Busier IT managers turn to outsourcing

Seven out of 10 IT managers say their workload is more demanding than a year ago, blaming increasing problems involved in managing security and spam. At the same time, interest in outsourcing is growing.

In a survey of IT managers conducted in April by security specialist Network Box, the largest proportion of respondents (34 per cent) cited security management as the biggest part of their workload.

Spam came equal second, rated the most pressing problem by 17 per cent, with the same proportion citing network management, traditionally the largest part of the IT manager's workload.

Simon Heron, technical director at Network Box, said other responsibilities included monitoring staff usage, implementing virtual private networks, IT maintenance, email hosting, storage, data backup/recovery and integrating new software.

Heron suggested that increased IT budgets would help companies tackle the growing headaches.

"The problem requires significant additional investment, particularly in network security. But because many have not yet suffered significant damage they are unwilling to commit extra resources," he said.

The survey also found that many IT managers are keen to outsource more of their workload. "Over half said they'd be happy to outsource web and email hosting and 40 per cent would consider outsourcing internet security," said Heron.

"But when it comes to things like storage and IT maintenance, they are very keen to keep them in-house."

The survey was conducted among 47 IT managers in various sectors, including IT, professional services, manufacturing, the public sector and finance.