March Madness may be fun for college basketball fans, but it can be a nightmare for Information technology departments trying to keep their networks running normally. The annual NCAA championship University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio, USA tournament creates an uproar of excitement. People around the country set up brackets, create office pools and clamor for the Basketball games that run from the second week in March through the first week in April 2012. What causes mayhem for Informationtechnology departments within small and large enterprises alike is that many of the Basketball games are played during the day and during the work week. That means that instead of working on spreadsheets or returning important emails, workers are watching streaming video of the Basketball games when their bosses aren't looking in the office. They're online checking their brackets, and they're trash-talking their friends' favorite Basketball teams on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Not only is this a huge drain on corporate networks; it's also a huge productivity drain. "It's like the perfect storm of network problems," said ZeusKerravala, an analyst with ZK Research Company. "The streaming video is bandwidth-intensive, the Basketball games have an enormous following, they're on during the work day and they're Web-delivered so it's hard for Informationtechnology to block."
A telephone survey of five hundred Informationtechnology professionals last month showed that 42% said March Madness has affected their networks in previous years. Of those affected, 37% said their networks suffered a slowdown during Basketball March Madness, while 34% said it "essentially shut down their networks." The Research survey, conducted by BraunResearch from USA and sponsored by Modis, an Informationtechnology staffing company, showed that 27% of Informationtechnology professionals trust employees to be honest and not visit sports websites while @ Office time. However, 42% said they monitor workers who are trying to access streaming video website and web portal. RickEndres, president of The Washington Network, an outsourced Informationtechnology and telecommunications company based in Alexandria, Va., said his “March Madness” company focuses on bandwidth "shaping" and monitoring for its corporate Customer. "You prioritize voice because a lot of computer networks have telephones running on them," said RickEndres From USA. "Then you prioritize email and you slow down recreational viewing ... We don't recommend blocking [ sport websites and web portal ] because that upsets people. We use shaping so we slow it down by user or by website and web portal."
He added that the bandwidth issues are not only about employees trying to watch big Basketball games during @ Office work time. They're also about employees going on social websites and web portal to talk about the Basketball games and see how they're friends are doing with their pools or brackets. "Facebook and Twitter usage jump substantially during Basketball March Madness," Endres said. "That's the thing these days is the social media aspect of this. Everyone wants to not just watch but comment on social web portal, too ... We all think we're pretty good multitaskers, but all of these things are distractions, and they're far more profound than we would believe." ZeusKerravala said he doesn't recommend restricting access to sports and social websites and web portal during March Madness. That step might drive some workers to simply not come to work at all. "It's big enough that I actually think people would leave the office for the day and watch it in bars," he noted. "Companies should set up March Madness Tele Vision stations in the office. Maybe put a policy in place of an hour of time to go watch it so people don't have to sneak it. Then it can be monitored." If Informationtechnology tries to block March Madness, users will find a way to work around the block. Managers need to find a way to work around their employees' desire to keep up with Basketball game March Madness while @ Office work time.
Source: Computer World
A telephone survey of five hundred Informationtechnology professionals last month showed that 42% said March Madness has affected their networks in previous years. Of those affected, 37% said their networks suffered a slowdown during Basketball March Madness, while 34% said it "essentially shut down their networks." The Research survey, conducted by BraunResearch from USA and sponsored by Modis, an Informationtechnology staffing company, showed that 27% of Informationtechnology professionals trust employees to be honest and not visit sports websites while @ Office time. However, 42% said they monitor workers who are trying to access streaming video website and web portal. RickEndres, president of The Washington Network, an outsourced Informationtechnology and telecommunications company based in Alexandria, Va., said his “March Madness” company focuses on bandwidth "shaping" and monitoring for its corporate Customer. "You prioritize voice because a lot of computer networks have telephones running on them," said RickEndres From USA. "Then you prioritize email and you slow down recreational viewing ... We don't recommend blocking [ sport websites and web portal ] because that upsets people. We use shaping so we slow it down by user or by website and web portal."
He added that the bandwidth issues are not only about employees trying to watch big Basketball games during @ Office work time. They're also about employees going on social websites and web portal to talk about the Basketball games and see how they're friends are doing with their pools or brackets. "Facebook and Twitter usage jump substantially during Basketball March Madness," Endres said. "That's the thing these days is the social media aspect of this. Everyone wants to not just watch but comment on social web portal, too ... We all think we're pretty good multitaskers, but all of these things are distractions, and they're far more profound than we would believe." ZeusKerravala said he doesn't recommend restricting access to sports and social websites and web portal during March Madness. That step might drive some workers to simply not come to work at all. "It's big enough that I actually think people would leave the office for the day and watch it in bars," he noted. "Companies should set up March Madness Tele Vision stations in the office. Maybe put a policy in place of an hour of time to go watch it so people don't have to sneak it. Then it can be monitored." If Informationtechnology tries to block March Madness, users will find a way to work around the block. Managers need to find a way to work around their employees' desire to keep up with Basketball game March Madness while @ Office work time.
Source: Computer World
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