Dell Software today released survey findings revealing that the slow provisioning and de-provisioning of government employees may be costing the federal government millions of dollars in lost productivity annually. Precisely 200 senior federal IT workers were polled and they were examined for their awareness of, and attitudes toward, the use of cloud technology for messaging and directory services in federal agencies, especially the process and timelines associated with provisioning and de-provisioning users.
According to the poll results, automated user provisioning services can help close productivity and security gaps that can potentially expose agency data and compromise resources in the data center and the cloud. About 41 percent of respondents said their agency takes from one week to two weeks or more to fully provision new users. Every lost day of work costs nearly $200 per new hire, costing large agencies up to $20 million a year.
Another 61 percent of respondents believe their organizations are adequately staffed to meet future directory services needs, but the reality is that more than half of all agencies take longer than one day to de-provision users.
“In today’s environment, it is costly and unnecessary for agencies to take a number of weeks to fully provision new users. Often, agencies try to solve their problems with manpower rather than technology, which only creates additional costs and increases the risk for error,” said Paul Christman, vice president of Public Sector Sales and Marketing at Dell Software. “Automated directory and messaging services offer an easy solution to this challenge requiring only five minutes of human interaction to fully provision a user. These technologies reduce inefficiencies that government agencies do not have time for and mitigate security risks that can cause serious damage to government assets.”
About 4.4 million people make up the federal workforce, and have a turnover rate of 80,000 employees per month putting a tremendous strain on agency resources. In addition, these users all need access to appropriate applications and data to maintain productivity, starting their first day at work and throughout changes in job functions and responsibilities
Additional key research findings include:
- 54 percent of all agencies take more than a day for user de-provisioning.
- 26 percent of respondents have moved messaging services and 15 percent have moved directory services to more efficient cloud environments.
To view the complete study findings, click here.
