IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks 2012/2013: IT Ratios and IT Budget/Cost Metrics by Industry and Organization Size
Developing, presenting, benchmarking, and defending information technology spending or IT employee staffing levels can be a difficult exercise. Our IT Spending and Staffing Benchmarks study makes the job easier for you by providing hundreds of useful ratios, statistics, and other IT cost metrics for IT/IS budgeting and IT employee headcount analysis.
We provide IT budget and staffing metrics by industry sector and organization size for businesses and governmental organizations in North America, based on our annual in-depth survey of over 200 IT executives, now in its 23nd year.
Continue reading to find out how you can download a free copy of the 40+ page executive summary.
WHO NEEDS THIS STUDY?
For CIOs and consulting firms, this 25-chapter study provides current metrics and unbiased data for you to benchmark your total IT spending and staffing levels. This study will allow you to:
Benchmark yourIT operational spending levels by comparing them with those of organizations of similar size and industry sector. Over 40 specific IT cost management ratios and other IT support metrics are provided, allowing IT executives to highlight opportunities to reduce IT costs and optimize IT expenses.
Measure yourIT capital budget spend levels. Over 10 specific IT capital budget metrics are provided for benchmarking IT investment levels.
Analyze yourIT staffing levels. Over 20 specific IT headcount ratios are provided for benchmarking IT staff counts.
Evaluate your IT key performance indicators. Compare your IT intensity and infrastructure metrics with your peers, using measures such as new initiative spending, custom/commercial software mix, virtualization ratio, users per server, data center OS mix, and other KPIs.
For providers of IT products and services, this study gives you valuable insights into the current budgeting priorities of IT buyers and changes in levels of IT operational and capital spending. This study provides objective data based on our in-depth survey of IT decision makers. As such, it can be a valuable source of information to validate assumptions underlying business development plans.
PURCHASING OPTIONS
Scroll down to read a detailed description of each chapter. Click on any link to purchase now.
If you would like to purchase some other combination of chapters, not listed above, please contact us for special pricing.
DETAILED CHAPTER DESCRIPTIONS
Chapter 1, Executive Summary[Download your FREE copy now!]
Chapter 1 provides an extended discussion of the major findings of this year's study. It also describes the contents of the subsequent chapters, and gives detailed information about the demographics of the study participants and the survey methodology.
Percentage of Organization Changing IT Operational Spending
Median Annual Growth of IT Operational Budgets 2008-2012
How Actual IT Operational Spending Will Compare to Budget
Percentage of Organizations Expecting to Spend Less Than Budgeted for IT Operations 2008-2012
Adequacy of the Current IT Operational Budget to Support the Business
IT Operational Budgets as Percentage of Revenue, 2008-2012
IT Operational Budget per User: 2008-2012
Change from Prior Year in Median IT Operational Budget, by Industry Sector
Percentage of Organizations Changing IT Capital Spending
Median Annual Growth of IT Capital Budgets: 2008-2012
How Actual IT Capital Spending Will Compare to Budget
IT Budget Priorities Ranked by Importance
Percentage of Organizations Changing IT Staff Headcount
IT Operational Budget Ratios: Line Items as Percentage of Total (Example Only)
IT Staff Ratios: Job Position Headcount as Percentage of Total (Example Only)
Chapter 2, Composite Benchmarks[Buy Now]
This chapter provides composite metrics for all of the organizations surveyed, across all industry sectors and organization sizes. The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 3A, 3B, 3C: Benchmarks by Organization Size
In these three chapters, we analyze each of our I.T. spending and staffing metrics by organization size. This chapter classifies organization size differently than most classification schemes. We use the size of the IT operational budget, as revenue is not always a good indicator of the size of the IT operation. This enables IT organizations to compare themselves against similar-size IT organizations. We define the size categories as follows:
To avoid the problem of having very small organizations in our sample, we have excluded respondents with less than $50 million in annual revenue.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 4: Banking and Finance Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 4 provides benchmarks and trend data for banking and finance organizations based on our current-year survey. The 17 respondents in this sector include banks, credit unions, lenders, wealth management firms, brokerages, and broadline financial service organizations. We also publish subsector metrics for commercial banking in Chapter 15, which presents a smaller set of benchmarks based on three years of survey data.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 5: Insurance Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 5 provides benchmarks and trend data for insurance organizations across all organizational sizes. The 17 respondents in this sector include providers of life, medical, property and casualty, worker’s compensation, and other types of insurance products. The sector includes multiline insurance firms, insurance and financial service firms, reinsurance firms, and specialty insurers.