IT monitoring budget increases after COVID-19

Centreon State of IT Monitoring Survey 2020: IT monitoring budget increases after COVID-19

This first edition, conducted among 600 IT professionals, confirms the strategic importance of IT monitoring and the maturity gap between Europe and North America.

Centreon releases its first State of IT Monitoring survey. The survey was carried out among 600 European and North American IT professionals and confirms the importance of IT monitoring in corporate governance, despite a perceived lack of visibility over IT performance levels.

It also highlights growth trends in terms of investment and recruitment in monitoring. Furthermore, it reveals that the rapid transformation of infrastructure driven by Cloud, Edge and IoT Computing is paving the way towards deploying new monitoring practices, with a maturity gap between North America and Europe.

• 89% of respondents say IT monitoring is a high or top priority for their company. This is particularly the case in North America (48%), where it is more likely to be a top priority than in Europe (40%).
• IT monitoring is the field in which companies are recruiting the most (63% versus 49% in security and 36% in networks). Interestingly, organisations in North America may be more immediately aware of the need for IT monitoring positions (73%), while it seems that European organisations may be lagging behind (51%).
• Only 27% of respondents rate the visibility over performance levels provided by their monitoring tools as excellent, which is partly explained by the fact that only 61% of the IT estate is monitored, on average.
• 90% of respondents believe that it is necessary for their IT team to provide business-oriented KPIs, confirming the importance of monitoring in managing digital business performance and in the digital workplace era.

Findings also show a significant difference between the two sides of the Atlantic: when asked the following question: "in your opinion, which of the following technologies / trends will impact your IT monitoring practices over the next 3 years?", respondents in North America identified, in order, IoT, Edge Computing and Big Data while respondents in Europe indicated Big Data, IoT and AI/Machine Learning.

Finally, while the survey highlights a general trend towards increasing the share of Cloud, Edge and IoT over the next 3 years, it appears that Europe is lagging behind in implementing the Cloud, compared to North America. Europeans, who are slightly less inclined than North Americans to anticipate extending monitoring to the Cloud, forecast a higher increase in the share of the Cloud in their infrastructures over the next 3 years.

Julien Mathis, Co-Founder and CEO Centreon Europe, comments: "As a major player in this market, we are not surprised by the results of this survey, which highlights the growing importance of IT monitoring. Trends in our business are like a wave that often moves from west to east, starting in the US and ending in Asia. We are also aware of our role and responsibilities in supporting IT departments on the hot topics highlighted in the survey, such as holistic visibility from the Cloud to Edge and the necessary alignment with business management."