Telstra Research: "Half of US Businesses are Doing IT Right"

NEW YORK, November 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

New Telstra research^[1]of 200 IT decision-makers in the United States has identified a superior category of top performing organisations - termed Superusers - who are working most closely with employees to exceed and adapt to their expectations of the modern workplace.

Martin Bishop, Head of Network, Applications & Services, Telstra Global Enterprise & Services, said around 50 per cent of organisations have achieved Superuser status in the US, with the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors having a higher proportion of Superusers than others.

"According to Telstra's research, employees from organisations classified as Superusers are not just demanding physical hardware for collaboration; they are expecting the software and services to enable them to do this, too," he said.  

"More than a third of organisations classified as Superusers are experiencing very significant demand from their employees for collaboration tools. This same group has also witnessed the appetite for collaboration tools, such as Telstra's global cloud-based unified communications service, increase over the last two years - much more so than ordinary users."

Today almost three quarters of US workers (72 per cent) expect their IT department to provide remote access, while 68 per cent demand desktop virtualisation and 65 per cent mobility, Telstra's research revealed. These user expectations have emerged as employees become savvier about the growth of cloud services, with demand for BYOD (49 per cent) and content collaboration (47 per cent) expected to also increase in the future.

"Clearly, the implementation of IT products and services is no longer just about finding the most appropriate solution for the organisation. End-users now play a critical role in IT deployment and adoption, which means organisations cannot afford to ignore their demands, especially in the current environment where employees are more aware than ever about the technology available to them," said Martin.

"By engaging with employees to fully understand their expectations, organisations can stay ahead of the curve and in-turn benefit from the potential rewards of greater communication and collaboration, including better decision-making, faster identification of new business opportunities and greater job satisfaction."

The research also revealed that 98 per cent of IT leaders find it challenging to effectively implement all the technology tools employees expect to use to communicate in the workplace, from telepresence to desktop virtualisation and enterprise social networks.

Despite US IT leaders considering end-user expectations more than ever before, more than half (56 per cent) claim their organisation has higher priority IT projects than delivering technology that meets employee's needs. Telstra's research warns that this could cause problems for companies including security risks and additional costs.

"Traditionally, hardware and software issues were the key challenges of introducing and implementing new technologies. However this appears to be shifting, with more than two thirds of US IT decision makers claiming resistance from people is now either equally or more difficult to overcome," continued Martin.

"Today, employees are putting significant pressure on IT departments to provide them with the collaboration tools that enable remote working and mobility. Despite this, our research shows that improving user experience, promoting innovation and enhancing internal collaboration all ranked behind security, efficiency and cost reduction IT initiatives, demonstrating that many end users aren't getting the attention they deserve.

"As a result, some businesses run the risk of employees bypassing the IT department and sourcing their own alternatives - in a trend known as shadow IT - potentially leaving the company exposed to security risks and hidden cost implications. Our research shows half of US organisations already find shadow IT challenging, with one in two larger enterprises citing this as a concern globally."

^[1]Research Methodology

Telstra commissioned Vanson Bourne, an independent specialist in market research, to undertake the research upon which this report is based. In total, 675 IT decision makers were interviewed from multinational organisations in five countries/regions: US (200 interviews), UK (200), Singapore (100), Hong Kong (95), and Australia (80).

Respondents work for organisations in the private sector with 250 or more employees. Due to the range of sectors involved in this research, the results are based on the global or regional average to be representative of the target population. Fieldwork took place in September 2014 using a mixture of online and telephone interviewing. A robust multi-level screening process was used to ensure only appropriate respondents participated in the research.

About Telstra  

Telstra is the leading telecommunications and information services company in Australia. We provide end-to-end solutions including managed network services, global connectivity, cloud, voice, colocation, conferencing and satellite solutions. We have licenses in Asia, Europe and the US and offer access to over 2,000 PoPs in 230 countries and territories across the globe. Our extended reach means that we can offer customers smarter technology solutions to support sustainable business growth.

SOURCE Telstra