Harris KhanThe IT landscape and functions in businesses are changing rapidly. The events of 2020 have contributed highly to these changes. IT has moved from just another business function to the core of business operations. When physical interactions became foreign and people were locked down in their homes, moving operations to the cloud became necessary.
Now, IT is the primary driver of day-to-day business operations in most, if not all, businesses. Business procedures, workflows, and processes have moved online to ensure effective and continuous service delivery. However, these drastic changes have come with numerous challenges. Here are the four most prominent IT challenges businesses are facing today and how you can overcome them:
1. Closing The Skills Gap
The pace at which innovation is moving is increasingly creating a skills gap in tech roles. Most businesses can’t manage the modern IT landscape, creating a considerable challenge, particularly in security. This hinders the business’ ability to adopt the innovations it needs to remain agile quickly.
The lack of professionals results in a rising cost of hiring and maintaining IT professionals. In this case, the best way to beat this challenge is by outsourcing IT services. Service providers, such as Kelowna managed IT services and many others, offer expert IT services according to your needs. This way, you get access to expert services from experienced professionals. It’s a more cost-effective approach to keeping up with technology trends, mainly in cybersecurity.
Another alternative for closing the skill gap is continuous training for your teams. You need to ensure that they keep up with tech innovations to come up with ideas that put your business ahead of the competition. Investing in continuous education may come at a cost, but you’ll reap the benefits down the road.
2. Cloud Computing
As mentioned previously, the crisis events of 2020 have led to the mass adoption of cloud computing. When there was no other way to do business, cloud computing became the saving grace. It made it possible for employees to work from home for business continuity. And, no one disputes its benefits, such as accessibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and more.
However, many businesses are finding it difficult to adapt to the change. The biggest challenge comes from having to use third parties for cloud services. You need to use cloud services providers to manage your cloud processes and data. This increases security and privacy concerns.
You can overcome this challenge by doing proper due diligence on the service provider you engage. Ensure they adhere to the Service Organization Control 2 Type 2 audit that asses a provider’s security, integrity, availability, privacy, and confidentiality. To get this certification, a provider needs to have strict data protection, security, and documentation practices.
3. Choosing The Right Business Technology
The advancing technology brings an abundance of choices in business tools and software. This makes picking the right tech for your business quite daunting. A failed implementation will lead to a loss of time and resources, which can make you hesitant to change your business technology. However, you need to move with the business technology trends if you want to remain competitive.
Overcoming this challenge starts with knowing your business’ needs. In short, focus on the areas you think technology can help. Consult with your teams to identify the gaps. Then, look for technology that’ll make your business more effective and your teams productive.
Research is necessary if you want to get the best tools available to aid with your needs. Also, ensure you have the proper IT infrastructure to handle the new technology. Start small and build gradual changes that won’t disrupt your processes.
4. Evolving Cybersecurity Threats
With businesses moving processes online, cybersecurity threats and risks have increased. Now, businesses need to be a lot more vigilant in identifying security risks and preventing cyberattacks. But that hasn’t been easy, especially for businesses working with remote teams.
While it’s easier to control an in-house team, it’s a challenge when teams are working away from the ‘safe’ environment. This is especially true with the rise in ransomware, phishing, and email spam attacks that come disguised as information and applications related to current affairs. The best way to overcome the issue of cybersecurity threats is through continuous training and education on ways to identify cyber threats and stay protected.
Your employees play a massive role in keeping or exposing your business to security risks. Carrying out continuous security awareness training is the best way to overcome this challenge. You also need strict cybersecurity practices and guidelines to enforce a security culture in your business.
Conclusion
Even if there are many challenges in IT, you must still overcome them for the sake of competitiveness and business continuity. Fortunately, you can apply plenty of solutions such as education and outsourcing in closing the skills gap and cybersecurity. Using business technology tools is also an excellent way to improve workflows, efficiency, and productivity. Ultimately, don’t allow these challenges to hinder you from achieving the goals you’ve set.
