Sales and marketing staff hog Internet bandwidth

Published 11th April 2008

Sales Staff are Primary Bandwidth Hogs of Corporate Internet, but Remote Workers Present Biggest Security Threat

New Survey of UK IT Managers Unveils Concerns, Also Shows Remote and Branch Workers Receive Second Class Application Performance and Security

FARNBOROUGH, UK April 10th 2008 – A new survey conducted by independent research house e-Media, which surveyed over 250 IT managers in UK organisations, reveals that sales staff are considered the worst offenders in consuming network bandwidth for non-work related activities. The survey also found that remote and branch workers are judged the highest security risks, are prone to introducing malware onto the corporate network, and are most likely to suffer from poor application performance. The survey was commissioned by Blue Coat Systems, a leader in WAN Application Delivery and Secure Web Gateway.

The survey asked which group out of sales, marketing, senior management and remote workers were most likely to consume network bandwidth on non-work related activities. The consensus of opinion of both network managers and security managers placed sales staff at the top of the list, with 43% of network managers and 34% of security managers listing them as the key offenders, followed in second place by marketing managers. Remote workers and senior management were considered least likely to waste bandwidth on non-work related activities.

Conversely, whilst remote workers were voted least likely to use bandwidth for non-business uses, they were seen as the main protagonists in introducing malware onto the corporate network; with 50% of network managers and 48% of security managers naming them as most likely to introduce malware. Remote workers are also most likely to suffer from poor application performance, according to the survey results, with 57% of security respondents and 44% of network managers claiming that group comprised the most regular complainers about poor Internet and application delivery over the Wide Area Network (WAN).

According to Nigel Hawthorn, VP EMEA Marketing at Blue Coat, “These findings show that IT managers need to rethink how they service their remote and branch office workers. The survey shows that the remote office security and performance issue is not due to the users themselves downloading inappropriate content on non-work related activities. On the contrary, it reveals a need for organisations to more carefully consider the needs of remote and branch workers in deploying applications remotely or over the Internet.” He adds, “This issue is all the more pressing as we are witnessing increases in the numbers of remote and branch workers as organisations decentralise or think green and allow employees to work remotely. Remote and branch office productivity can suffer severely unless both of these issues are tackled.”


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About Blue Coat Systems
Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat’s family of appliances and client-based solutions – deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centres – provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organisations to optimise security and accelerate performance between users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 40,000 appliances worldwide. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com.

Media Contacts:
Dianne Canham / Kirsten Scott / Tim Focas
éclat Marketing
Tel: +44 (0)118 989 5600
Email: bluecoat@eclat.co.uk

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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems’ expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems’ products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems’ business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems’ Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2007, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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