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 6: Healthcare Provider Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 6 provides benchmarks and trend data for healthcare providers across all organizational sizes based on our current-year survey. The 17 respondents in this sector include hospitals, integrated health systems, pathology labs, and home healthcare organizations. We also provide subsector metrics for hospitals and integrated health systems in Chapter 16.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 7: Process Manufacturing Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 7 provides benchmarks for process manufacturing organizations across all organization sizes based on our current survey. Process manufacturers are defined as those where the production process adds value by mixing, separating, forming, or chemical reaction. The 19 respondents in this sector include manufacturers of chemicals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, food, building materials, packaging materials, and steel, glass and paper products, among other process manufactured goods.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 8: Discrete Manufacturing Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 8 provides benchmarks and trend data for discrete manufacturing organizations across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 27 respondents in this sector include those where the production process adds value by fabricating or assembling individual (discrete) unit production. These organizations include manufacturers of consumer products, consumer durable goods, industrial equipment, industrial parts, capital equipment, aerospace products, auto parts, building products, electrical parts, and electronic devices. We also publish a subsector metrics report for automotive and industrial manufacturing companies in Chapter 18 and a sector benchmarks report for high-tech organizations in Chapter 9.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 9: High-Tech Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 9 provides benchmarks and trend data for high-tech organizations across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 20 respondents in this sector include software developers, biotech firms, medical device companies, computer products manufacturers, aerospace and defense manufacturers, technical service companies, semiconductor manufacturers, and makers of other high-tech products. We also publish subsector metrics for IT service and solution providers in Chapter 21.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 10: Retail Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 10 provides benchmarks and trend data for retail organizations across all organization sizes. The 16 respondents in this sector include retailers of clothing, pharmaceuticals, electronics, groceries, and other consumer goods. It also includes department stores, specialty retailers, big-box retailers, direct marketers, retail office supply dealers, and providers of personal services.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 11: Wholesale Distribution Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 11 provides benchmarks and trend data for wholesale distribution organizations across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 17 respondents in this sector include wholesale distributors of building products, home furnishings, home improvement products, industrial components, electronics, agricultural products, and food and beverage, among other products.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 12: Energy and Utilities Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 12 provides benchmarks and trend data for energy and utility organizations across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 15 respondents in this sector include oil and gas producers, midstream distributors of gas and electricity, electric utilities, and public water and power utilities. We also publish subsector metrics for the gas and electric utilities in Chapter 23.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 13: Professional and Technical Service Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 13 provides benchmarks and trend data for professional and technical service companies across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 17 respondents in this sector include business service firms, technical service firms, IT service and solutions providers, consultants, research firms, and other business services.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 14: City and County Government Sector Benchmarks[Buy Now]
