Service level agreements provide a key milestone for Middle East customers to deploy a utility computing model
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – March 8, 2004 – VERITAS Software Corporation (Nasdaq: VRTS), the leading storage software provider, today announced independent research by Dynamic Markets has revealed that a growing number of mid- to large-sized organizations in the Middle East are at the forefront of IT usage by deploying service level agreements (SLAs) between their IT departments and other business functions including sales, marketing, human resources, and finance. SLAs represent a tangible means of defining IT services versus business needs and are a significant milestone towards building the infrastructure required for utility computing.
According to the survey, 79 percent of Middle East organizations have introduced SLAs, most noticeably as part of efforts to drive efficiencies and reduce costs, as compared to just 59 percent of businesses surveyed globally, indicating that regional IT departments are striving for transparency by aligning themselves with business requirements.
In the region, organizations in which IT use is ‘measured’ employ SLAs to typically cover an agreed service level for processing performance (68 percent), system availability as a percentage of uptime (16 percent) and restoration times following an outage (24 percent). Only 16 percent of Middle East organizations questioned admitted to not having SLAs to cover any of these key performance areas, compared to a global average of 39 percent, indicating that IT service levels are a more serious consideration for regional organizations as a whole.
A key premise of SLAs is to introduce transparency with a view to furthering IT efficiencies and resource prioritization, and the research indicates that Middle East organizations are making headway in these areas. Just under two-thirds (62 percent) of non-IT department heads use their SLA reports to improve department operations to make them more efficient, and 29 percent work with their IT department to find ways in which to lower costs. However, up to a quarter of Middle East organizations either do not use the IT reports provided or are unsure how the information is used. The research indicates a reason for this could be a lack of buy-in from those department heads at whom the SLAs are aimed to serve. In 24 percent of cases, line of business heads are not involved in defining SLAs affecting their department, and a further 18 percent report having minimal input in their definition.
Overall, the research reflects regional IT departments take their SLA commitments seriously: only 9 percent of Middle East IT managers surveyed reported that there would be no consequence if SLAs were not met, compared with up to 30 percent of UK IT managers.
On the issue of chargeback, or who ‘pays for’ IT in an organization, 62 percent of Middle East-based businesses spilt IT costs evenly across all departments. However, 80 percent feel positive about the concept of charging each department based on actual IT usage, which leads to better evaluation of IT needs, enhanced transparency, and a higher level of IT support overall.
“This research indicates that the Middle East is actually ahead of Europe and the US in building the foundations for utility computing, or ensuring that IT service levels are available and charged just like water or electricity. Service level agreements, when implemented and managed correctly, provide an effective route towards allowing lines of business to determine their own IT requirements, helping to make IT accountable and transparent,” said Sam Tayan, regional manager, VERITAS, Middle East.
“While service level agreements are not yet the norm for all organizations in the Middle East, this research indicates that a significant proportion of larger regional businesses understand the fundamentals of the utility computing model and are putting the processes in place that will ultimately transform IT from a cost center to a value center. VERITAS is committed to working with customers to develop, deploy and refine service level agreements to best fit their unique needs, by providing a building block approach with software that overcomes the inherent complexities of the typical heterogeneous IT infrastructure,” he added.
VERITAS Middle East’s newly-appointed channel manager, Katie Spurgeon, is hosting a series of quarterly training sessions in the Gulf, Levant, and North Africa to update the company’s reseller community about its utility computing-related software offerings. Utility computing will also be a central topic of discussion for decision-makers attending the regional VERITAS VISION Forum, the premier regional conference for storage management professionals, scheduled for May 17 in Dubai.
Further Details:
Dynamic Markets conducted this research on behalf of VERITAS Software. The respondents were from medium to large-scale organizations employing 500 plus staff members. The cross industry sample covered 604 data center managers with responsibility for data center operations and who have knowledge about how IT services are provided throughout their organization. In addition, 401 interviews were conducted with a cross-section of functional heads of business including HR, finance and marketing.
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About VERITAS Software
With revenues of $1.77 billion in 2003, VERITAS Software ranks among the top 10 software companies in the world. VERITAS Software is the world’s leading storage software company, providing data protection, storage management, high availability and disaster recovery software to 99 percent of the Fortune 500. VERITAS Software’s corporate headquarters is located at 350 Ellis Street, Mountain View, CA, 94043, tel: 650-527-8000, fax: 650-527-8050, e-mail: vx-sales@veritas.com, Web site: www.veritas.com.
This press release may include estimates and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk that we will not maintain market acceptance of our products and services and the risk that we will not be able to maintain or increase the quality of our end-user customer and partnering relationships that could cause the actual results we achieve to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. For more information regarding potential risks, see the “Factors That May Affect Future Results” section of our most recent report on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q on file with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
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© Press Release 2004
