IT Executives/Network Administrators Often Feel Outsourcing Tech Jobs Offshore Has a Negative Impact on Network Security

In an intriguing juxtaposition of perception and reality, findings from a new survey suggest that America's enterprise network administrators/IT executives have extra reason for concern about network security when outsourcing technology jobs offshore.

According to the fifth annual VanDyke Software-commissioned survey of 350 network administrators and IT executives executed by independent research firm Amplitude Research on topics related to IT security, in general, more than two-thirds (69%) felt outsourcing tech jobs offshore had a negative impact on network security, while only 9% felt it had a positive impact, and 22% felt it had no impact.

29% of the 350 survey respondents reported that their organization outsources technology jobs to an offshore location such as India, China, or another foreign country. Half of these enterprises that outsource feel outsourcing has a negative impact on their organization's network security, while 24% said outsourcing has a positive impact. Meanwhile, 26% indicated outsourcing has no impact on the organization's network security.

Another interesting finding from the research is that while hacker and other unauthorized intrusions have continued to be a significant threat year after year, large companies have apparently made some progress very recently. In 2009, 41% of large enterprises reported intrusions, compared with 56% the previous year. This is the first year out of the past five in any company size category where a significant reduction in the rate of unauthorized intrusions has occurred, although it is too early to point to exact causes or to assume that progress will continue.

Recession Spurs Growth in Hosted Contact Center Infrastructure Market

DMG Consulting LLC, a provider of contact center and real-time analytics market research and consulting services, has published the 2009 Hosted Contact Center Infrastructure Market Report. The Report illustrates that even though 2008 was a down year for most technology products, the hosted contact center infrastructure market posted impressive growth and the first half of 2009 is proving to be even better. DMG’s research showed that the worldwide economic recession actually drove many types of organizations in all verticals to consider hosted contact center infrastructure solutions. It is interesting to note that many of these companies are not risk takers in the classic sense, but rather companies that see hosting as an opportunity to do business differently, without a significant initial investment.

Growth of this market can be attributed to several factors including better, more stable and feature-rich solutions, increased contact center domain expertise and implementation best practices, and flexible pricing. The future is very promising for hosted contact center solutions, even after the recession abates. DMG forecasts that growth for the hosted contact center infrastructure market will be 30 percent, 35 percent and 20 percent each year from 2009 to 2011, respectively.

Despite Economy, Organizations Face Significant Information Technology (IT) Talent Gap

According to new research from Deloitte, IT functional leaders have an increasingly clear understanding of what they must do to effectively support their organizations’ business strategies. However, existing IT talent strategies and programs appear to be falling short - leaving IT without the talent necessary to do the job.

Based on a global survey of 306 IT decision-makers and executive business managers, and 15 subsequent one-on-one interviews with select respondents, current IT talent issues are having an impact on IT and business performance. Based on the research, Deloitte identifies two major IT talent gaps: growing talent gap for IT leaders and project managers; and the critical need for improved IT talent strategies and program execution. Additional key findings included:

--The majority of survey respondents (51percent) strongly believe talent issues have limited their organization’s productivity and efficiency.

--Half of the respondents say the talent shortage is limiting their ability to innovate, which is the strategic core of the benefits that technology can bring to a business.

--Significant numbers of respondents indicate that IT talent issues are having a material impact on other key dimensions of business success - growth (58 percent), speed to market (54 percent), quality (53 percent) and customer relationships (53 percent).

--The vast majority of IT organizations surveyed expect to expand their workforces over the next three-to-five years. In fact, nearly half of the respondents (47 percent) expect to see at least 5 percent annual growth in the IT workforce over that period - even as the pool of experienced and qualified IT workers in many countries gets smaller.

More information on IT can be found at www.supportindustry.com

Worldwide Security Software Market on Pace to Grow 8% in 2009

The worldwide security software market will total $14.5 billion in 2009, an 8% increase from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In 2008, it grew at 19%, and Gartner anticipates the market to grow 13% in 2010 as revenue will total $16.3 billion. In Europe, the security software market will total €3.2 billion in 2009, representing 7% growth from 2008.

In 2009, consumer security will remain the largest segment (in terms of total software revenue) in the security software market, representing 25 per cent of the total market. Gartner estimates it will account for $3.6 billion, growing 4% in 2009. The enterprise security software market formed by a number of segments such as endpoint protection platform, email security boundary and user provisioning is predicted to account for $10.9 billion, reaching 9% growth in 2009.

More information on the service and support industry can be found at www.supportindustry.com

Expected Job Reductions in IT Begin to Taper Off

In the midst of a slowly developing trend toward recovery in the information technology arena, data from the latest CDW IT Monitor indicates the first glimmer of good news about hiring. While industry sentiment falls short of promising new hires, the number of large companies planning on reducing IT staff continues to fall rapidly.

