Top Challenges That IT Managers Are Facing Right Now

2020 was a tough year for IT managers. The coronavirus pandemic has forced companies to embrace remote working. Almost every IT company has access to remote workers. IT managers have played a very important role in 2020. They have made sure that everything was connected and safe. IT managers are not working from the sidelines now. They need to become more proactive now. If your IT manager is playing a central role in your business, then they can help you in getting a competitive advantage. In this article, we are going to talk about the top challenges that IT managers are facing right now.

1. Big Data

Businesses are generating a lot of data now. This data can help businesses in improving their services. However, this data is mostly in unstructured form. Unstructured data won’t help you in improving your business decisions. You should convert this data into structured data. This will help you in gaining actionable insights from this data.

IT managers are facing this challenge. They need to transform this unstructured data into structured data. It can help them in transforming the entire business.

2. Cybersecurity threats

It is easy to attack remote employee workstations. More than 91% of enterprises have reported that they are facing more cyber-attacks now. The complexity of attacks is also increasing with time. Attackers are using better techniques for attacking business networks. If a cyber-attack is successful, then it hurt your business reputation and revenue.

IT managers are finding it difficult to keep up with the new threats. This is due to the growing nature of the threat landscape. Attackers are coming up with new attacks. IT managers need to deploy better technologies for dealing with these attacks. New security solutions like MDR and SIEM can help companies in automating breach detection.

3. Data and asset management

The number of devices in the workplace is also increasing with time. This is mostly due to the introduction of IoT devices. Everyone is using IoT devices in the workplace now. Make sure that your IT strategy contains information governance programs for dealing with these devices. You should also create MDM or mobile device management policies. This policy will help you in monitoring and maintaining your mobile devices.

IT managers should be ready for the threat of the unknown. Most companies are now admitting that Shadow IT is a big problem for their business. Shadow IT is simply the software or hardware that is used by your staff without notifying your IT team. Your employees can use Google Drive or DropBox for sharing and storing their files. They can use instant messaging apps for sharing files with other employees.

4. New Technologies

It is very difficult to keep up with the new IT technologies. However, the bigger challenge is to find the right technology for your business. Every new technology is not going to be good for your business.

IT managers can sometimes get attracted to new and shiny tech. If every business is using some particular technology, then you might also get attracted to it. However, this type of spending can hurt your business in the long run. Not every tech is built for your business. Make sure that you are going to get a good ROI from these new technologies.

5. Cloud computing

Cloud is changing the entire working landscape. Employees are using cloud tools for doing their work remotely. Every business should consider using cloud technology. Cloud provides both scalability and flexibility to businesses. This is great for businesses as they can grow very fast. However, IT Managers need to ensure that the cloud budget is optimized. Sometimes companies spend too much money on cloud tools. Thus, IT managers need to find the right configurations for their business.

If you are already using cloud technology, then you should also consider cloud security. Make sure that all the applications and data on your cloud server are secure. The best way to deal with this problem is by using a cloud security solution. It will ensure that your cloud server is protected from threats.

6. Mobile Device Management

Bring your own device has become very popular with time. Almost every business is now considering BYOD policy. However, the introduction of multiple personal and corporate devices into the workplace is becoming a problem for IT managers. This can increase the number of endpoints present in your network. Thus, the threat landscape is growing due to this policy.

Companies are risking their network security by approving BYOD policy. However, BYOD policy is also helping companies in increasing the efficiency of their employees. The best way to deal with this problem is by creating MDM policies. These policies will define everything that is allowed. It will help you in protecting both personal and corporate devices from attackers.

7. Skills gap

IT managers are finding it difficult to find new IT talent. There is a gap when it comes to IT skills and tech. This is mostly due to the speed of innovation. Technology is rapidly progressing with time. IT engineers need to constantly upgrade themselves with new tech stack. Businesses are also learning about new technology plays that can help them in gaining a competitive advantage. Thus, they are looking for a new and rare skill set.

Skill gaps can lead to lower staff productivity. It will lead to a lack of innovation and fewer. Also, this can increase your operating and product development costs. Most companies know about the effects of the skills gap. However, very few companies are actually trying to address this skill gap. They are offering formal training to their IT employees.

