Personnel costs typically represent the largest single budget line item in the IT organization. Therefore, effective IT management requires effective personnel management. Our research in this section includes IT staffing ratios and metrics that are useful in evaluating IT headcount levels, justifying increases in IT staff, improving recruiting and retention processes, and managing IT employee relations.
The following is a list of recent sample articles within this section. (Note also that extensive analysis of IT staffing metrics is also provided in our annual IT Spending and Staffing study).
IT Staffing Ratios: Benchmarking Metrics and Analysis for 14 Key IT Job Functions
This special publication bundles the entire collection of our reports on IT staffing ratios. The IT functions covered include IT management, project management, help desk, desktop support, business analysts, server support, network administration, applications development, ERP support, database administration, data warehouse/business intelligence, IT quality assurance, IT security, and web/e-commerce. This special collection is a valuable source of information for IT executives interested in benchmarking their staffing levels with those of similar organizations. (252 pp., 127 figs.)
[Full Report Description and Free Sample]
IT Management Staffing Ratios
This study examines the question of how many managers a well-run IT organization requires and presents staffing metrics for IT managers as well as two administrative support functions: IT finance and vendor management, and clerical support. To benchmark IT management, we use two metrics: IT managers as a percentage of the IT staff and users per IT manager. We provide metrics for small, midsize, and large organizations. To provide further perspective, we consider the five-year trend in IT managers as an average percentage of the IT staff. We also report metrics for IT finance and clerical staff. (11 pp., 8 Figs)
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Database Administration Staffing Ratios
Database administrators (DBAs) make up a slightly shrinking percentage of the total IT staff, despite the growing amounts of data that organizations are collecting and maintaining. This study helps IT managers determine whether they are keeping pace with industry standards by providing four benchmarks: DBAs as a percentage of the IT staff, DBAs as a percentage of the Infrastructure Group, users per DBA, and business applications per DBA. We present benchmarks for small, midsize, and large organizations. We also examine the influence of sector on these benchmarks as well as the three-year trend in DBA staffing. (18 pp., 8 figs.)
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Network Support Staffing Ratios
This study will help IT managers determine whether their organization is keeping pace with improvements in network management by comparing their network support staffing against industry benchmarks. We provide four basic metrics: network support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, network support staff as a percentage of the IT infrastructure staff, network devices per network support staff member, and users per network support staff member. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by sector, and by organization size. (17 pp., 7 figs.)
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Application Development and Maintenance Staffing Ratios
With the changing environment, the need for programmers is in flux and IT organizations can benefit from periodic assessment of their application development and maintenance staffing levels. What is the typical staffing level today? This study uses three metrics to make that assessment: application development and maintenance staff as a percentage of the IT staff, users per application development and maintenance staff member, and applications per application development and maintenance staff member. We provide benchmarks for the composite sample, by organization, and by sector. We also provide benchmarks for the larger Application Group, which includes web development and support, quality assurance and testing, and data management personnel and business systems analysts. (19 pp., 7 figs.)
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Desktop Support Staffing Ratios
This study provides benchmarks for desktop support staffing using two metrics: desktop support staff as a percentage of the IT staff and PCs per desktop support staff member. We also assess these ratios by organization size and sector. In addition, we provide benchmarks for organizations with combined desktop support and help desk functions. We conclude with strategies for improving the efficiency of desktop support staff. (18 pp., 7 figs.)
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Business Analyst Staffing Ratios
Business system analysts represent a rising element within the IT staff as organizations automate or outsource routine work and focus internal staff on delivering business value. An important first step in planning to staff this function is to understand the number of business analysts that today's IT organizations typically employ. We assess staffing levels for the business analyst using three metrics. These include business analysts as a percentage of the IT staff, business analysts as a percentage of the application group, and applications per business analyst. We also present ratios by organization size and sector. (17 pp., 6 figs.)
