Opsview, the company that unifies cloud and infrastructure monitoring, has today released a new report revealing that many companies have unfit IT strategies in place to adequately support their digital transformation projects – even though many agree it’s a top priority. For instance, 25% of respondents said that they struggle to effectively monitor the health of their organisation’s IT systems; a further 21% said that legacy prevents growth and scalability, and 7% noted that legacy, people and process stopped them operating in a dynamic manner.

The research, commissioned by Opsview, was designed to gain insight into organisations’ approach to their IT infrastructure and the value they place on monitoring tools - during a period where investment into digital initiatives is extremely high.

Integration is key to achieving digital transformation goals and these aims should be developed as part of the company strategy – not just by the IT team. The silo-ization of IT can often have a debilitating effect on company innovation. For example, only 22% of respondents say they have fully aligned integration between IT teams and business strategy when it comes to digital transformation, and 15% said that there is no IT visibility at Board level, highlighting the disconnect.

Crucially, almost half of respondents (48%) stated that IT performance monitoring is not seen as a priority, with 20% claiming that it was seen as an afterthought. In addition, 15% saw IT as a cost centre and 8% said they were not even monitoring the right things.

Mike Walton, CEO and Founder at Opsview, commented:

“This report really illustrates the widespread frustration over IT infrastructure and the issues CIOs face on a daily basis. The reason this is such a common issue is that many IT systems are a mess, and to replace an entire IT ecosystem requires a huge amount of work, and few can afford the subsequent downtime while the upgrade is implemented. Plus, with the evident issue of legacy systems holding vital company information, ripping and replacing infrastructure is simply not possible. Consequently, many are left with a fragmented IT infrastructure – with a patchwork of decentralised systems that stunts business performance and growth.

“Organisations need to have centralised monitoring tools in place to overcome these challenges - to support their business and IT goals. A single pane of glass demonstrates system health at all times – overcoming issues such as downtime, allowing a more strategic approach and adding value to the Board. Two thirds of respondents had invested in new tools to underpin digital projects but it’s evident they’re not getting value. Until they start monitoring system health so they have a true idea of how the system is operating, they won’t reap the rewards they seek, and expensive transformation projects are at risk of failure.”