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Edge Strategies BI Practice
Edge Strategies Business Intelligence Practice
You have more data about your business than ever, but it takes context to turn it into actionable insight. Edge Strategies Business Intelligence practice focuses on taking adding value to your internal metrics by enriching it with sophisticated third party data resources and targeted primary research. The results are presented in intuitive, interactive dashboards enabling you to understand and respond to an ever-evolving competitive landscape.
Depending on your specific business needs, the information can be updated daily, hourly, or real time. Custom views can be created reflecting the functional requirements of teams within your organization, your sales channels or your customer base.
Edge Strategies / LogMeIn BYOA Research
Study Finds IT Pros Grossly Underestimate Scope of Employee Introduced Apps
BOSTON, April 18, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A recent survey by LogMeIn, Inc. (LOGM) and Edge Strategies reveals that IT professionals significantly underestimate the scope of the bring-your-own-app (BYOA) trend in their workplace. Designed to explore the usage and adoption of employee-introduced cloud applications in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, the study delves into the types and numbers of applications entering the workplace, as well as IT's response to managing and controlling this influx. As indicated in the study, while approximately 70% of companies surveyed reported active use of employee-introduced apps in the workplace, IT professionals surveyed estimated the number of these apps to be 2.8 apps per organization. However, subsequent data collected from similar-sized organizations via app discovery technology found that the average number of BYO apps to be closer to 21 per company -- a staggering 7 times more.
Conducted by Edge Strategies on behalf LogMeIn, the survey explores the impact of BYOA, a trend at the intersection of two of the biggest IT industry transformation drivers: the pervasive rise of cloud offerings and the consumerization of IT. Survey questions covered popular apps and categories like cloud file sync and share apps (e.g. Dropbox, Cubby, Google Drive), collaboration apps (e.g. Skype, join.me, Trello), productivity apps (Evernote, Google Apps for Business/Google Docs), as well as social apps and remote access apps. Survey respondents included IT professionals, outsourced IT service providers and non-IT business professionals sourced from organizations ranging from SMBs to mid-sized companies to large enterprises. IT professionals, in particular, were also asked about their own BYOA policies, current approaches to management of these apps, as well as their role in evaluating, influencing, and securing such apps.
Key findings from the report include:
-- IT significantly underestimates the number of employee introduced apps in the workplace: While IT reported an average of 2.8 BYO apps in their workplace, subsequent app discovery data shows the average to be closer to 21 apps -- a 7X disparity
-- BYOA is pervasive and expected to grow: Approximately 70% of companies report that employee-introduced apps are actively being used in the workplace, and 42% of respondents expect BYOA to grow significantly over the next 5 years
-- SMBs report higher prevalence of BYOA: For companies between 11-100 employees, BYOA was even more acute, with 81% reporting active use of employee introduced apps
-- Nearly 2/3 of BYO apps are introduced and used despite existing IT-provided solutions already in place: Empowered employees are choosing their own preferred solutions, as more than 64% of employee-introduced apps are being used in place of existing company applications meant to serve the same need
-- Consulting IT no longer the norm ... and it's worse than IT believes: When asked whether IT is consulted on the decision to introduce apps into the workplace, 56% of IT pros reported that they were consulted. Employees had a much different answer, with only 45% saying they actually consulted or informed IT before introducing cloud applications into the workplace
-- Employee introduced apps overtaking -- or have overtaken -- IT provisioned apps in key categories
- 58% of all cloud sync and share apps were first introduced by employees
- 52% of all productivity apps were first introduced by employees
- 49% of all collaboration apps were first introduced by employees
-- Employees lead, IT follows: Apps originally introduced by employees are often later adopted and/or endorsed by IT for broader use within the organization.
- 59% of collaboration apps originally introduced by employees are now endorsed by IT
- 55% of productivity apps originally introduced by employees are now endorsed by IT
- 41% of file sync and share apps originally introduced by employees are now endorsed by IT
-- Free and unmanaged versions are the norm, even after IT endorsement: Even after IT pros endorse employee-introduced apps, only a very small percentage of those apps become centrally managed.
