Survey: 68 Percent of IT Workers Feel Overwhelmed by Data Access Restrictions

  • Jan 22, 2024

CData Software, a provider of data connectivity solutions, recently released its research report, “Data Connectivity: The Missing Link for IT,” to offer insights into the current state of data connectivity among organizations and reveal how businesses can get the most out of their data in 2024.

The survey, conducted among 550 data and analytics professionals across Operations (Ops) and IT in organizations with over 200 employees, found that increasing data requests overwhelm IT teams, but security concerns hinder their ability to provide employees with access to timely data. The majority of Ops professionals feel that they are prohibited from accessing the data they need to make quick business decisions, which can lead to bad practices that impact the business’ ability to quickly grow revenue and improve operational efficiency.

“IT and other data professionals are challenged to keep up with increasing demand for timely data access from an exploding number of sources, while also ensuring the security and governance of that data," said Amit Sharma, CData co-founder and CEO. "Connectivity solutions that enable secure access to live and replicated data ease the burden on IT by providing employees with the data they need to make impactful decisions for their business.”

Key findings from the report include:

  • Data requests overburden IT teams: 68% of IT workers feel overwhelmed by the number of technical resources that are required to access the data they need to work, and 81% believe other employees at their organization feel the same.
  • In fact, one in four enterprise organizations use more than 100 different applications and systems to manage their operations.
  • Data management demands an excessive amount of time from IT teams: A substantial percentage of respondents (41%) indicated that they spend up to 60% of their workweek attending to data requests from colleagues or teams, yet are still unable to deliver data fast enough to match the speed of modern business.
  • Security poses significant obstacles to connectivity, keeping essential data out of the hands of those who need it most: The top three challenges preventing IT employees at organizations from most effectively providing other teams with relevant data include security controls around data (61%), limited access to operational data itself (47%), and challenges to data sharing (46%).
  • Ignorance is not an option: Many decision-makers readily admit to overlooking crucial data due to accessibility issues. Sixty eight percent of respondents acknowledged disregarding data inputs, with the primary reason being the inability to access information promptly (49%).
  • A data connectivity strategy encompassing both live data and replicated data will do more than relieve IT teams – it’s the missing link behind security and data literacy issues that are prominent in today’s technology landscape. Overburdened by data requests, IT teams are ignoring vital data they need due to a lack of easy access, preventing them from delivering holistic, live views of data to support meaningful business insights. This oversight puts organizations on the precipice of a potential rash of bad practices that can negatively impact business operations, decision-making, and outcomes.

To download Data Connectivity: The Missing Link for IT, please visit: https://www.cdata.com/lp/data-connectivity-report-2024/.

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