IDG Research: Networking more linked to security than ever before

Not surprisingly, as the world gets more connected, networking professionals’ work is becoming ever more linked to security. The 2017 IDG State of the Network survey showed that 82% of professionals said their network team is more involved with security initiatives than in the past, while 71% added that this team collaborates with the IT security team on a daily or weekly basis.

Just over half of respondents also expect budgets for network security to increase in the next year with 55% expecting more money for addressing network security

The role of networking has also become so crucial within the organisation that 80% of those surveyed agree that greater collaboration between networking and other parts of their organisation is driving innovation. While 70% believe the networking management team is more involved in shaping overall IT strategy than ever before.

Another aspect of this wider purpose is that network professionals now cover a wide range of additional tasks. These include purchasing power for a slew of different technologies from network and systems management products and services, to network security technologies and IT operations tools.

These changes do not come without difficulties though. Of the networking professionals surveyed, 87% expect their job to become more challenging in the next year. (Only 9% disagree that their job is due to get tougher.) And while these sorts of responses are always a value judgement they are up a couple of percentage points on last year.

More positively, generally budgets are up in 2017. Nearly half (47%) of IT professionals surveyed say they expect their budget to increase from the previous year. Yet this is by no means the whole picture as 41% say their budget will be flat this year. These numbers are almost identical to the figures recorded in the 2016 survey.

The full report is based on feedback from 294 visitors to IDG platform Network World who have exposure to network IT at their place of employment. It includes detailed statistics and graphics on the findings and incorporates analysis on what changes are to be expected on the network over the next 12 months. Read the PDF here.