Enterprise App Stores, IT as a Service on the Rise According to IT Professionals

Survey finds effective app control is possible, ITaaS brings cost savings

Atlanta, GA – Oct. 21, 2013 – Enterprise IT leaders appear to be embracing enterprise application stores as a way to effectively manage business-approved applications according to the 2013 PMG Enterprise IT Survey of 329 North American corporate IT professionals.

When it comes to improving enterprise application security, 61 percent of respondents say implementing an enterprise app store is either very effective or effective. Chief among the benefits of an enterprise application store is increased control over application usage (72 percent), reduced risk (65 percent) and greater control over software expenditures (54 percent).

Forty-one percent of IT professionals have either deployed or plan to deploy an enterprise application store to manage business approved applications in the next 12 months. Of those that have deployed, 69 percent limit options to what’s listed in their enterprise application store.

ITaaS on Pace for Consistent Growth

IT professionals are bullish on IT as a Service (ITaaS) as an expanding method of delivering their IT portfolio at lower cost to their business. While 46 percent of IT professionals surveyed deliver less than 10 percent of their IT portfolio through ITaaS today, one third of respondents say more than 50 percent of their IT portfolio will be delivered using ITaaS in three years. Additionally, a 51 percent majority say they believe ITaaS will bring cost savings.

Respondents listed faster IT service delivery, better alignment between IT and lines of business, and reduced costs as the biggest benefits of ITaaS. Forty four percent of survey respondents expect ITaaS to generate a 10 percent annual savings.

While a majority (50 percent) of IT professionals say moving to an ITaaS model is important, hesitation remains. The greatest perceived hurdles to ITaaS adoption are concerns about data control, legacy applications, and security/compliance concerns.

“These survey findings parallel what we are starting to see in Global 100 organizations,” said Joe LeCompte, principal at PMG. “Companies of all sizes can benefit from adopting enterprise application stores to manage ITaaS growth and mitigate shadow IT. Sophisticated IT departments are leveraging service catalogs to improve the user experience by empowering internal users to order services through enterprise application stores.”

IT Innovation Moderate

When asked to grade their company’s current state of “IT innovation,” a plurality of IT professionals, 44 percent, give it a solid B. One way to raise that grade is to embrace ITaaS. In fact, 57 percent of IT professionals surveyed believe ITaaS drives innovation.

Findings suggest the industry has room to grow when it comes to moving IT from tactical to strategic. In fact, 60 percent of respondents say technology is used to support the company’s business, rather than improve competitive advantages. Business leaders need to better understand how technology can help organizations gain a competitive advantage, according to 46 percent of survey respondents.

About the 2013 PMG Enterprise IT Survey

PMG commissioned a blind survey of North American IT professionals in September of 2013. Respondents to the online survey included a total of 329 IT leaders. Of that group, 57 percent were in IT management (managers, supervisors, directors, etc.) and 17 percent were Senior IT executives (CIO, CTO, vice president, etc.). Company size ranged from less than $200 million in revenue to more than $3 billion, with 40 percent having more than $1 billion in annual sales, 41 percent having more than 5,001 employees, and 45 percent having IT departments with 51 or more employees. Industries represented included computer technology, consulting, healthcare, financial service, manufacturing, and retail.

About PMG

More than 20 percent of the Global 100 relies on PMG to deploy enterprise service catalog and business process automation software that streamlines operations, reduces costs and improves efficiency. Our solutions transcend traditional IT service management boundaries giving business and IT professionals a smarter way to automate business processes ranging from IT financial management to identity management, employee onboarding and cloud provisioning. As a result, our clients handle shared services requests faster with fewer manual processes and less reliance on staff intervention. For more information, please visit pmg.net.