The skill gap is only going to grow with time. This will cause more damage to your business. IT managers need to explain this to their senior management. They should conduct strategic and continual training for their IT employees. IT managers must secure a budget for this training. This will help you in upskilling your IT employees.

It is very difficult and expensive to hire new IT talents. Thus, you should ensure that your current IT staff is upgrading their skills. However, you can’t fill the gap even with continuous training. Your small IT team can’t help you in meeting all the strategic and IT skill requirements. They will only help you in keeping your business afloat.

IT managers are now considering working with experienced MSPs due to this problem. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire have access to a large IT team. You can find every tech stack employee in their team. This will ensure that you will get access to every new tech. Thus, IT managers are working with MSPs to gain the skills that they need. Also, they don’t need to worry about hiring IT employees for their business. This will help your business in saving a lot of money. All you need to do is pay a monthly fee to your IT partner. If you don’t like their service, then you can easily switch to some other IT partner. The cost of rehiring is very high. Thus, this is not possible when you only have an in-house IT team.

8. Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation is very hard for companies to achieve. It is very complex and complicated in nature. However, you need to focus your efforts on this area. Every business is trying to use digital transformation to beat its competitors. Thus, you should ensure that you are keeping up with your competitors.

IT manager is mainly responsible for digital transformation strategy. They are seen as in charge of tech. However, you need to involve the entire leadership in this process. You should have a clear reason for digital transformation. This will help you in defining clear goals for digital transformation. The main challenge for IT managers is to drive forward behavioral change. You can’t achieve digital transformation until everyone is working together.

9. Business Intelligence

Businesses are using data for making their decisions. Data can help you in transforming any operation. However, it is difficult to use the data that you are collecting. Most companies are still collecting useless data. You should look for business intelligence tools. These tools will help you in converting your useless data into useful data. You can use this data for understanding your products and customers. It will help you in making better business decisions. Thus, BI tools are very important for your business. These tools will show your reports in graphical format. You can share this report with your stakeholders and help them in taking better business decisions.

10. Increasing workload

The senior management of every business now understands the contribution of IT. They know that IT is important for their business. However, this also comes at a heavy price. The IT managers are responsible for issue resolution, maintenance, and monitoring. They also need to undertake huge improvement projects and work on an IT strategy for the business. IT managers need to look for opportunities that can help their business. In simple words, IT managers need to drive the business forward by using IT. Thus, the workload of IT managers is only increasing with time. They don’t have enough time to solve all these issues.

You can deal with this problem by hiring a Virtual CIO. vCIO can help you in solving various tasks. They will help you in creating an IT strategy and budget. Thus, IT managers don’t need to worry about doing all the work alone.

11. Instilling trust

IT has become the heart of most businesses. However, IT managers need to work hard to make sure that IT retains this position. IT is hailed as the hero for SMBs. SMBs can use IT for competing with large businesses and enterprises. Technology helped companies in quickly transitioning to remote working. Everyone was productive due to technology.

However, every country is removing the work restrictions now. Employees are going to now come back into the workplace. Your staff might have picked up some bad habits during the lockdown. For example, they might be using personal apps for doing their work. They were using personal devices with less security for doing work. Important to make sure that IT managers fix this problem.

12. IT Outsourcing

It is difficult to hire the best IT talent for your SMB. Also, you need to address skill gaps. If you already have an IT team, then you need to invest money into their training. The workload on IT managers and the team is also increasing. Due to this, most Small and medium-sized businesses are going for outsourcing.

This is perfect for SMBs as it will help them in meeting the growing requirements. However, there are still some concerns associated with reliability, security, and accountability. IT managers are responsible for finding the perfect MSP for their business. They need to ensure that the third-party suppliers, vendors, and partners are suitable for their business. Thus, they must have a strict assessment process.

IT managers need to go through various MSP options. After that, they need to find the perfect MSP for their business. They should ensure that they are getting the best deal for their business. However, this doesn’t mean that IT managers should go with the most cost-effective option. IT managers should look for the best service at an optimal cost.

How Bleuwire can help your business?

IT manager role is becoming more challenging with time. They have various responsibilities that they need to fulfill. Also, they are accountable for various things. You can address most of these challenges by working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in solving the skill gap problem. You will get access to a large IT team. Thus, you don’t need to worry about hiring IT talent for your SMB. Bleuwire will also provide IT support to your employees and customers. If you need more information regarding IT services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.