Action1’s 2024 AI Impact on Sysadmins: Survey Report reveals that while sysadmins recognize AI’s potential, significant gaps in education, cautious organizational adoption, and insufficient AI maturity hinder widespread implementation, leading to mixed results and disruptions in 16% of organizations.
Houston, Texas, July 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Action1, a provider of an integrated real-time vulnerability discovery and automated patch management solution, revealed today the release of 2024 AI Impact on Sysadmins: Survey Report, which analyzes insights from system administrators (sysadmins) worldwide to gain a comprehensive view of their thoughts and experiences on AI’s potential. The report delves into specific areas where AI adds value and its limitations and risks.
The report explores sysadmins’ perspectives on integrating AI into their job roles and evaluates organizations’ practical approaches to AI technologies, assessing their impact on company success over the past year. It also provides insights into sysadmins’ experiences with AI implementation. Action1 researchers found that while sysadmins are aware of AI’s potential, the readiness for its adoption is tempered by the need for further education and training and AI failures.
“This survey marks the second consecutive year we have conducted an in-depth examination of the impact generative AI can have on sysadmins’ roles,” said Mike Walters, President and co-founder of Action1. “Our findings indicate that, despite some trial and error in AI implementation among sysadmins, organizations generally approach AI cautiously. Implementation projects are predominantly focused on a few IT areas, and even among those that have been implemented, results are mixed. This underscores the fact that AI technology still needs time to mature and evolve before AI-driven solutions become more widespread and practical.”
The report’s key findings include:
- Stability in AI Perceptions: Sysadmins’ views remained steady over the past year, identifying the following top three areas for AI automation in the next two years: (i) log analysis, (ii) server CPU and memory monitoring, and (iii) patch management. As with last year, areas requiring human judgment, such as user rights administration, are perceived as less likely to be automated by AI.
- Knowledge Gap and Training Needs: Down from 73% last year, 60% of sysadmins acknowledge a lack of understanding of leveraging AI practically, indicating a persistent gap in AI literacy. Additionally, 72% of respondents expressed a need for training, and 45% were concerned about becoming obsolete in the job market due to their current level of AI literacy.
- Mixed Outcomes in Current AI Implementations: While AI is most commonly implemented in log analysis (26%) and troubleshooting (25%), the highest failure rates occurred in these areas. Over half of the organizations encountered errors in troubleshooting, followed by 25% of respondents reporting failures in implementing AI for log analysis.
- Risk of Disruptions: Action1 researchers found that AI led to critical disruptions in 16% of organizations. These disruptions can lead to incorrect remediation steps and devastating operational consequences, such as prolonged downtime and reduced productivity.
- Limited Organizational Commitment To AI Implementation: Eighty percent of organizations do not require sysadmins to implement AI in their job roles, slightly down from 82 percent reported last year. While there is interest in AI, a significant gap remains between recognition of its potential and its mandated application.
The report’s findings reveal that most organizations do not require AI implementation, emphasizing a tentative approach to widespread adoption. Organizations must invest in literacy and training programs to overcome the challenges, maintain a balanced approach between AI and human expertise, introduce AI in low-risk areas, and continuously track its performance.
To download the full report, visit www.action1.com/2024-ai-impact-on-sysadmins-survey-report/.
Methodology
Action1 collected and analyzed feedback from the company’s customer base in June 2024 from 450 sysadmins worldwide. Industries include but are not limited to telecommunications, technology, internet, and electronics; manufacturing; nonprofit; finance and financial services; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; construction, machinery, and homes; government; business support and logistics; and retail and consumer durables.
About Action1
Action1 reinvents patch management with an infinitely scalable, highly secure, cloud-native platform configurable in 5 minutes—and it just works, with no VPN needed. Featuring unified OS and third-party patching with peer-to-peer patch distribution and integrated real-time vulnerability assessment, it enables autonomous patch compliance that preempts ransomware and security risks, all while eliminating costly routine labor. Trusted by thousands of enterprises managing millions of endpoints globally, Action1 is certified for SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
The company was founded by cybersecurity veterans Alex Vovk and Mike Walters, who previously founded Netwrix, which was acquired by TA Associates.
Learn more at www.action1.com.
CONTACT: press@action1.com