According to the August CDW IT Monitor, only 10 percent of large companies say they may be reducing IT staff in the next six months, down from 17 percent in February. In addition, the number of medium-size businesses planning to reduce staff fell to seven percent, down from nine percent in April. For the first time since December 2008, the overall IT Monitor score, an indicator of the direction, momentum and mindset of the U.S. IT industry, climbed one point registering a reading of 70.

The tapering of IT job reductions is also consistent with higher expectations of improved performance. According to the IT Monitor, 63 percent of large businesses expect better performance in the next six months compared to 43 percent in February. Similarly, 56 percent of medium-size businesses and 53 percent of small businesses also anticipate better performance in the next six months. Both sectors registered 47 percent in February.

More information on the IT industry can be found at www.supportindustry.com

Survey Reveals Many Executives Are Hesitant to Be "Friended" by Business Contacts on Facebook

Thinking about “friending” your boss on Facebook? You may want to reconsider. According to a recent survey, nearly half of executives are uncomfortable being friended by the employees they manage (48 percent) or their bosses (47 percent ).

The survey was developed by OfficeTeam, a staffing service specializing in the placement of highly skilled administrative professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on telephone interviews with 150 randomly selected senior executives at the nation’s 1,000 largest companies.

Following are some common Facebook situations professionals may encounter and how to handle them:

You’re tagged in an embarrassing photo. Untag yourself and change your privacy settings so photos are viewable only by your close friends.

You’re friended by someone you don’t want to connect with. It might be best to accept friend requests from colleagues to avoid slighting them, but add them to a “work” list and adjust your privacy settings so you can effectively separate your job from your personal life.

You’re considering friending your boss. It may seem like a natural extension of amiable office small talk, but think twice before proactively friending your boss. It could become awkward for both of you.

You want to join various groups. You should join groups that interest you. But if you have colleagues in your network and don’t want them to see the groups you join, remember to adjust your application settings.

You would like to be a fan of certain pages. Becoming a fan of pages on Facebook is visible to anyone who can view your profile, so you should avoid becoming a fan of any page you are uncomfortable sharing with coworkers or business contacts in your network.

You love quizzes. Stop and think for a moment before taking online quizzes and posting the results to your Facebook page -- unless you want professional contacts to know which Gilligan’s Island character you most resemble.

CIO's guide to do more with less in a downturn

Analyst group Frost & Sullivan recommends that CIOs take the following actions over the coming six months:

1.Prepare now for the rebound -- put business plans in place to cope with increased business growth and demands on IT.

2.Prepare and plan for identifying, attracting, developing and retaining good staff at both technical and executive level.

3.Re-evaluate your technology adoption profile (TAP) and match it to your growth plans.

4.Allocate a specific team to develop and implement policies to reduce energy usage, and focus on data centers in particular.

5.Transit from 'Threat Management' to 'Risk Management -- and make security - a 'forethought' rather than 'afterthought'.


6.Evaluate vendor unified communications roadmaps thoroughly - start by meeting today's business needs (e.g. collaboration).

7.And lastly, select a process of application for testing via Cloud Computing offerings.

More information on the service and support industry can be found at www.supportindustry.com

Call-Center Jobs That Pay $100K a Year

Outsourcing will continue and globalization will change the world's economic landscape. But the U.S. is hardly helpless. With smart processes and the proper incentives, U.S. companies can keep jobs here in America, and do so in a way that is actually better for the company and its employees. Consider iQor, a call center and business process outsourcing company based in Columbus, Ohio, that's increased revenues at a 40% clip for the past four years. It's done this primarily by expanding its U.S. operations. IQor also gives its U.S. employees universal health insurance, and pays salaries and bonuses that are nearly 50% above industry norms.

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Security Software and Services Budgets to Increase 4 Per Cent in 2010

Security software and services spending will outpace other IT spending areas in 2010, according to a new survey by Gartner, Inc. Security software budgets are expected to grow by approximately 4 per cent in 2010, outpacing all other areas of infrastructure software. Security services budgets are projected to grow almost 3 per cent, significantly outperforming other service areas.

Specific areas of projected security-related software spending growth in 2010 includes security information and event management (SIEM), e-mail security, URL filtering, and user provisioning.

The continued, comparatively strong emphasis on security extends beyond software. The survey showed that security services spending will also outpace spending in other services areas, with budgets expected to grow 2.74 per cent in 2010. This anticipated increase is being driven in part by a growing movement towards managed security services, cloud-based e-mail/web security solutions, and third-party compliance-related consulting and vulnerability audits and scans.

More information on the IT industry can be found at www.supportindustry.com