Your IT infrastructure plays a critical role in driving your productivity and growth no matter what business you’re in — that’s just the nature of the current economy. Therefore, IT challenges are obstacles to your success, as they disrupt operations, slow down productivity, and increase costs. 

What are the most important IT challenges that businesses face?

Businesses of any size encounter various IT challenges that can significantly impact their operations. Let’s explore some of the top issues and discuss practical solutions to help you navigate them successfully.

Cybersecurity threats

Cybersecurity has been and will continue to be a major concern for all businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). SMBs are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks, as cybercriminals often see them as easy targets because they may lack robust security.

Unfortunately, SMBs like yours may be less prepared to mitigate the damages caused by data loss, recovery costs, legal liabilities, and public backlash. You simply can’t afford to ignore these threats.

How to overcome this challenge

  • Multilayered security: No one tool can keep you protected. You need a system of firewalls, intrusion detection, antivirus, email filtering, and other solutions to cover all the angles.
  • Employee training: Human error is often the weakest link in cybersecurity. Training in cyberthreat awareness provides excellent ROI by plugging this gap affordably.
  • Backup and recovery plans: The probability of a successful attack is never zero, but automated data backups can prevent the worst of the damage.

Data management and storage

As your business grows, so does the amount of data you generate and must store. Managing and storing data efficiently becomes increasingly complex over time, and doing it wrong can lead to poor performance and data availability, slowing your operations. 

Additionally, you may be subject to data security regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Failing to comply with their data management standards opens your business to compliance penalties.

How to overcome this challenge

  • Adopt cloud storage solutions: Cloud services are now ubiquitous, offering scalable, cost-effective solutions for storing data securely. 
  • Use data management software: This software relieves the burden of managing your data, automatically making it more organized and accessible.
  • Leverage compliance solutions: No matter what data security regulations you must follow, there is a software tool out there to help you manage compliance. 

Rapid IT developments

If you’re struggling to keep up with how fast IT is evolving, you’re not alone, but it’s still a challenge you must overcome. Falling behind on technology can lead to inefficiencies, security vulnerabilities, and a competitive disadvantage in your market.

How to overcome this challenge

  • Managed IT services: Outsourced IT services help you keep up with the latest trends, updates, and solutions without an expensive in-house IT department.
  • Technology-as-a-Service: Instead of regularly purchasing new hardware and software, you can instead pay a subscription fee and enjoy the latest IT along with support and automatic upgrades.
  • Regular system audits: Conduct or enlist an IT partner to perform regular audits of your IT systems to identify areas that need upgrading or improvement.

IT downtime

System outages, server failures, or hardware malfunctions bring productivity to a halt, resulting in lost revenue and unhappy customers. IT downtime can also lead to data loss and project delays, causing more damage.

How to overcome this challenge

  • Regular maintenance and updates: Outdated software and unmaintained tools can lead to unexpected downtime and security vulnerabilities. Schedule regular maintenance and updates to prevent these issues.
  • Redundant systems: Invest in failover systems to take over when vital systems break down so you can stay up and running all the time.
  • Disaster recovery plan: For particularly bad IT outages, you need to create and rehearse a detailed plan for your workforce to get operations back online ASAP.

Lack of IT expertise

With IT and cyberthreats developing at breakneck speed, you may be finding it hard to get all the skills and knowledge needed to maintain and optimize your technology. This is an obstacle faced by SMBs in virtually every industry, but there is a cost-effective solution to give you access to the expertise you need.

How to overcome this challenge

PCA Technology Group provides comprehensive outsourced IT services that cover every aspect of your IT infrastructure. For less than the cost of a single in-house IT employee, you can get access to expertise, technologies, and guidance to meet all of your technology challenges. Contact PCA today, and we’ll share our five-step plan for your business’s success.