Recreational use of network resources is impacting
performance despitepolicies to restrict it, according to
a survey by NetQos. The survey of 150 network engineers found that
although nearly 90% had a formal policy in place to limit
recreational use, it had an effect on 60% of the
networks.
"While focus in this area has typically been dedicated to
employee productivity and IT security, recreational IT use and
particularly the increasing popularity of bandwidth-heavy Web 2.0
services is now an important
network management consideration," says Steve Harriman,
vice-president of marketing at NetQoS.
"The network performance management information we provide our
customers enables them to clearly identify this excess traffic,
quantify its impact on network performance, and minimize its effect
on business-critical applications. But as our survey shows,
changing employee behavior is an entirely different challenge."