- File sync and share apps: 54% of employees use unmanaged free versions; 20% use individual, unmanaged paid versions and only 26% used centrally managed, business versions
- Collaboration apps: 46% of employees use unmanaged free versions; 25% use individual, unmanaged paid versions and only 29% used centrally managed, business versions
- Productivity apps: 42% of employees use unmanaged free versions; 42% use individual, unmanaged paid versions and only 15% used centrally managed, business versions
-- Line of business managers take on provisioning lead over IT: Only 1/3 of IT pros report that they handle all provisioning of cloud apps; 67% of IT pros report that they either split or outright concede most cloud app provisioning responsibilities to business owners
-- Security concerns reign. Control a close second: When asked which issues limit their company's adoption or support of BYOA, more than half (54%) point to concerns around data security, and 45% cite a lack of control/management of apps
-- Few IT pros claim to have the policies and management tools to handle BYOA: Only 38% of organizations have a BYOA policy in place and a mere 20% of IT pros feel they are very prepared and have policies and technology in place to mitigate most, if not all, of the security risks associated with BYOA
-- Three IT management profiles/styles emerging around BYOA: While preparedness and management of BYOA remains inconsistent, IT respondents fell into three distinct camps:
- Active gatekeepers: 30% of IT pros manage BYOA by actively blocking cloud apps from their workplace
- Strategic facilitators: 29% of IT pros manage BYOA through a combination of analyzing web traffic logs, packet sniffing and/or device monitoring
- Passive observer: A full 39% of IT pros report that they are neither monitoring nor managing BYOA at all
"The rapid rise of cloud offerings -- along with the consumerization of IT -- is forcing major changes to the way IT operates, and calling into question IT's overall relevance in today's employee empowered workplace. The critical security and management requirements remain IT's primary mandate, and yet IT is increasingly outside of the loop when it comes to app selection and worse, the way data is stored and shared across these apps," said W. Sean Ford, CMO of LogMeIn. "We believe that the role of IT needs to be fundamentally redefined if IT professionals want to regain their strategic voice, and this means reinventing the way they approach the management of apps, devices and data in the BYO era."
Related materials:
Full report: http://solutions.logmein.com/BYOA/managing-applications-in-the-age-of-BYOA-report-part-1.html
Infographic: http://blog.logmein.com/uncategorized/infographic-place-age-byoa
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/LogMeIn/byoa-powerpoint
About the research/methodology:
This survey is part of a series of major research studies recently conducted by LogMeIn that focus on the state of IT management in today's world of independent, "BYO" consumers. The series will focus on three key areas: managing applications, managing devices and managing data.
For this study, we explored usage and adoption of employee-introduced applications within companies worldwide and how this has led to a loss of control for IT managers. We partnered with Edge Strategies to survey IT and non-IT professionals across the world in various-sized organizations, including both LogMeIn customers, as well as an independent panel. Respondents included 1,390 IT and Non-IT professionals in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
About LogMeIn, Inc.
LogMeIn (LOGM) transforms the way people work and live through secure connections to the computers, devices, data, and people that make up their digital world. The company's cloud services free millions of people to work from anywhere, empower IT professionals to securely embrace the modern cloud-centric workplace, give companies new ways to reach and support today's connected customer, and help businesses bring the next generation of connected products to market.
LogMeIn is headquartered in Boston's Innovation District with offices in Australia, Hungary, India, Ireland, and the UK.
LogMeIn is a trademark of LogMeIn in the U.S. and other countries.
PBX/VOIP Cloud transition opens UC opportunities
Challenges in Evolving to a UC-focused Business Model
UCaaS is inherently more complex and less understood than email. Success as a provider of UCaaS, whether or not full voice and PBX capabilities are included at the outset, requires changes in marketing, sales and support process:
Know Your Installed Base: Capturing data and Identifying well-qualified customer opportunities is essential given the increased cost of sales.
Implement a consultative sales process: Asking key questions, providing customer education, helping the customer understand the benefits to their particular business, are essential. Lync is still primarily a "push" product that requires business-oriented sales teams who can fully demonstrate and explain the customer benefits of Lync and how it will fit into the customers' environment.
Align Sales Incentives: Adjusting the incentive programs for sales personnel to allow for a longer sales cycle and a gradual adoption path.
Attract Partners: Lead generation through referral and reseller programs with traditional IT Solution Partners who do not provide UCaaS can be effective.
Develop a Phase-in Program: Potential customers have needs for a variety of different service components for subsets of employees. Offer to activate, and train a subset of employees within a customer organization who will quickly realize the benefits and act as internal advocates.