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Help Desk Staffing Ratios
Demands on the help desk are changing with mobile technologies, expanded service desk responsibilities, and the desire to increase first-call resolution rates. This study provides metrics for benchmarking help desk staffing levels in the current environment. We look at the trend in help desk staffing over a four-year period and provide two benchmarks by organization size: help desk staff as a percent of the IT staff and users per help desk staff member. Because the end-user support function is organized in different ways, we also provide benchmarks for the combined help desk/desktop support staff. We conclude with recommendations on optimizing help desk staffing levels. (17 pp., 7 figs.)
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IT Help Desk Management Series
In this special publication, we bundle six of our most popular reports that deal with various aspects of help desk (service desk) management. Reports include analysis of the best metrics for measuring help desk efficiency, help desk staffing ratios, help desk outsourcing trends, investment trends for service desk software and self-support tools, and help desk salary benchmarks. The price of this special bundle is discounted 50% from the cost of these six reports if purchased separately. (85 pp., 43 figs.) (85 pp., 43 figs.)
[Full Report Description]
IT Quality Assurance and Testing Staffing Ratios
The skills of a capable IT quality assurance group are essential to improving IT processes in general and application development and maintenance in particular, yet determining the appropriate level of QA staffing is often difficult. This study provides benchmarks for staffing the QA function. In our overview, we present the six-year trend in QA and testing staffing and the percentage of organizations that staff this function. We then provide three benchmarks by organization size: QA staff as a percentage of the IT staff, QA staff as a percentage of the application group, and developers per QA staff member. We conclude with recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the quality assurance function within the IT organization. (15 pp., 6 figs.)
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IT Security Staffing Ratios
Maintaining strong security does not necessarily require an expansion of IT staff dedicated to security. In fact, IT security staffing as a percentage of total IT staff has remained relatively steady over a number of years. In this study, we help IT executives assess their security staffing needs by providing four benchmarks: IT security staff as a percentage of IT staff, IT security staff as a percentage of the infrastructure group, users per IT security staff members, and network devices per IT security staff member. We also assess the influence of organization size and sector on staffing requirements. (18 pp., 10 figs.)
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Server Support Staffing Ratios 2012
Server consolidation, data center automation, and virtualization are all working to change the equation on optimum server support staffing levels. In this study on server support staffing ratios we first look at the four-year trend in the percentage of server support staff in relation to the IT staff. Next we provide four metrics for benchmarking server support staff: server support staff as a percentage of the IT staff, server support staff as a percentage of the infrastructure support group, physical servers per server support staff member, and OS instances per server support staff member. We provide these metrics for small, midsize, and large organizations. We also assess how industry sector can influence server support staffing ratios. We conclude with recommendations for improving server support personnel productivity. (17 pp., 9 Figs.)
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Project Manager Staffing Ratios
Much of the work in an IT group is project based, which means project management should be a core competency. But how many project managers are truly required? In this study, we present five benchmarks: project managers as a percentage of the IT staff, users per project manager, application developers per project manager, applications per project manager, and capital budget per project manager. All of these ratios are presented by organization size. In addition, we look at the influence of sector on project management staffing. We conclude with recommendations on assessing the performance of the project management function. (19 pp., 10 figs.)
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Web/E-Commerce Staffing Ratios 2012
No longer the black hole of IT investment, web operations have become a stable part of the IT landscape. In this study, we provide benchmarks for staffing functions related to web and e-commerce operations and development. We benchmark web staffing with two ratios: web/e-commerce staff as a percentage of the IT staff and users per web/e-commerce staff member. For organizations with less division of labor, we also provide benchmarks for all personnel engaged in supporting applications, which we call the application group, and we examine the influence of sector and organization size on web staffing. (18 pp., 10 figs.)
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Current Use of IT Contract Workers
The decision to use contract workers is an important one. There are pros and cons either way: flexibility versus stability, lower costs versus no fixed rates. Managing the contract workforce is a balancing act. In this study, we examine the use of contract workers as a percentage of the IT staff by organization size and sector. We also examine the five-year trend between 2007 and 2011 to discover how the use of contract labor has changed over time, particularly in light of the recent recession. The report concludes with our view on current and future trends in contract labor use. (9 pp.,4 figs.)
