Blame it on Tech-Savvy Elves: Online Shopping, Season's Greetings May Sap 25 Percent of Network Bandwidth According To CDW Customers
In "Holiday IT Wish List" report, 28 percent say holiday habits tap more than 25 percent of bandwidth; 70 percent report holiday activity is at least 11 percent of network traffic
VERNON HILLS, Ill. - December 18, 2006 - CDW Corporation (NASDAQ: CDWC), a leading provider of technology products and services to business, government and education, today announced the findings of its first Holiday IT Wish List. The review of 504 open letters to folks at the North Pole from IT decision makers reveals personal wish lists for "gifts" at work and at home. The data also indicate how much of a bite IT managers believe their business networks get from employee online shopping, correspondence and seasonal frivolity. CDW invited the "wishes" and comments to learn more about their professional perspective on 2007—but with a humorous touch in keeping with the holiday season.
"At this time of year, many businesses - and their IT teams - are challenged to balance the crush of year-end order-taking and next-year planning with the seasonal emphasis on giving and fun," says CDW Senior Technology Specialist Marc Barnett. "Though most companies discourage personal browsing and e-mail on their systems during work hours, virtually no organization is Scrooge-like enough to ban the entire holiday season from their network. For IT managers, all of these elements add up to a very busy network, but CDW offers an array of tools and means to cope with seasonal demands on bandwidth."
Almost all participants indicated that seasonal use of the Internet and e-mail at work makes a noticeable impact on their companies' network bandwidth. Forty-two percent replied that holiday-related use occupies 11-25 percent of their bandwidth, and another 28 percent believe the impact is greater than 25 percent.
"Those numbers were rather eye-popping at first," says Barnett, who directs CDW's services and solutions for the retailing industry, "but they are consistent with the consumer shift toward more online shopping and more Internet connection between families and friends. IT managers recognize that the Internet helps employees better manage the holiday crunch time, so they usually cut them some slack."
The 7-question survey was offered between November 30 and December 7 to participants in Communispace, CDW's award-winning online customer advisory community. Five hundred and four IT decision-makers from a balanced cross-section of large, medium and small companies participated. The questions ranged from personal gift wishes to professional insights.
Asked what one gift their firm's senior management could give them to make their jobs easier in 2007, the top responses overall were evenly split between more IT budget (22%) or more staff (21%). However, the size of the participant's company was a factor, as 32 percent of respondents from small companies wished for more IT budget, while 27 percent from large companies wished for more IT staff. Other responses included wishes for more time to get their own work done, more training and - of course - more pay. "More executive support for the decisions that I need to make and enforce," wrote one participant, capturing the tone of many written responses.
Participants responded enthusiastically to an open-ended question about what they would give their senior management, if money were no object. Many suggested technology enhancements to improve the business, such as "An ERP solution that was designed in the 21st Century for the 21st Century." Other common answers envisioned senior management walking a mile in the respondents' shoes or—in light-hearted fashion—leaving the office entirely as a productivity enhancement.
Entertainment products topped the participants' personal wish lists, with high-definition televisions the clear leader at 22 percent, followed in a statistical dead heat by the latest game consoles (11%), oversize LCD monitors (10%), and home theater systems (9%). Write-ins included wishes for conventional laptops, desktops and peripherals, while some eschewed technology altogether. "Even a techie needs a life unplugged," wrote one, and another said, "None of the above. I deal with technology all day, and it's nice to get a break from it at home."
Asked what technology news stories were most important to them in 2006, 25 percent selected online privacy and identity theft issues, while data losses and network security followed at 19 percent. The release of Microsoft Windows Vista (14%) and the net neutrality debate (12%) were the only other topics scoring in double digits.
The survey concluded with a second, open-ended question encouraging creative thought about technology news headlines participants would like to read in 2007. Most common topics were Microsoft, Bill Gates, Google acquisitions, and security issues, with treatments ranging from purely personal ("Bill Gates Gives Small Fortune to Middle-Aged Female Geek from Arkansas" or "IT Director Works Less than 50-Hour Week") to wry but noble ("Windows Vista Brings World Peace"). Some nominations needled technology pop culture, such as "Myspace.com Runs Out of Space" and "Surgeon General Warns Using Blackberry Causes Thumbs to Fall Off."
The Holiday IT Wish List did not ask respondents how much time and network bandwidth was expended to answer end-of-year surveys. The complete CDW Holiday IT Wish List Survey report is available online at www.cdw.com/holidaywish.
About CDW
CDW®, ranked No. 343 on the FORTUNE 500, is a leading provider of technology solutions for business, government and education. CDW is a principal source of technology products and services including top name brands such as Acer, Adobe, Apple, Cisco, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Symantec, Toshiba and ViewSonic. CDW's direct model offers customers one-on-one relationships with knowledgeable account managers and access to more than 600 on-staff engineers and advanced technology specialists who customize solutions for customers' complex technology needs. CDW also provides same-day product shipping and post-sales technical support.
CDW was founded in 1984 and employs approximately 5,250 coworkers. In 2005, the company generated sales of $6.3 billion. For more information, visit CDW.com.
|
|
|
