The IP revolution has become a “double-edged sword”, with many IT managers now concerned that they lack the resources to keep pace with the relentless advance of the next-generation technology, according to research from market watcher Quocirca.

The study, conducted on behalf of software vendor CA, quizzed 473 IT decision makers in Europe and the Middle East on issues relating to IP network convergence.

The central finding was that many IT managers now believe that there is a gulf between the importance of IP applications and their ability to proactively manage the underlying network.

The survey concluded that IT managers are under pressure to provide more and more functionality on a single IP network, leading them to feel under-resourced and under-skilled.

Bob Tarzey, service director at Quocirca, said: “IP is becoming a double-edged sword. While it has allowed a proliferation of devices to be connected together, this must be backed by tools capable of managing them all.

“Only this will ensure that the increasing importance of IP does not drift too far from our capability to manage it. This decision is in the hands of IT managers and directors; good tooling can help to identify problems before they become too serious and have an impact on service to the business. It also allows more mundane day-to-day tasks to be automated.”

The study also found that IT managers are increasingly turning to managed services providers (MSPs) to ease the burden. For instance, Quocirca found that nearly nine in ten (88 per cent) of those surveyed were already using or were planning to use MSPs for network security alone.