Leverage Microsoft Resources: Take full advantage of Microsoft Corporate and field resources and marketing campaigns.
Understand the Competition: Know how to position Lync versus Skype, Google, WebEx, and GoToMeeting (and others based on region). Most potential customers are using one or more of these products. Present the unique competitive differentiation provided by full integration with Active Directory, Outlook and other applications.
Effective GTM Strategies: Service Providers
- What are their standards and policies? How well are they documented? What metrics do they use for self-evaluation? How well do they meet them?
- How robust is their Enterprise Security? Are they using the right controls, not only for electronic penetration but for physical security- building access, etc.?
- Does the Service Provider staff have the relevant skills to meet the SI need?
- How well can they meet the Service Level Agreements: Proof points, Redundancy, clear escalation path?
- Do they provide visibility into the performance of the Infrastructure?
- Can the demonstrate value- the benefit vs. the cost. (Not just the lowest cost.)
- What is the quality of the Management Interface?
- What is their proximity? (Potentially important.)
- How flexible are their offers? What control do they allow for the Solution stack?
- What is their reputation?
- How strong is their account management? Do they provide dedicated or named technical managers as part of a premium service package? How accessible and responsive are they in the even that something goes wrong?
Mid-Sized Cloud SI and Service Provider Strategy
Objective
Midsized Systems Integrators will play a critical role in influencing and implementing Cloud Solutions. Edge Strategies was engaged by a global provider of public/private/hybrid Cloud software and services, to deliver insight and recommendations for Go-To-Market strategies engaging this essential channel. The project focus:
- What Cloud products and services are currently being provided by Midsized?
- What key trends are driving changes in their business models?
- What are the key factors determining their selection of Cloud IaaS/PaaS/SaaS partners?
- How do they prefer to engage?
- Which SIs provide the highest potential return? What specific steps can the client take to build effective channel relationships with these firms?
Method
Edge Strategies conducted Qualitative and Quantitative research with a broad range of mid-sized Systems Integrators, including:
- There is no information about methodology, N, etc. in the “SI and Service Provider Opportunity” deliverable.
Results
Edge Strategies segmented the competitive landscape into several distinct but overlapping business models, each with key differences impacting potential Cloud service provider relationships.
A detailed analysis was developed for each segment:
- What products and services did they traditionally offer? How is this likely to change with the Cloud?
- What is the typical size and scope of their engagements?
- How many Clouds providers will they work with? What are their critical selection criteria?
- How do they prefer to engage? What balance of flexibility and control do they expect from a Cloud provider? What are their support/SLA expectations? How price sensitive are they?
These and other factors were mapped against the Client’s current and planned product and services offerings to create a set of specific recommendations for identifying partners and building effective and profitable channel relationships.
Mid-Sized Cloud SI and Service Provider Strategy
Objective
Midsized Systems Integrators will play a critical role in influencing and implementing Cloud Solutions. Edge Strategies was engaged by a global provider of public/private/hybrid Cloud software and services, to deliver insight and recommendations for Go-To-Market strategies engaging this essential channel. The project focus:
- What Cloud products and services are currently being provided by Midsized?
- What key trends are driving changes in their business models?
- What are the key factors determining their selection of Cloud IaaS/PaaS/SaaS partners?
- How do they prefer to engage?
- Which SIs provide the highest potential return? What specific steps can the client take to build effective channel relationships with these firms?
Method
Edge Strategies conducted Qualitative and Quantitative research with a broad range of mid-sized Systems Integrators, including:
- There is no information about methodology, N, etc. in the “SI and Service Provider Opportunity” deliverable.
Results
Edge Strategies segmented the competitive landscape into several distinct but overlapping business models, each with key differences impacting potential Cloud service provider relationships.
A detailed analysis was developed for each segment:
- What products and services did they traditionally offer? How is this likely to change with the Cloud?
- What is the typical size and scope of their engagements?
- How many Clouds providers will they work with? What are their critical selection criteria?
- How do they prefer to engage? What balance of flexibility and control do they expect from a Cloud provider? What are their support/SLA expectations? How price sensitive are they?
These and other factors were mapped against the Client’s current and planned product and services offerings to create a set of specific recommendations for identifying partners and building effective and profitable channel relationships.