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ERP Support Staffing Ratios
ERP systems can be major investments requiring substantial effort for implementation. Yet many organizations do not realize that the total cost of ownership of an ERP system is composed largely of ongoing support. While initial license fees and consulting services required to implement the system are one-time investments, the cost of support personnel recurs year after year. This study presents the number of ERP users per ERP support staff member by size of installation, software vendor, and age of installation. It also assesses factors that impact the productivity of ERP support staff and makes recommendations for optimizing ERP support staffing. (15 pp., 5 figs.)
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Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence Staffing Ratios
For businesses today, properly scaling business intelligence applications while controlling support costs is a difficult challenge. This study provides benchmarks for staffing the data warehouse (DW) and business intelligence (BI) functions. We provide the ratio of DW/BI staff to total IT staff for the composite sample and by organization size and sector. We also present two other metrics for benchmarking this function: applications per DW/BI staff member and terabytes of storage per DW/BI staff member.(19 pp., 11 figs.)
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IT Help Desk Outsourcing Trend and Customer Experience
Companies can dramatically reduce costs through outsourcing the help desk function, but caution is advised. Service levels can decline as well. In this study, we measure help desk outsourcing activity in four ways: outsourcing frequency, outsourcing amount, outsourcing cost experience, and outsourcing service experience. The study also examines the rate at which organizations use offshore service providers and the amount of work typically offshored. Finally, the report examines the five-year trend in help desk outsourcing frequency and amount to determine whether the outsourcing of this function is growing or shrinking. (20 pp., 14 figs.)
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IT Quality Assurance and Testing Staffing Ratios
The skills of a capable IT quality assurance group are essential to improving IT processes in general and application development and maintenance in particular. Yet, the appropriate level of QA staffing is often difficult to determine. This study provides benchmarks for staffing the QA function within the IT organization. We provide the ratio of QA staff to total IT staff for the composite sample and by organization size and sector. We also examine the ratio of application developers to QA staff, the four-year trend in QA staffing, and the percentage of organizations that have QA staff. We conclude with best practice recommendations. (17 pp., 7 figs.)
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Current Trends in the Use of IT Contract Workers
Managing a contract IT workforce is made easier by staffing agencies and vendor management systems, but IT managers must first determine the proper balance between full-time IT employees and temporary help. In this study, we examine the typical use of contract workers as a percentage of the IT staff by organization size and sector. We also examine the four-year trend between 2006 and 2009 to discover how this ratio has changed in light of the economic recession. Further, we examine how the aggressive use of temporary employees relates to staff growth and turnover. The report concludes with our view on current and future trends in contract labor use. (12 pp., 7 figs.)
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Measuring Help-Desk Efficiency
As a labor-intensive function, the IT help desk (or service desk) is generally high on management’s list of areas targeted for productivity gains. But, as it is often said, if you cannot measure something you cannot improve it. To meet the needs of managers seeking to better handle this critical function, this study examines the most common metrics used for tracking help-desk efficiency, costs, and productivity. It also assesses the role of technology, service-level agreements, outsourcing, and IT service management best practices in improving the return on investment for the service desk. (14 pp., 6 figs.)
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Documentation and Training Staffing Ratios
Documentation and training is a small but important function in the IT organization. In this study, we examine how staffing levels for this function have changed over the past decade. We also provide current metrics for this job function by organizational size, which IT managers can use to benchmark their employee headcount levels. Metrics include documentation/training specialists as a percentage of total IT staff, number of users per specialist, and number of developers per specialist. We conclude with our recommendations for optimizing staffing levels and productivity of IT documentation and IT training personnel. (4 pp., 5 figs.)
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Pay for Performance: Popularity and Impact of Incentive Pay in the IT Workforce
The incentive pay debate is intense and has strong advocates on both sides. In this study, we analyze the current trend within the IT industry based on a Computer Economics survey conducted during the first half of 2008. We provide data on the percentage of employees receiving incentive pay by job level, the percentage of compensation comprising incentive pay, the percentage of incentive bonuses based on individual, group, and company performance, and the impact of incentive pay on employee turnover rates. Our study concludes with recommendations for implementing effective programs and mitigating some of the unintended consequences of paying for performance. (5 pp., 6 figs.)
