The Top IT Challenges Executives Will Face in 2021
… gap analysis or site survey to assess your business’s current information systems and software applications. These can typically be accomplished through a managed service provider. After the assessment, the managed service provider will make recommendations on necessary updates, additions, or replacements.
From there, you can create an IT road map to organize and prioritize the integration of new technologies into your IT environment, both from an adoption and cost standpoint.
Facing Uncertainty with the Cloud
Many organizations have recently adopted cloud solutions, and according to Gartner, up to 60% of organizations will use an external service provider’s cloud managed service offering by 2022, which is double the percentage of organizations from 2018.
While a cloud environment affords an organization numerous benefits and can help transform its business processes for the better, if the organization didn’t invest and manage properly in migrating to the cloud, they may face some negative consequences in the future.
A great example of this is transitioning to a cloud solution during the COVID-19 pandemic. A May 2020 study conducted by MariaDB revealed that 40% of businesses are accelerating their move to the cloud due to COVID-19.
Because of the rush to adopt a cloud solution, it is possible organizations had a “cloud-first” mentality — meaning their cloud strategy lacked vision, proper planning and execution. While they may have gotten the technology they initially wanted, was it the best decision for the company?
Before contemplating a move to the cloud, companies need to analyze the data and workloads they have to figure out the costs and potential service impacts involved. It may be worth a little more cost upfront to save a lot down the road.
Managing Operations in a Remote Environment
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizations across the globe to evolve to a permanent, fully remote workforce. While this is no doubt where today’s modern work environment was already heading, many company executives may still be a little apprehensive about the logistics of ensuring staff remains productive while customers continue to receive excellent service.
These companies will face the challenge of creating a digital transformation strategy to streamline business processes. Things like equipping employees with the necessary resources to be productive – and the tools to be able to track that productivity – will be crucial, and monitoring customer service levels needs to be transparent. These tools and technologies are ultimately going to play a critical role in providing support to customers from any location.
It is also important organizations have the proper IT infrastructure, applications and procedures in place to support a remote work environment, including plenty of bandwidth, secure VPN connections, bring your own device (BYOD) policies, video conferencing platforms and so much more.
There is much to consider when making the switch to a remote environment, and it can be overwhelming to satisfy every need for a seamless transition.
Face Challenges Head-On with an MSP
If some – or perhaps all – of these challenges resonate with you or your organization, the time is now to act on them and get ahead of any potential implications to your business.
Managed service providers can serve as your all-in-one IT partner, from assessment to planning, migration to implementation, to management of infrastructure and beyond. An MSP will be there every step of the way and ensure your company is positioned for success in 2021.
Stephen Sweett is president of Buchanan Technologies, where he started in 2000 in the role of regional vice president. Buchanan Technologies was named to the 2020 MSP 501 listing. Sweett oversees the sales and marketing departments with a focus on new business development and existing customer growth. He earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and finance at Saint Mary’s University. His strong leadership skills encourage staff to perform at their highest levels and his knowledge in process flow drives the operations and delivery side of the business. You may follow him on LinkedIn or @BuchananTech on Twitter.
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