New Report Reveals the Need to Move to a Post-Recession Enterprise is Being Stifled by Reliance on Legacy IT Equipment that is Draining 50% of IT Budgets
Key Takeaways:
- New report commissioned by Sonus captures key findings from a survey of 465 IT decision makers in enterprises of 200+ employees across EMEA following early signs of post-recession recovery.
- 64% of IT decision makers want to spend more time on business transformation projects but 48% of budgets are spent on maintaining legacy systems and existing equipment.
- Security of the network and data is the biggest IT challenge, with unauthorised network access ranking as the biggest security concern by 60% of respondents.
Swindon, United Kingdom – Sonus Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:SONS, news, filings), a global leader in SIP communications, today released a new report that shows that, as economic conditions improve, business transformation is firmly on the agenda for EMEA-based IT decision makers. Almost two-thirds would like to spend more time on innovation and transformation projects. The biggest issue facing enterprises is security of the network, with 40% of IT decision makers citing it as their top challenge.
The Sonus report, Removing the Barriers to Business Transformation, is based on current research, conducted by Research Now with 465 IT decision makers in EMEA. The research shows that despite the desire to transform, the IT investments of many enterprises mean that they are not in a position to react to the economic upswing.
- Only 39% of IT budgets in EMEA are currently spent on introducing new equipment and applications, compared to 48% spent on legacy systems and existing equipment.
- 42% of IT decision makers agree their adoption of technology innovation is being stifled because of lack of budget.
The report also highlights the challenges of managing today’s complex IT eco-system, with network and data security being the number one concern, followed by adapting IT and network infrastructures and ensuring interoperability.
Unauthorised access to the network is the most cited security fear (60%). Despite these concerns, most enterprises do not have a strategy to address it:
- Only 26% have Denial of Service (DoS) attack prevention solutions, despite analysts predicting that a quarter of DoS attacks in 2013 will be application-based.
- Only 32% of respondents have packet or signaling encryption in place, despite over 44% indicating that they had either started or completed implementation of Unified Communications.
- Only 21% of businesses surveyed monitor voice call records to detect toll fraud.
- Only 20% of respondents have Session Border Controllers (SBC) in place.
The timing of the survey coincides with better-than-expected economic growth in EMEA that suggests the region may be moving out of a recession period, and offers a possible glimpse into the post-recession mindset of IT departments in EMEA going forward.
Quote
“It is clear from this report that IT departments are under increasing pressure to balance the desire to embrace new technologies that can transform the business, while continuing to maintain legacy systems,” said Serge Adam, vice president, EMEA, Sonus Networks. “The good news is that this balancing act is possible when the focus is put on technologies that can interoperate with and overlay existing investments, while simultaneously enabling secure multimedia communications that can transform the business. In this way, IT leaders can play a key role in driving innovation, improving customer service and using technology to create a competitive advantage.”
Other Facts
- By adopting SIP trunking, many enterprises save as much as 50%, enabling them to help fund the adoption of advanced Unified Communications technologies.
- Sonus is the fastest growing brand of SBCs (Source: Infonetics Research, 2011 – 2012).
- Sonus was recently positioned in the “Leaders” Quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Session Border Controllers.
Additional Resources
- The full version of the Sonus report, Removing the Barriers to Business Transformation, is available for free here http://info.sonus.net/emea-research-removing-barriers
- Click here to download electronic copies of Sonus’ reference guides: Lync Enterprise Voice for Dummies, SIP Trunking for Dummies and Session Border Controllers for Dummies
- Calculate SIP trunking savings with the Sonus SIP trunking ROI calculator
Tags/Keywords
Sonus, SONS, SBC, session border controller, SIP, SIP trunking, Unified Communications, UC, economic conditions, transformation, IT decision maker, post-recession, IT research, security research
Notes to Editors:
Research methodology
An online survey of 465 people with active involvement in IT decision making was commissioned by Sonus Networks, Inc. and carried out in July 2013 by Research Now, with a minimum of 100 ITDMs surveyed for each country. All respondents work in the UK, France, Germany or South Africa and 88% work in organisations that are headquartered in one of those four countries. All ITDMs questioned worked in organisations with at least 200 employees, with 61% representing organisations with over 1,000 employees.
About Sonus Networks
Sonus helps the world’s leading communications service providers and enterprises embrace the next generation of SIP-based solutions including VoIP, video and Unified Communications through secure, reliable and scalable IP networks. With customers around the globe and 15 years of experience transforming networks to IP, Sonus has enabled service providers and enterprises to capture and retain users and generate significant ROI. Sonus products include session border controllers, policy/routing servers, subscriber feature servers and media and signaling gateways. Sonus products are supported by a global services team with experience in design, deployment and maintenance of some of the world’s largest and most complex IP networks. For more information, visit www.sonus.net or call +1-855-GO-SONUS.
Important Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this release and statements that Sonus may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by Sonus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
For More Information
Alison Steel
+44-782-550-8333
asteel@sonusnet.com
Alex Perryman/Vicki Eltis
EML Wildfire
+44 20 8408 8000
sonus@emlwildfire.com
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