Is Server Hassle Pushing IT to the Cloud

Off to the CloudThere is a lot driving the cloud, including the hassle of managing servers. A recent survey of 441 IT professionals revealed that the majority of businesses would “love to never have to buy another server again.” Channel Insider takes a look at the Rackspace Hosting survey results to see what IT really thinks about server maintenance.

IT’s Cloud ConcernsWhen it comes to hosting and cloud computing, IT professionals are still leery. The top concerns and barriers to adoption cited are assurances of reliability (29%), evidence of cost savings (28%) and assurances of security (27%).

Bogged Down by ServersThe results of the mid-size enterprise IT survey indicate IT is bogged down by server management and has limited time to focus on strategic initiatives. Respondents polled said that 1/3 of IT’s time is spent on managing servers and 58% cited the hassle of managing servers as an organizational challenge.

No Time for StrategyFreeing up time to focus on strategic IT initiatives is essential to the success of any business looking for competitive advantage and operational efficiency. However, the survey indicates freeing up staff time is a challenge. 61% of IT Managers said “time to drive innovation” was a challenge.

Trouble TroubleshootingIT teams reported spending 60 percent of their time troubleshooting and managing servers, while only 27 percent of time is spent on strategic and value-add activities.

IT’s Server StressIT is stressed out. On-site servers cause what Rackspace calls “server stress.” Among the top three server management issues are “the need to be available 24×7,” “hardware issues and maintenance,” and “after-hours calls and issues.”

Server Spend Mistakes AboundMore than half (51 percent) of respondents have made mistakes in their server capacity planning. 15% bought too many servers and 36% did not buy enough. Failed server planning causes financial waste, inability to cope with user demand, and an IT team focused on the reactive instead of the proactive.

Proactive vs. Cautious35% of companies identify themselves as ‘proactive and slightly ahead of the curve’ when it comes to describing their approach to new technologies, while 28% remain ‘cautious and reactive.’