Compuware-sponsored Study Finds IT Executives Believe End-user Focused
Clear Financial Benefits Realized From Improving End-user Experience and
Troubleshooting
DETROIT--October 31, 2005--Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) today
announced the results of a recent study commissioned by the company and
conducted by Forrester Consulting. The study, which surveyed 202 senior IT
decision-makers from large companies in the U.S. and Europe, focused on the
importance of delivering application service to their business and the
challenges they face with service management.
An overwhelming 88 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that
managing the service of applications is critical to the success of their
business. The study showed consensus on how best to accomplish that goal,
with 87 percent of IT executives agreeing or strongly agreeing that the best
approach measures performance at the end-user level and rapidly resolves
significant performance problems.
Business management drives this requirement for application service
according to IT executives, with 76 percent of executives feeling increased
pressure to improve the end-user experience of business-critical
applications. The executives also agreed that improving this experience
directly impacts the bottom line.
"Our customers echo these results," said Tommi White, Compuware Chief
Operating Officer. "By focusing on the end-user's perspective-rather than
individual infrastructure components-Compuware has supported some phenomenal
IT transformations. Not only are end-user-focused IT organizations better
able to serve their customers, they are better able to communicate with the
business and ultimately contribute to overall business success."
A growing reliance on applications among business users and a drive towards
increased efficiency and IT cost-reductions were the leading reasons cited
for an increase in the importance of application service management. When
asked how the level of importance compared to two years ago, 63 percent of
IT executives responded that the level is more or much more important, with
only one percent responding that it is less.
While there is agreement on an end-user focus, respondents are facing
problems reaching all of their users--specifically those that are remote.
Gathering investigative information and data to explore problems and the
cost of deploying and maintaining a tool were cited as the main obstacles to
doing so. Accessing remote customers, business partners and physical
locations were also noted as challenges.
"Compuware recognizes the importance of reaching all users inside and
outside of corporate environments," said Bob Barker, Compuware Vice
President, Strategic Planning. "To this end, Compuware today introduced a
new version of Vantage that provides the industry's most comprehensive
end-user monitoring solution. Compuware Vantage 9.8 expands the scope of
monitoring to all users--including remote users via an agentless monitoring
device--lowering the cost of deployment and eliminating the need to access
remote customers with hardware."
Survey respondents also confront challenges when troubleshooting performance
problems, relying on a resource-intensive and manual process. The main
reason for involving multiple people to resolve performance issues was
identified by 86 percent of respondents as difficulty in isolating the
source of performance problems. An overwhelming 94 percent of respondents
said they involve multiple people in problem resolution, and a significant
38 percent involve more than six people to resolve problems.
Given the number of resources required to solve performance problems, it's
not surprising that respondents believe improving troubleshooting processes
would have clear business benefits. Compuware Vantage provides early warning
of performance problems and the critical insight needed to pinpoint the
source of problems to the client, network, server, database or the
application itself. This information provides financial benefits by reducing
the number of people involved in resolving problems. While the study found
that the cost of an hour of downtime varied--43 percent said from $10,000 to
$100,000 and 35 percent said over $100,000--efforts to avoid or minimize
downtime provide unmistakable benefits.
"Compuware offers many ways to help customers improve troubleshooting
processes," continued White. "Not only do we provide best-of-breed products,
Compuware also announced today a complete set of Vantage Professional
Services to help IT more effectively troubleshoot tough performance
problems. These Compuware professionals bring with them a wealth of
experience and expertise for short- or long-term service management
engagements. Most importantly, customers can chose the right combination of
people, process and product to meet their individual needs."
Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) maximizes the value IT brings to the
business by helping CIOs more effectively manage the business of IT.
Compuware solutions accelerate the development, improve the quality and
enhance the performance of critical business systems while enabling CIOs to
align and govern the entire IT portfolio, increasing efficiency, cost
control and employee productivity throughout the IT organization. Founded in
1973, Compuware serves the world's leading IT organizations, including more
than 90 percent of the Fortune 100 companies. Learn more about Compuware at
http://www.compuware.com.
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For Compuware Sales or Marketing Information
Compuware Corporation, One Campus Martius, Detroit, MI 48226, 800-521-9353,
http://www.compuware.com
Compuware Press Contact
Kelly Rionda, Compuware Corporation, 313-227-8660,
kelly_rionda@compuware.com
Compuware is a registered trademark of Compuware Corporation. All other
product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
Note to Editors: See today's other Compuware news release for more
information on Compuware's application service management solutions.
