HANOVER, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading into next week’s NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments, TEKsystems®, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services, today released the results of a survey which explores the anticipated impact of the games on corporate networks. The survey results represent the views of more than 350 IT professionals, including help desk support analysts, developers, systems administrators, database administrators, network administrators and others.
Key findings of the survey are:
Nearly Half Expect Their Company’s Network to be at Greater Risk; Majority Report Employees Disregard Corporate Policies
- Nearly half (47 percent) of IT professionals believe their company’s network will be at greater risk due to employees visiting websites related to activities associated with the NCAA tournaments, such as sports news sites, sources for tournament bracket software and gambling sites.
- The majority (56 percent) indicate they have a policy regarding Internet use for events unrelated to work, such as the NCAA tournaments. However, 68 percent report they have seen employees “work around” mandates that prevent the use of company laptops to stream video of NCAA games by using personal devices such as a smartphone or tablet, which can also expose and impact network bandwidth.
Vast Majority Expect Increased Usage; Brace for Bandwidth Impact
- Eighty-two percent anticipate increased Internet usage at their organization due to the NCAA tournaments. Forty-two percent say their company has experienced bottleneck or bandwidth issues due to increased Internet usage during the NCAA tournaments in the past.
- Nearly half (49 percent) say their IT team has tracked Internet and streaming use associated with a specific source, such as the NCAA tournaments or the World Cup.
- Surprisingly, more than one-quarter (27 percent) of IT professionals indicate they have personally been asked to loan their IT expertise (e.g., set up central viewing capabilities, develop betting pool app) due to employee interest in the NCAA tournaments or other sporting events.
“As previous studies indicate, the NCAA basketball tournaments impact worker productivity, but they also have technological side effects, mainly an increased concern for security and bandwidth availability,” said TEKsystems Research Manager Jason Hayman. “While the tournaments may be great for company culture, they may be a ‘bracket-buster’ if IT professionals don’t put in place some safeguards for the optimal and uninterrupted performance of their network.”
TEKsystems’ Jason Hayman is available for additional commentary. For more information about the survey or to schedule an interview, please contact Rick McLaughlin at TEKsystems@daviesmurphy.com.
About TEKsystems®
People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, we understand people. Every year we deploy over 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals—while optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there.
TEKsystems. Our people make IT possible.
