Maturity Assessment Reveals Most IT Operations are Chaotic

- Majority of respondents work in environments where IT learns of incidents after users complain

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa, September 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Early assessment results from TeamQuest Corp. reveal most IT professionals believe their IT capacity management processes could grow up a bit. As of July 31, 2012, nearly 65 percent of the 152 respondents categorized their IT environment as chaotic, which means the IT organization usually learns of performance problems after users call to complain.

"Learning about problems after the fact isn't efficient," said Director of Global Services Per Bauer. "The cool part is the systems admin can look like a hero, but the bad part is he or she is too busy putting out fires to work on important, business-related tasks such as launching new services or integrating new technologies."

The need for more sophisticated processes increases in importance every year as CIO strategies become more aligned with the goals and complexities of business. Trending business needs include:

• Run IT as a business
• Mitigate risks
• Optimize virtualization
• Overcome cloud challenges

Bauer said many organizations can meet these needs, and suggested a good starting point would be the 15-question IT Maturity Assessment. Individuals can get a good indication of the maturity level at which their IT organization currently operates. Higher maturity levels mean the organization is more efficient and provides more value to the business, according to Bauer.

"Historically, most organizations score in the chaotic and reactive levels, and for some, that's okay," he said. "This isn't meant to be a one-size fits all type of assessment. You must take into account the size of your organization, the goals of your organization and how they integrate with overall business goals." Bauer said he's noticed that some organizations are okay with 'just-in-time' practices and procedures and said many of the scores mirror that phrase.

One possible reason for the lower scores could be attributed to the adoption of virtualization, Bauer said. This technology allows users to move workloads, for example, from one location to another without much concern for capacity.

"The advent of cloud computing sometimes put the planning and management on an outside vendor's shoulders, which can blindside customers if there are issues with the cloud or the cloud shuts down," he said. "In many cases, in preparing for virtualization and cloud, some organizations purchased extra hardware – that wasn't necessarily needed – to ensure their potential capacity needs were met…but that workaround wasted lots of money.

"Understanding your IT environment isn't rocket science," said Bauer, "but using mature processes and tools can keep headaches at a minimum – yours and your customers. Technology and business are moving at a swift pace and companies need the IT organization to provide the right data to make important business decisions. That becomes more difficult when you're putting out fires."

This assessment is the first step for any organization looking to improve enterprise efficiency and reduce risk, said Bauer.

About TeamQuest Corporation
TeamQuest Corporation is the global leader in IT Service Optimization (ITSO), specializing in Capacity Management software. TeamQuest helps IT organizations consistently meet service levels while minimizing costs and mitigating risks. By combining performance data and business metrics, TeamQuest software enables IT organizations to provide accurate, objective information as input to critical business decisions. Companies around the world trust TeamQuest software to help them proactively improve service delivery and support best practices.

For more information, visit www.teamquest.com or call +1-641-357-2700. In Europe, Middle East and Africa, call +46-31-80-95-00, and in Asia Pacific call +61-3-9641-2288.