New Survey Shows ‘Application Bloat’ Costs Businesses Millions

  • Survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Quest Software finds enterprises suffer from IT infrastructures overloaded with applications

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--()--Quest Software, Inc. (now a part of Dell) today announced the results of a Harris Interactive survey that was commissioned to reveal the financial and operational impact that managing massive numbers of applications have on enterprise IT environments. While CIOs understand the critical role that applications play in driving business transactions and processing revenue goals, they have been slow to respond to “application bloat”—the accumulation of applications that consume resources and can cost their companies millions of dollars if left unchecked.

According to a survey conducted in June 2012 of 150 senior IT decision makers from organizations with more than 500 applications and $500 million-plus in revenue, application bloat is a significant and growing problem. It’s common for an organization to have thousands of unused or little-used apps, which translate to software overload and often poor application performance. Better application performance monitoring (APM) tools can help IT managers fully grasp how well all applications are performing, and negate the effects of application bloat.

News Facts:

  • According to the survey, 52 percent of respondents estimate that slow, crashed or unresponsive applications cost their business at least hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
    • Tens of thousands of dollars: 31 percent
    • Hundreds of thousands of dollars: 22 percent
    • Millions of dollars: 22 percent
    • Tens of millions of dollars or more: 7 percent
  • In a typical day, a majority (57 percent) use less than 249 applications (half of total apps), while 28 percent said they use less than 50 apps and, of those accessed daily, 76 percent say they access less than half more than five times a day.
  • Respondents indicate that only 21 percent have deployed cloud-based applications, while 79 percent of apps are currently run on-premise.
  • 58 percent of respondents say the performance of applications has a major impact on the performance of their business.
    • 77 percent of respondents would choose IT efficiency over reducing staff or outsourcing if told to reduce IT-related operating costs.

Quotes:

John Newsom, vice president and general manager, Application Performance Monitoring, Quest Software

“These findings point to the need for IT to get a grip on application bloat, and think twice about whether they need to add new apps. If not, they might cost the business more than they help it. Application Performance Monitoring (APM) solutions like Quest Foglight® deliver a clear view into the environment, providing a solid handle on how an organization’s massive number of applications—both large and small—are performing. With all apps firmly in check, the loss of revenue caused by decreased productivity, lost transactions and sales, and missed opportunities will be significantly reduced.”

Supporting Resources:

About Quest Software (now a part of Dell)

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. Quest, now a part of Dell’s Software Group, provides simple and innovative IT management solutions that enable more than 100,000 global customers to save time and money across physical and virtual environments. Quest products solve complex IT challenges ranging from database management, data protection, identity and access management, monitoring, user workspace management to Windows management. For more information, visit http://www.quest.com or http://www.dell.com.

About Dell Software

Dell Software helps customers of every size take advantage of new technologies and address organizational challenges to grow their businesses and remain competitive. For more than a decade, Dell has been making strategic software acquisitions and partnering in the industry to support and enable the hardware and services solutions it provides to customers. In 2012, Dell formed a dedicated software division to extend its capabilities in software IP and total solutions offerings. Dell security, systems management, business intelligence and application software draw on the strength of Dell’s distribution capabilities and reputation to help clients in every industry achieve better business outcomes.

About the survey

This survey was conducted online on behalf of Quest Software among 150 U.S. IT decision makers between June 20 and 25, 2012. For a detailed methodology, please contact Jill Gress, Harris Poll Insights, at 585-214-7138 or jgress@harrisinteractive.com.

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Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

Quest, Quest Software, Foglight, and the Quest logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software in the United States and certain other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contacts

Quest Software, Inc. (part of Dell)
Kelly O’Dwyer-Manuel, 613-270-1533
kelly.odwyer-manuel@quest.com

Release Summary

Quest Software (now a part of Dell) announced the results of a Harris Interactive survey revealing the financial & operational impact that managing massive numbers of applications have on businesses.

Contacts

Quest Software, Inc. (part of Dell)
Kelly O’Dwyer-Manuel, 613-270-1533
kelly.odwyer-manuel@quest.com