Edge Strategies and LogMeIn Release BYOA Study
Edge Strategies and LogMeIn released BYOA Study
WOBURN, Mass., Dec. 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While tech's bring-your-own or 'BYO' trend is most commonly associated with employee-owned smartphones and tablets entering the workplace, new research released today by LogMeIn and Edge Strategies sheds light on another growing aspect of employee-driven tech adoption: the rise and impact of bring-your-own-apps or BYOA. The research found that nearly 70 percent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) report active use of employee-introduced applications, including the likes of cloud sync and storage apps (e.g. Cubby, Dropbox, SkyDrive), collaboration apps (join.me, Skype, GoToMeeting), productivity apps (Google Docs, Evernote), and social apps (Yammer, LinkedIn). More than a third of SMBs surveyed feel this trend will increase significantly over the next five years. And in spite of security and management concerns -- only 22 percent of SMB IT pros indicate they are fully prepared to handle BYOA and 43 percent are concerned with lack of control over these apps -- most SMB IT pros expect their policies to increasingly embrace and encourage the use of such apps over the next couple years.
The survey included findings from roughly 1,200 U.S., Canadian, UK, Australian and New Zealand-based SMBs, and covered how applications were first introduced to the workplace (employee-introduced vs. company introduced), current and expected IT policies around BYOA, various approaches to managing and securing such apps, as well as the expected impact such a change will have on skill sets required of tomorrow's SMB IT Pros.
Key findings included:
Adoption of employee-introduced apps is on the rise:
- Social, cloud sync & storage apps most likely to enter the workplace via employees
- Employee introduced, now company endorsed
IT Pros are balancing the risks and the benefits:
- Data security, lack of control/management top IT list of concerns, limit adoption -- Not surprisingly, 67 percent of SMB IT pros listed data security of apps in the cloud as a primary factor limiting adoption of BYOA, while 43 percent cited lack of control/management as a limiting factor. Other key factors limiting broader growth included lack of integration with corporate applications and systems, as well as industry-specific regulations.
- Cloud sync & store apps, in particular, cause security concerns -- Of all the app categories in the survey, SMB IT pros are most concerned about security as it relates to cloud sync and storage apps, with 77 percent saying they were concerned or very concerned about security risks.
- Most IT leaders find the benefits outweigh the risks -- Forty-seven percent of SMB IT pros indicate that BYOA can provide increased flexibility, while 37 percent say BYOA can help discover gaps in the set of apps needed in the workplace
SMBs divided on how to handle these new apps:
- BYOA policies vary among SMBs -- IT pros and business owners are taking a variety of approaches when it comes to setting policies around employee-introduced apps, with a full 32 percent of SMBs stating that they have no such policy in place. Thirty percent of SMBs say they encourage the use of BYOA, while 22 percent discourage use and 16 percent prohibit such use.
- ...as does management -- When it comes to managing BYOA, 26 percent of SMBs manage these apps through an honor system, 21 percent block certain app sites, while 23 percent don't manage BYOA at all
- BYOA will require changing IT skill sets
"As with the BYOD trend before it, we're seeing an increasing number of businesses embracing the rise of employee-introduced applications entering the workplace, in spite of the inherent security concerns. And like BYOD, the BYOA trend is likely to introduce a fresh set of IT challenges when it comes to managing a relatively unpredictable, heterogeneous environment -- a modern workplace reality that blurs the line between devices and data ownership," said Andrew Burton, senior vice president of products, LogMeIn. "This research makes it fairly clear that there is yet to be an agreed upon way for SMBs to best manage and secure the influx of these apps into the workplace...or the sensitive data created by and shared within them."
Survey details:
Edge Strategies, on behalf of LogMeIn, conducted an online survey in September 2012 of 1,200+ U.S., Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand-based SMBs (companies with 1,000 or less employees). All respondents were decision makers or influencers of internal IT decisions and represented a wide range of vertical industries including Healthcare, Financial Services, Legal, Retail, Technology, Manufacturing, etc. The survey included LogMeIn customers and non-customers, and was weighted to reflect relative proportions of each in the market.
LogMeIn (LOGM) provides essential cloud and mobile services to individuals, businesses, and IT organizations for remote access, collaboration, customer care, and remote IT management. These services are used by millions of people to quickly, simply and securely connect over 150 million internet-enabled devices across the globe -- computers, smartphones, iPad(TM) and Android(TM) tablets, and digital displays. LogMeIn is based in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA, with offices in Australia, Hungary, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and the UK.
