BigFix, Aberdeen Release Study

EMERYVILLE, Calif. -- Large enterprises can slash up to $5 million per year off of their IT costs by implementing an automated security configuration management (SCM) solution, according to a benchmark study by Aberdeen Group. The study, “Automated Security Configuration: Calculating a Real ROI?,” creates an independent, industry-standard ROI model for businesses considering SCM solutions.

Sponsored by BigFix® Inc. as part of its IT.Next program, the Aberdeen Group study examined the return on investment (ROI) of SCM technologies for three different business types: large enterprises, medium enterprises, and small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). In all cases, cost savings were 75 percent or greater, ROI was achieved in five months or less, and the number of full-time employees assigned to these tasks was drastically reduced.

As shown in the table below, the Aberdeen Group model was applied to use cases (assuming varying degrees of pre-existing automation and software) to illustrate projected ROI:

Table 1:

According to Aberdeen Group, labor costs have always represented a large proportion of operational IT budgets, but leveraging solutions that improve efficiency through automation will significantly reduce those costs.

“Finding real ROI in security has historically been a challenge. By comparing the automation of SCM processes with the real-world labor costs of carrying out those same functions, we were able to create a formula to calculate the ROI for security functions,” said Carol Baroudi, Research Director at Aberdeen Group. “The ROI model should provide an invaluable tool for IT executives in creating a business case to budget holders when seeking funds for the implementation of SCM solutions.”

Aberdeen Group Inc.

BigFix Inc.