Study shows investing in training, education pays big dividends for IT organizations.

Organizations that allocate resources for staff training and education programs show improved IT organizational performance resulting in significant time and cost savings, according to a new study conducted by tech analyst firm IDC and sponsored by security software vendor Symantec.

More than 220 North American functional IT teams, consisting of two or three employees, participated in the survey titled, “The Impact of Training on IT Organizational Performance.” Results showed a strong link between well-trained IT workers and the amount of time they devoted to technology features and maintenance activities. The report concluded that with the proper training and education businesses would be better suited to manage and mitigate IT risks while also increasing productivity and reducing costs.

“Many IT organizations deploy technology without knowing how to effectively use it, and as a result they lose significant time and money in the misuse of the technology or by not optimizing its functionality,” said Cushing Anderson, program director, IDC Learning Services. “Through proper education and training, IT organizations can significantly improve their knowledge and skill base, and are therefore more prepared to manage and mitigate IT risks, which helps in the success of the overall business.”

Time Well Spent

The study showed that well-trained IT staff spent more time on high-value activities, such as maintaining and improving operations, and less time on low-value activities, such as deploying solutions or fixing technology and broken processes, than a staff with less training and lower skills.

Specifically, high-performing teams spent, on average, 78.9 hours on maintaining and improving operations per month, versus low-performing IT organizations that only spent, on average, 62.8 hours on these high-value activities. In addition, high-performing IT organizations spent, on average, 49.2 hours deploying solutions and 62.9 hours resolving broken tools or processes per month, while low-performing IT organizations spent more time on these low-value activities. On average, the low-performing teams spent 54.7 hours deploying solutions and 73.5 hours resolving broken tools and processes per month.

Since the well-trained teams spent less time on low-value activities, they were able to use their time more effectively by maintaining and improving their technology and solutions. IDC says this reallocation of resources for a two- or three-person IT team can result in a 10 percent increase in productivity, which translates into a savings of up to 2,000 hours or $70,000 in gained productivity per year.

Removing Risk

In addition to improving skill and performance, training can have a positive impact on resolving compliance issues and mitigating other IT risks. The study reviewed key industry operational and process performance metrics over five functional IT areas including backup and recovery, endpoint security, high availability, archiving and retrieval, and client management. The study revealed that well-trained IT teams successfully completed backup requests without failure almost 60 percent more often than those teams with less training. In the high availability function, well-trained IT staff met software configuration standards for their production servers more than twice as often as less-trained teams.

The study also analyzed the most trusted sources of knowledge and technical training, including online information and reference libraries, technical books, traditional classroom training and Web-based training. IT teams cited on-the-job training, supplemented with online information and reference libraries, as the most trusted and useful source of technical knowledge, indicating a preference for cost-effective, flexible and convenient training materials and learning methods.

In another recent study, Bersin & Associates found that corporate training budgets in the U.S. increased on average by 7 percent in 2006 — the largest increase in five years. According to the report, organizations are investing more in training for several reasons, including talent shortages and an increased focus on talent management. Corporations are increasingly recognizing that learning and development is part of an integrated talent management process that includes recruiting, performance management, leadership development and succession planning, the report said.

As IT systems become critical to every aspect of business operations, IT failures can have devastating impacts on a business. According to the research, well-trained team members are better able to anticipate those problems, implement preventive actions and work to develop operational improvements because of their familiarity with the capabilities of the deployed technologies.

“Tangible benefits of well-trained IT teams include time and cost savings, increased performance and productivity, and more time to focus on strategic IT tasks,” said Paula Hamm, vice president, Symantec Education Services. “We hope the results from this study will help IT teams realize these significant benefits that training can have on their IT functions.”

Learn more about IT training opportunities through the Abba Center for Excellence.

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