Challenges that IT Managers are facing

From the skills gap to privacy concerns, digital transformation has created new problems for businesses. Here's what they are and how to deal with them. IT managers will still be focused on digital initiatives this year but will have to review the processes put in place to ensure the success of their strategies. Digital technology creates challenges in all business areas, and IT leaders say that the threats are threats to data security and privacy, as well as a lack of high-level talent.

Here are the main challenges that IT managers will face during 2020 and how the most forward-looking leaders are facing them.

The growth of the gig economy

The new generation telephony is in software-as-a-service: it does not require the installation of hardware switchboards, it manages fixed and mobile, and allows you to activate new lines or branches with a click, enabling Smart Working and Unified Communication.  

Companies often solve the problem of the lack of digital skills with external consultants and other flexible staff recruitment strategies, which can be summarized in the "gig economy. " The rise of the gig economy can create new challenges for IT managers that include protecting society and sensitive personal data.

Distributed teams offer benefits such as flexibility and the ability to evolve quickly. Remote work also requires planning to deal with related problems. The expansion of the workforce remotely, both with a working model from home and with external consultants, unintentionally exposes the company to vulnerabilities in data privacy and in the security of sensitive information.

Safety is not the only concern. "Finding the right talent remains a major concern. On the one hand, the growth of the gig economy represents a huge opportunity, because it expands the pool of talent that a company can access. On the other hand, having a team, especially a technical team that works dedicatedly to a single corporate goal without being distracted by other projects, has its advantages.

Data privacy

Data governance has been one of the hot topics of the past year, and specific regulatory requirements such as the GDPR need to be addressed at multiple levels and by various departments within companies.

Companies must design their architectures to meet requirements such as the right to be forgotten and the right to erasure, which must be met in all data sources and in all environments, including private, public, and hybrid clouds. Providers will continue to innovate with features and solutions that help companies meet this critical need. 

Threats to security

According to experts, "Zero-day vulnerabilities receive the most media attention, but by 2020 hackers won't worry about these highly publicized attacks. ”They will rather choose simple strategies, such as gaining access to a network through the provider or third parties or the lack of patches."

Experts also predict that data breaches will continue to cause problems for Fortune 1000 companies, due to security gaps in companies and their partners, unless companies are able to focus their efforts on continuous threat monitoring.

Another security challenge is the fight against the rise of ransomware so that some companies will have to create a new role for security professionals dedicated to fighting malicious software.

Half the battle in solving a security problem is isolating it. But with overworked and stressed IT staff, the time it takes to come up with a plan, get approved, and determine the budget to solve a problem, there's always a delay. The C-suite is beginning to understand, now more than ever, the importance of protecting yourself from ransomware attacks. There should be someone specifically delegated to work with the teams to identify security problems, determine how to resolve them, and ensure that appropriate measures are approved to protect the company from these increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Risk management

Some experts agree with Gartner on the frequency with which digital initiatives fail but recognize that reality can be difficult to manage between requests to rapidly adopt new technologies.

Companies and customers now expect software and solutions to have quick releases that adapt over time, similar to consumer technology. IT must adopt new technologies, trends, and approaches to move at the required pace. It is difficult to respect times and budgets. CIOs must manage all IT projects in order to mitigate risks.

To mitigate risks within the company, most of the IT experts suggest structuring large projects into several distinct initiatives. Dividing business model tests into discrete initiatives avoid potential disasters. Successful companies favor incremental investments, which help the company learn on a large scale.

Continuing education

The development of new skills is fundamental, according to Inampudi of Envoy Global, but it is a challenge in a scenario in which technology evolves at a fast pace.

"Creating a culture of learning and development is probably one of the most important topics for CIOs every year. When we feel that we are learning and test on the job, retention improves, "says Inampudi. My concern will always be if we are meeting the high expectations of our customers.

The disillusionment of the cloud

Cloud-first strategies without vision can lead to problems that cause companies to backtrack. It's a common mistake, which occurs when companies don't plan to migrate to the cloud properly. Suddenly, they realize that they are spending far more than they expected.

According to the manager, the best strategy is to analyze company data and workloads before considering moving to the cloud in order to understand the costs and potential impacts on the services involved. "It is important to work with a solution that analyzes the behavior of machines, applications, and workloads to understand what will work best in which cloud solution.

Cultural change

Digital transformation requires a constant commitment that evolves over time and a change in mentality rather than blind trust in technology. Digital transformation never ends, but it becomes part of the way business leaders solve challenges.

According to Webb, it is important that business leaders understand how companies can drive the level of organizational alignment needed to deliver meaningful results quickly enough to affect the business. It is easy to introduce new technologies into a problem, but the profound change that must take place requires a level of cultural and organizational support that must be managed and maintained in the long term.

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Author: Vicki Lezama