Hard working network managers and sysadmins can get scrooged by network “grinches”

According to the second annual “Happy Holidays?” survey from Ipswitch that polled 206 IT professionals in the U.S., 49 percent of all respondents noted they are either on-call or working this holiday season. Nearly the same amount (48 percent) will be thinking about work when they’re not in the office. With Christmas and New Year’s just around the corner, IT pros, yet again, are getting scrooged by some of the biggest IT network “grinches.”

“This is supposed to be the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ for those in the global workforce. IT pros deserve downtime like anyone else, but this can be hard to do uninterrupted when the networks they manage and users require nothing but uptime,” said Daniel Okine, Director of Product Management at Ipswitch. “A unified network and server performance monitoring solution can help IT pros take time off like everyone else.”

Remote Access is Most Common Holiday “Grinch”

Many users aren’t experienced remote workers, so when they attempt to be one over the holidays, survey respondents noted that more than half (57 percent) of users experience problems with network access. Other user and network issues like poor application performance and forgotten passwords tied for second place (18 percent each).

Naughty, Not Nice

When asked who would top their own “naughty list,” survey respondents identified executives (24 percent) and fellow employees (20 percent); with only 12 percent choosing vendors. Notably, nearly one third (32 percent) of all survey respondents noted all three groups of people deserve a little coal in their stockings.

Gadgets under the Tree Can Become a Top Network Threat

Over the Christmas holiday, many Americans will be unwrapping Apple Watches, iPhones and other prized gadgets. Once these gadgets make their way to the office and attach to the network, wireless bandwidth and application performance can take a hit. According to the IT pros polled, the gadgets identified as most likely to disrupt their IT network were smartphones (35 percent), wearable technology (26 percent), laptops (23 percent) and tablets (16 percent).

Unified Network and Server Performance Monitoring Keeps the “Grinches” at Bay

Can we expect a Christmas miracle? The truth is, the problems that IT professionals face can be easier when they have a unified view into their networks, applications servers and users. A unified network monitoring solution can quickly help solve network issues and decrease downtime, during this season and beyond. For IT pros who want to learn more, a recent webinar from Ipswitch entitled “7 Highly Effective Habits of Network Monitoring” can provide guidance.

Resources:

• Infographic – “How the Network Stole Christmas”: http://www.whatsupgold.com/pdf/2014/Ipswitch_HolidayIG_CTA.pdf
• Full survey results: http://www.whatsupgold.com/pdf/2014/Ipswitch_Holiday_Survey_2014_Report.pdf

Survey MethodologyThe Second Annual Ipswitch Holiday Survey was conducted December 2 – 5, 2014. The data reflects responses from 206 IT professionals located across the United States.

About IpswitchIpswitch helps solve complex IT problems with simple solutions. The company’s software is trusted by millions of people worldwide to monitor networks, applications and servers, and transfer files between systems, business partners and customers. Ipswitch was founded in 1991 and is based in Lexington, Massachusetts with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America. For more information, visit www.ipswitch.com.

InkHouse, for IpswitchKari Hulley, 781-966-4100ipswitch@inkhouse.com