One half of IT admins spend an equivalent of three weeks or more per year manually updating AV software or removing malware on users’ PCs
GFI Software today released new research showing that more than half of IT administrators at small businesses would not bet their own money that all of the computers their business owns and employees use are free of malware (51%) or that all are operating at peak efficiency and will not fail (59%). Survey results also reveal that 51% of IT professionals spend at least 10 hours per month manually updating antivirus software on or removing malware from users’ PCs.
The independent blind survey, which polled 200 IT decision makers in U.S. organizations ranging from five to 50 employees, was conducted by Opinion Matters on behalf of GFI Software. The survey identified common AV practices among small businesses and gauged respondents’ confidence levels in machine security and performance, as well as their opinions on cloud-based IT solutions.
Key highlights from the survey include:
· 27% of IT admins say they are not running the same antivirus solution with the same license renewal date on all company PCs.
· One third (33%) do not have a centrally managed antivirus solution.
· Nearly half (48%) of IT admins report that they do not have the capability to see which PCs or servers on their network are about to fail. This number increases to 55% or more in organizations with fewer than 25 employees.
· 78% of respondents say they would be interested in a Web-based service that enables them to manage antivirus protection on company PCs.
· Nearly one third (28%) of respondents report that none of their IT applications are delivered via the cloud yet. An additional 28% say less than 25% of their total applications are cloud-based.
· According to respondents, top concerns about moving to cloud applications include: complexity and lack of in-house skills to implement (31%), third-party control over company solutions (28%), expense to implement (24%) and cloud security (24%).
“Small businesses are facing several pain points that our new GFI Cloud platform addresses,” said Walter Scott, CEO of GFI Software. “These businesses are looking for a service that is simple to use, that is delivered by a company with a track record in the security and network management field, that is inexpensive to implement and that doesn’t expose sensitive data. GFI Cloud can be implemented in 10 minutes or less, is managed directly by the IT staff from the cloud, is affordably priced with one annual subscription fee, and is highly secure.”
What Admins Would Do With More Time
According to survey respondents, if they no longer had to spend time manually managing antivirus software and identifying and repairing server and workstation failures, the most important IT tasks they would pursue include backing up data, files and systems; cleaning up database files, disks and servers; upgrading programs, software and hardware; developing, designing and maintaining company websites; and converting to cloud-based services.
“GFI Cloud enables small and medium-sized businesses to optimize their limited IT resources so they can focus on more strategic, business-building initiatives instead of rote, albeit essential, processes like antivirus updating and other routine and repetitive tasks,” added Scott.
The full results of the survey are available from GFI upon request.
The survey coincides with today’s launch of GFI Cloud (see related announcement: GFI® Cloud Simplifies Small Business IT), a ground-breaking platform for the delivery of cloud-based services via a single, consistent delivery mechanism and user interface, accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection, anytime.
To learn more about GFI Cloud, call 1-888-243-4329, email gficloud@gfi.com or visit https://signup.gficloud.com.
About GFI
GFI Software provides web and mail security, archiving and fax, networking and security software and hosted IT solutions for small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) via an extensive global partner community. GFI products are available either as on-premise solutions, in the cloud or as a hybrid of both delivery models. With award-winning technology, a competitive pricing strategy, and a strong focus on the unique requirements of SMEs, GFI satisfies the IT needs of these organizations on a global scale. The company has offices in the United States, UK, Austria, Australia, Malta, Hong Kong, Philippines and Romania, which together support hundreds of thousands of installations worldwide. GFI is a channel-focused company with thousands of partners throughout the world and is also a Microsoft Gold ISV Partner.