Common IT Challenges
Good IT companies listen to their clients. They listen to business owners, IT executives, and anyone with a stake in IT about their challenges. Each detail from the critical concerns to the frivolous topics (and everything in between). Many of these challenges are interconnected (in fact you could argue that they are all related). Now the really good IT companies will often go beyond the surface level challenges to distill the root causes of IT obstacles. In this capacity they are almost acting as a “tech therapist” or “IT journalist” searching for the whole picture. Our organization WAKE Technology Services has compiled some common IT barriers that we have heard discussed over the years. Below are a few.
Perception- This is a huge one. The response to the question of “how is IT perceived in your organization?” can indicate the level of IT maturity & subsequent effectiveness (think ITSM maturity model). If there are signals that an organization is not thinking of IT as an innovation tool, but rather a utility, then you can often bet that there is much room for improvement. If the organization truly values IT then they will invest in the culture, bandwidth, and human capital to optimize their IT systems and achieve a higher ROI.
Budget- “We don’t have the budget”. This phrase ties back to perception and value. When an organization understands the value in IT then the budget isn’t an issue. They will make room in the budget because they understand that IT can be tied to profits & economies of efficiency (vs. just a commodity service that helps keep things running).
Lack of organization- Often times businesses stumble to achieve IT initiatives either internally or utilizing a 3rd party because they don’t know what they have, and how they use it. When the response to the question of “Is there an inventory of your applications and devices?” becomes a convoluted answer then there is some work that needs to be accomplished.
Imagine you go to your neighbor’s house to borrow a tool from their garage. When they open up their garage door there is a mess that could probably rival a garage on an episode of “Hoarders”. Your neighbor says “yeah I think I have that in here somewhere…”. Their trailing tone indicates they don’t really know if they have it and if they do have it they certainly don’t know where it is. This simple request now just got more complex & time consuming.
The bottom line is that in an IT environment if you don’t have an accurate inventory and know how your company utilizes each component then there is much work to be done.
Internet Service- Internet bandwidth has become readily available in the majority of metro areas across the United States. Most clients don’t have frequent outages, maybe only the occasional issue. Conversely in rural & underserved areas quality internet service is a real challenge both operationally and financially. Sometimes there just aren’t good alternatives, and there may be no true redundant, diverse paths that can provide the uptime your organization needs. Now this can be an amazing escape if you are looking to get away & disconnect from the grind outside of work. But when running a business it can be a show stopper without the proper attention. In these geographies there are limitations that need a proper investment, planning, and level of expectation within the organization.
Human capital- This challenge often relates to budget, and perception in a number of ways. Attracting the right people for the job (who will stay at your organization) is tough when the organization doesn’t value IT, and won’t invest in the right human capital (internally or externally). Yes, there are things to mitigate this temporarily but the long term success of your organization requires talented people to help support your tech environment, over the long term. Without this your organization will see a far less ROI on your tech investment & often decreased end user satisfaction.
On the flipside organizations who value and invest in technology can often start to build a stronger foundation for attracting tech talent.
M & A- Mergers and acquisitions can be a struggle from a technology perspective. Tech due diligence is commonly glanced over or ignored in the M & A process which can lead to a number of issues. Even with a substantial amount of energy and focus on tech during the before and during the M & A process, it is a significant undertaking that stresses resources both internally and externally.
Lack of Flexibility- This complication is often related to budget, perception, human capital, and lack of organization. The company man not have the perception that IT is valuable and therefore it becomes a financial loss rather than a profit center. In this pattern of thinking their tech refresh cycle becomes longer, the level of innovation becomes lackluster, and over time their flexibility becomes less.
A good practice is think about flexibility in each step of your tech investment and strive for the highest level of flexibility. Who knows what will drive the next change (think COVID-19 and the remote work emphasis). You want to be ready to change course with the least amount of disruption to your organization’s workflow.
In conclusion companies are not alone in their IT challenges, and with the proper planning and attention to their business objectives these challenges can be avoided or mitigated. What are some common IT challenges that your organization experiences?