Human error damaging productivity for Aussie IT teams

Nearly half (43%) of Australian IT teams are spending between 1.6 and 2.9 days per month fixing human errors, according to a new report from endpoint management company Tanium.

A survey of IT professionals conducted for the company by PureProfile found that 17% of IT workers are spending a minimum of three days per month fixing mistakes. In organisations with 10,000 or more employees, 16% of IT workers report spending more than 10 days per month fixing human errors.

Company leaders are underestimating how long IT teams are spending dealing with human errors, with 50% of C-suite leaders estimating that organisations are spending only 0–10 hours per month, and 78% of those at the GM level estimating 11–20 hours.

With the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) estimating that human error accounts for 30% of data breaches, Australian IT professionals need to find a solution to the problem. Automation is one such option, according to Tanium.

The survey found that 51% of IT workers would support automation if it meant they could work less time outside of normal hours, and nearly three quarters want to adopt automation tools to be able to work on more meaningful projects. Likewise, 75% of IT workers agreed automation could help reduce burnout, which is a persistent issue facing Australian IT teams, with 69% of IT teams reporting experiencing the issue in the last 12 months.

Tanium Regional VP of Solutions Engineering and Customer Success James Greenwood said the research suggests that automating IT operations can improve both productivity and morale.

“These factors alone play a major role in ensuring IT teams are best equipped to protect Australian organisations from cyberthreats while being more productive and fulfilled,” he said. “With automation, IT teams can focus on meaningful projects while strengthening their organisation’s security posture.”

Image credit: iStock.com/valentinrussanov