Chapter 14 provides benchmarks and trend data for city and county government organizations across all organization sizes, based on our current survey. The 18 respondents in this sector include city and county governments only. We also publish a subsector benchmarks report for federal, state, and regional government agencies in Chapter 22.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 15: Commercial Banking Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 15 provides benchmarks for commercial banking organizations across all organization sizes. The 24 respondents in this subsector include commercial banks and credit unions. The banks include community, regional, and national banks.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 16: Hospital and Integrated Health Systems Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 16 provides benchmarks for hospitals and integrated healthcare systems of all sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. The 25 respondents in this sector include local community hospitals, regional hospital systems, and national or multiregional hospital systems, and university hospitals.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 17: Food and Beverage Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 17 provides benchmarks for food and beverage manufacturers and distributors across all organization sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. The 21 respondents in this sector produce or distribute beverages, snack foods, meat products, dairy products, dietary supplements, and other food or beverage products.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 18: Automotive and Industrial Manufacturing Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 18 provides benchmarks for the automotive and industrial manufacturing subsector across all organizational sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. The 21 manufacturers in this subsector make auto parts, elevators, material handling equipment, engines, machinery, and similar capital goods. These organizations are a subset of the discrete manufacturing sector, for which benchmarks are provided in Chapter 8.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 19: Transportation Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 19 provides selected IT spending and staffing statistics for the transportation subsector across all organizational sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. The 21 companies in this sector operate buses, trucks, railways, airlines, barges, and ships. The sector includes logistics companies that transport goods and public and private transportation companies that move people.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 20: Construction, Trade, and Environmental Services Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 20 provides selected IT spending and staffing benchmarks for the construction, trade, and environmental services sector across all organizational sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. The 19 organizations include engineering companies, commercial, residential, and industrial construction contractors, oil service firms, and firms that specialize in the cleanup, treatment, and disposal of wastewater and hazardous materials. These organizations range in size from $90 million to over $3 billion in annual revenue.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 21: IT Services and Solutions Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 21 provides selected IT spending and staffing statistics for the IT services and solutions subsector, across all organizational sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. There are 21 organizations in this subsector, including software developers, enterprise consulting firms, business process outsourcing firms, and other IT service and solution providers.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 22: Government Agencies Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 22 provides selected benchmarks for federal, state, and regional government agencies across all organization sizes, based on the most recent three years of survey data. There are 14 respondents in this sector, including transportation planning agencies, public health agencies, social service agencies, environmental regulatory agencies, civil service commissions, and other federal, state, and regional governmental units. For city and county governments benchmarks, please see Chapter 14.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
Chapter 23: Gas and Electric Utility Subsector Metrics[Buy Now]
Chapter 23 provides selected benchmarks for gas and electric utilities across all organization sizes. The 13 utilities in this subsector include public and private electric utilities, gas and electric utilities, public water and power utilities, and regional transmission line operators.
The metrics provided in this chapter are listed in the Metrics Descriptions section below.
METRICS DESCRIPTIONS
Metrics for Composite (Chapter 2) and Organization Size (Chapter 3A, 3B, 3C) Benchmarks
Our composite benchmarks (Chapter 2) includes those shown in the table of contents below. These same benchmarks are also provided by organization size in Chapter 3A, 3B, and 3C.
Demographics
The metrics in this section show key measures of size, characteristics, and IT intensity of the respondents in the sample:
Revenue
Number of Employees
Revenue per Employee
IT Operational Budgets
IT Capital Budgets
IT Outsourcing Spending
Total IT Spending
Ratio of Users to Employees
Number of PCs per User
Percentage of Users with Tablets
Percentage of Users with Smartphones
Number of Data Centers
Total Disk Storage
Number of Network Sites
Number of Business Applications
Spending by Type
These metrics provide additional demographic information and can be used to identify IT management trends.
Percentage of IT Spending Devoted to Ongoing Support
Percentage of IT Spending for Research and Development
Percentage of Application Functionality from Custom-Developed Systems
