NetApp study finds 98% of IT professionals struggle to get efficient technology financed
LONDON, UK. - 21 July, 2011 - An overwhelming 98% of IT professionals in the UK claim to struggle to get financial backing for new technological investments at least some of the time, with 27% claiming "never to be sure of the board's attitude", according to a study commissioned by data storage and management specialist NetApp.
The independent research, conducted by Vanson Bourne, canvassed the opinions of 200 IT decision makers across the UK, and found that only 39% of respondents feel that their company's board directors value the strategic and competitive advantage that efficient and flexible technologies can provide.
Those working for organisations with between 1000 and 3000 employees have nearly twice as much difficulty getting financial backing for new technologies. 60% reported they had trouble with the majority or all proposals, compared to an average of 33%. Financial Services organisations prove to be the toughest sector for IT professionals with 56% finding difficulty in getting approval with the majority or all proposals. This can be compared to business and professional services, where just 36% found difficulty.
"IT is fundamental to the overall business mix; companies who invest in the right way reap the benefits," said David Allen, Managing Director NetApp UK and Ireland. "Efficient and flexible technologies can remove barriers within an organisation and allow for a focus on the real task at hand, running the business."
Arup, an example of a business built on NetApp, has recently overhauled its data strategy to enable staff to access historic and current data instantaneously. The $15bn engineering consultancy, based in London, has implemented a central storage cloud built on NetApp solutions.
"With 3,500 users in the UK alone and 35 regional offices in the UK, Middle East and Africa, we rely on fast access to historic data to ensure every design we begins brings innovation to the forefront," said Steven Capper, IT Director for UK-MEA at Arup. "We needed to ensure that our offices and users have access to a centralised storage pool of current and historic data. This is business critical - we were fortunate enough to have our executives' recognise the importance of IT spend."
