Could server management headaches lead to higher adoption of managed hosted services?

Managing multiple heterogeneous servers can eat up a lot of IT staff time. Add to that the new challenge of coupling existing physical server management with tracking an ever-growing number of virtual servers, and IT departments might be experiencing more than a few management headaches.

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According to recent survey data from hosting and cloud computing provider Rackspace, IT managers face daily challenges controlling the environment and that could drive companies to consider managed hosting and cloud computing alternatives. Rackspace commissioned LoudHouse in September to survey U.S. and U.K. IT managers at midsize enterprises to learn more about their server management habits.

The survey found that about one-third of IT staff time is consumed with server management tasks. Close to 60% of the 441 IT managers polled cited the “hassle of managing servers” as a challenge in their organization and another 61% found it difficult to find “time to drive innovation,” according to Rackspace.

“The survey seems to reveal that a huge chunk of time and resources are spent keeping the lights on and preventing problems,” said Lanham Napier, president and CEO of Rackspace, in a statement. “IT should be an enabler.”

IT teams reported spending 60% of their time troubleshooting and managing servers, while also saying that 27% of their time is spent on “strategic and value-add activities.” Some stresses associated with on-site server management for the survey respondents included “the need to be available 24x7, hardware issues and maintenance, and after-hours calls and issues,” the survey found.

Another issue IT managers face is capacity planning. More than half polled said they have made mistakes in their server forecasting efforts. Fifteen percent said they bought too many servers and 36% said they didn’t buy enough.

When asked if managed hosting or cloud computing could address the in-house server management challenges, about one-third of the companies reported they expect to outsource their servers in the next two to five years. Yet IT managers reported that some issues would hold them back from taking the leap to hosted or cloud computing services.

Nearly 30% cited the evidence of cost savings/ROI achieved as a factor holding their outsourcing decision back and another 29% pointed to assurances regarding reliability as a hurdle to adoption of hosted or cloud services. Twenty-seven percent said they had concerns with “assurances regarding security” and a little more than one-fifth wanted to hear examples of real user of such services at companies. Another 20% said they would like to see more transparent pricing structures with the outsourced services, according to the Rackspace survey.

The survey results were released in conjunction with Rackspace’s launch of its No More Servers initiative, which includes a campaign and online community dedicated to educating IT on the advantages of buying IT via managed hosting, cloud computing and e-mail hosting services.

Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.