Percentage of IT Spending Outside the IT Budget
Outsourcing as Percentage of Total IT Budget
IT Planning and Budgeting Priorities
This section shows which objectives currently have the highest and lowest importance for IT executives:
Spending Priorities with Highest Priority
Spending Priorities with Lowest Priority
Total IT Spending Metrics
These metrics assess the total IT spending trends and levels:
Total IT Spending as Percentage of Revenue
Total IT Spending per User
Total IT Spending per PC
Total Business Application Software Spending per User
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending (see Figure 1 for example)
Total IT Spending by Functional Area
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending at Each Quartile
IT Operational Budget Metrics
These metrics assess IT operational budget trends and levels:
Percentage of Organizations Decreasing, Maintaining, or Increasing IT Operational Spending Year over year
IT Operational Budget Change from Previous Year
Expectations for Actual IT Operational Spending vs. Budget
Adequacy of the Current IT Operational Budget to Support the Business
IT Operational Budget as Percentage of Revenue
IT Operational Budget per User
IT Operational Budget per PC
Percentage of IT Operational Budget Charged Back to Users
IT Operational Budget by Line Item (see Figure 1 for example)
Personnel as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Depreciation as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Utilities Spending per Server
Carrier Service Spending per User
Capital Budget Metrics
These metrics assess IT capital spending trends and levels:
Percentage of Organizations Increasing, Maintaining, or Decreasing IT Capital Spending
IT Capital Budget Change from Last Year
Expectations for Actual IT Capital Spending vs. Budget
IT Capital Budget as Percentage of Total IT Budget
Line Items as Average Percentage of IT Capital Budget
Infrastructure Platform Metrics
These metrics show characteristics of IT infrastructure for the survey population:
Processing Workload by Operating System
OS Instances per Physical Server
Users per Physical Server
Users per OS Instance
Users per Printer
IT Staffing Metrics
These metrics assess IT staffing trends and levels:
Users per IT Staff Member
Percentage of Organizations Increasing, Maintaining, and Decreasing IT Staff Levels from Previous Year
IT Staff Headcount Change from Last Year
IT Staff Turnover
Annual Training Allocation per IT Employee
Contractors/Temps as Percentage of IT Staff
IT Staffing Mix (see Figure 2 for example)
Benchmarks For Specific IT Job Functions
These metrics provide benchmarks for specific IT job functions:
OS Instances per Server Support Staff Member
Network Devices per Network Support Staff Member
Applications per Application Developer
Users per Help Desk Staff Member
PCs per Desktop Support Staff Member
IT Managers as Percentage of IT Staff
As noted above, in each chapter, the section on total IT spending and the secton on IT operational budgets include a detailed analysis of IT budget line items as a percentage of the total. Line items include servers and storage systems; data center operating systems and data center management software; PCs, workstations, and laptops; printers; network infrastructure; telecom/datacom carrier service charges; application software; business continuity; security; personnel costs; utilities, power and cooling; IT facilities/floorspace; and “other.” An example of the presentation of this data is shown in Figure 1. Please note that the percentages shown here do not represent the actual data in the report, but are only provided to illustrate the format of the data presented.
As noted earlier, the staffing section of each chapter concludes with a breakdown of IT staffing ratios for 17 individual job positions, with each position provided as an average percentage of the total IT headcount. Job positions include IT managers; project managers; business analysts; application programmers and systems analysts; web and e-commerce staff; data warehouse, data architects, and business intelligence; database administration; system programmers and system administrators; computer operations and production control; help desk; desktop support; network administration/support; quality assurance and testing; security; documentation, training and IT process/standards personnel; IT finance, procurement and contracts; and clerical/administration.
An example of the presentation of this data is shown in Figure 2. Please note once again that the percentages shown here do not represent the actual data in the report, but are only provided to illustrate the format of the data presented.
Metrics for the Industry Sector Chapters (Chapters 4 – 14)
The benchmarks we provide for each industry sector are shown in the table of contents below.
Demographics
The metrics in this section show key measures of size, characteristics, and IT intensity of the respondents in the sample:
Revenue
Number of Employees
Revenue per Employee
IT Operational Budgets
IT Capital Budgets
IT Outsourcing Spending
Total IT Spending
Ratio of Users to Employees
Number of PCs per User
Percentage of Users with Tablets
Percentage of Users with Smartphones
Number of Data Centers
Total Disk Storage
Number of Network Sites
Number of Business Applications
Spending by Type
These metrics provide additional demographic information and can be used to identify IT management trends.
