Chaos Characterizes IT Operations Management

A new survey of 166 IT operations executives at large companies in the United States finds that IT operations management isn't very effective. While that may be a source of consternation for those IT executives, the fact that so many organizations need help from IT operations represents a potential boon for the channel. In particular, the survey, which was conducted by BlueStripe Software, a provider of transaction and application monitoring software, reveals that the tools most organizations rely on are generally considered ineffective, and most of the processes used are labor-intensive. Given the fact that labor is the single most expensive element of the total cost of IT, any conversation about reducing that cost—either through the adoption of a better tool or a range of managed services—is likely to be well-received. In addition, most issues are discovered by end users, and that never makes the internal IT department look good. The biggest challenge solution providers in the channel are likely to face, according to Dave Mountain, vice president of marketing for BlueStripe, is the surprising amount of acceptance among IT executives concerning the level of chaos that currently characterizes most IT operations. Following are additional challenges.