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Current Trends in Telecommuting Among IT Workers
Telecommuting is a growing practice across most industries. In this study, based on a special survey of IT managers, we first assess the extent of telecommuting within IT organizations today. We examine adoption levels by stages to gauge the future trend, the year-over-year growth, and the percentage of IT workers telecommuting at various frequencies. Next, we assess how IT managers rate the importance of telecommuting for recruitment and retention and their views of the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting. Finally, we compare turnover rates of organizations that have strong telecommuting policies with those that do not. We conclude with recommendations for telecommuting policies, based on these findings. (7 pp., 10 figs.)
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Factors Influencing IT Employee Turnover Rates
Because it is generally less expensive to retain good employees than find new ones, lowering turnover rates is a good strategy for reducing IT personnel expenses. In this study, we examine current trends in turnover rates and provide benchmarks for turnover by organization size. We then examine 11 factors commonly believed to influence employee retention, specifically: education and training opportunities, flexible schedules, work environment, social environment, incentive pay/bonuses, base salaries, insurance benefits, employee recognition programs, paid time off, retirement programs, and telecommuting opportunities. We assess how IT executives rank the importance of these factors, and we measure the impact of each factor on actual turnover rates. We conclude with recommendations on how organizations can most cost-effectively reduce turnover. (7 pp., 9 figs.)
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Planning for the Coming Wave of IT Staff Retirements
As the baby-boomer generation ages, a growing number of senior IT professionals are nearing retirement, and many organizations have not fully prepared for the loss of so many leaders and experienced technical staff members. Furthermore, as younger IT staff replace older workers, the demographics within the typical IT shop are changing, leading to a number of "generational issues" (differences between generations in their skills, culture, and experience) that will need to be addressed. This special report, based on our survey of over 150 organizations, documents the extent of these problems by size of organization, highlights the various strategies that IT groups are taking to deal with them, and provides practical recommendations for IT executives to prepare for the coming generational transition of the IT workforce. (13 pp., 20 figs.)
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Managing Challenges in IT Staffing
Recruiting and retaining IT talent is a key success factor for any IT organization. This special study investigates current trends and challenges that IT managers are facing in recruiting and staffing, based on a survey of approximately 160 U.S. IT hiring managers. Statistics include IT staff growth rates, use of contractors and temporary employees, growth of outsourcing and offshoring, turnover rates, trends in recruiting difficulty, adequacy of the candidate supply, ability to offer competitive compensation, attractiveness to candidates of four major U.S. regions and 14 industry sectors, manager satisfaction with recruiting methods, use of outside recruiters, and the relative difficulty of recruiting for eight IT positions. (10 pp., 16 figs.)
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IT Training Budget and Staffing Metrics by Organizational Size and Industry
An analysis of corporate spending for IT training shows that many organizations are not investing adequately in professional development of their IT staff, the largest single line item in the IT budget. This article reviews IT training budget and staffing benchmarking metrics from 2000 through 2005, with projection for 2006. It also examines the differences in training spending and staffing ratios between organizations of different sizes and in various industry sectors. (6 pp., 5 figs.)
IT Recruiting: Which Ways Work Best Today?
The effectiveness of various IT recruiting methods varies according to the job market. This article provides an analysis of the current IT labor market and why IT hiring is becoming more difficult. Based on our survey of nearly 200 senior IT executives, it then presents a detailed analysis of nine recruiting methods in terms of their popularity among employers, their overall effectiveness, and their ability to produce the greatest numbers of new hires. The nine methods are: recruiting firms, in-house recruiters, online job boards, employee referral programs, corporate websites, print ads, internships, job fairs/events, and outplacement services. The analysis highlights the differences between small, medium, and large firms and finds that the methods that are most popular are not necessarily the ones that are most effective or able to generate the most new hires. (9 pp., 4 figs.)
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