Percentage of IT Spending Devoted to Ongoing Support
Percentage of IT Spending for Research and Development
Percentage of Application Functionality from Custom-Developed Systems
Percentage of IT Spending Outside the IT Budget
Outsourcing as Percentage of Total IT Budget
IT Planning and Budgeting Priorities
This section shows which objectives currently have the highest and lowest importance for IT executives:
Spending Priorities with Highest Priority
Spending Priorities with Lowest Priority
Total IT Spending Metrics
These metrics assess the total IT spending trends and levels:
Total IT Spending as Percentage of Revenue
Total IT Spending per User
Total IT Spending per PC
Total Business Application Software Spending per User
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending (see Figure 1 for example)
Total IT Spending by Functional Area
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending at Each Quartile
IT Operational Budget Metrics
These metrics assess IT operational budget trends and levels:
Percentage of Organizations Decreasing, Maintaining, or Increasing IT Operational Spending Year over year
IT Operational Budget Change from Previous Year
Expectations for Actual IT Operational Spending vs. Budget
Adequacy of the Current IT Operational Budget to Support the Business
IT Operational Budget as Percentage of Revenue
IT Operational Budget per User
IT Operational Budget per PC
Percentage of IT Operational Budget Charged Back to Users
IT Operational Budget by Line Item (see Figure 1 for example)
Personnel as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Depreciation as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Capital Budget Metrics
These metrics assess IT capital spending trends and levels:
Percentage of Organizations Increasing, Maintaining, or Decreasing IT Capital Spending
IT Capital Budget Change from Last Year
Expectations for Actual IT Capital Spending vs. Budget
IT Capital Budget as Percentage of Total IT Budget
Line Items as Average Percentage of IT Capital Budget
Infrastructure Platform Metrics
These metrics show characteristics of IT infrastructure for the survey population:
Processing Workload by Operating System
OS Instances per Physical Server
Users per Physical Server
Users per OS Instance
Users per Printer
IT Staffing Metrics
These metrics assess IT staffing trends and levels:
Users per IT Staff Member
Percentage of Organizations Increasing, Maintaining, and Decreasing IT Staff Levels from Previous Year
IT Staff Headcount Change from Last Year
IT Staff Turnover
Annual Training Allocation per IT Employee
Contractors/Temps as Percentage of IT Staff
IT Staffing Mix (see Figure 2 for example)
Benchmarks For Specific IT Job Functions
These metrics provide benchmarks for specific IT job functions:
OS Instances per Server Support Staff Member
Network Devices per Network Support Staff Member
Applications per Application Developer
Users per Help Desk Staff Member
PCs per Desktop Support Staff Member
IT Managers as Percentage of IT Staff
Metrics for Subsector Metrics Chapters (Chapters 15-23)
The benchmarks we provide for each industry sector are shown in the table of contents below.
Demographics
The metrics in this section show key measures of size, characteristics, and IT intensity of the respondents in the sample:
Revenue
Number of Employees
Revenue per Employee
IT Operational Budgets
IT Capital Budgets
IT Outsourcing Spending
Total IT Spending
Ratio of Users to Employees
Number of PCs per User
Percentage of Users with Smartphones
Number of Data Centers
Total Disk Storage
Number of Network Sites
Number of Business Applications
Spending by Type
These metrics provide additional demographic information and can be used to identify IT management trends.
Percentage of IT Spending Devoted to Ongoing Support
Percentage of Application Functionality from Custom-Developed Systems
Outsourcing as Percentage of Total IT Budget
IT Planning and Budgeting Priorities
This section shows which objectives currently have the highest and lowest importance for IT executives:
Spending Priorities with Highest Priority
Spending Priorities with Lowest Priority
Total IT Spending Metrics
These metrics assess the total IT spending trends and levels:
Total IT Spending as Percentage of Revenue
Total IT Spending per User
Total IT Spending per PC
Total Business Application Software Spending per User
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending (see Figure 1 for example)
Total IT Spending by Functional Area
Line Items as Percentage of Total IT Spending at Each Quartile
IT Operational Spending Metrics
These metrics assess IT operational budget trends and levels:
IT Operational Budget as Percentage of Revenue
IT Operational Budget per User
IT Operational Budget per PC
Percentage of IT Operational Budget Charged Back to Users
IT Operational Budget by Line Item (see Figure 1 for example)
Personnel as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Depreciation as Percentage of IT Operational Budget
Capital Budget Metrics
These metrics assess IT capital spending trends and levels:
IT Capital Budget as Percentage of Total IT Budget
Line Items as Average Percentage of IT Capital Budget
Infrastructure Platform Metrics
These metrics show characteristics of IT infrastructure for the survey population:
Processing Workload by Operating System
OS Instances per Physical Server
Users per Physical Server
Users per OS Instance
Users per Printer
IT Staffing Metrics
These metrics assess IT staffing trends and levels:
Users per IT Staff Member
IT Staffing Mix (see Figure 2 for example)
CUSTOM BENCHMARKING SERVICE
Looking for expert assistance in evaluating your I.T. spending and staffing levels? Our custom benchmarking service provides an in-depth analysis of your organization's IT spend ratios, comparing your metrics against our database of peer organizations.
Keywords: it spend, it spending, i.t. spending, information technology spending, it spending revenue, it budget ratios, it spending by industry, it expenditure, it budgets, i.t. budgets, it key performance indicators, i.t. performance, computer budgets, computer spending. i.t. cost management, it cost management, it expenditures.
