How to drive success with your IT operations

​What are the drivers of success for IT groups at mid-sized companies? Using automation more comprehensively is one thing that can help IT groups spend more time on strategic projects.

This is according to the IT operations benchmark survey by Kaseya, the cloud-based IT management software provider.

The survey, based on input from mid-sized enterprises globally, compares the practices of IT departments in faster growth companies with those in slower growth companies, and compares the practices of more mature IT organisations with those of less mature IT organisations.

It looks at how IT departments manage not only their complex set of existing technologies, but also new cloud-based infrastructure and applications, mobile devices and more.

According to the findings, 89% of IT groups in mid-sized companies are still in the early stages of IT management maturity and focus on day-to-day IT management tasks that are often time-consuming and manual.

The remaining 11% have achieved higher levels of maturity and are reaping benefits in important ways for the business, according to Kaseya.

The survey findings suggest how IT groups can do more to drive the effectiveness of both IT and the business using the limited resources they have.

Results indicate organisations who embrace cloud technologies and automation for both routine tasks and problem avoidance can spend more of their time on strategic projects that contribute to end-user productivity and drive the success of the business overall.

"Most IT groups in mid-sized companies find that they don't have enough time to invest in strategic projects," says Loren Jarrett, Kaseya chief marketing officer.

"Our survey results suggest that by adopting the practices of mature IT organisations, including automating IT management activities, standardising and streamlining processes, and leveraging cloud services, IT groups at companies of all sizes can free up more time and resources to focus on projects that will drive results for the business.

Other highlights from Kaseya's 2015 survey include:

'Bigger doesn't mean better.' The survey shows no correlation between the size of a company and its IT management maturity level, indicating that companies of all sizes can benefit from investments in maturing their IT operations.

Higher IT management maturity levels can be associated with greater revenue growth. For companies who grew their revenue at greater than 10% between 2013 and 2014, 36% were considered to have reached the highest maturity levels, versus 11% for the general population in the study.

Two-thirds of companies at the highest IT management maturity levels have formal service level agreements (SLAs). For more than half of these companies, meeting their SLAs is mandatory.

IT organisations at the highest levels of maturity are almost twice as likely to report that they drive IT decisions, instead of their CEO or CFO.