Articles about IT

In the film Sliding Doors, a split second choice leads to two branching stories -- yet while the two stories are very different, they both lead to hospital trips and potential tragedy. The world of cyber security is similar. Whatever decisions we make, we are still under pressure and we will -- eventually, whatever we do -- end up facing significant risk.

Yet how do we show that we are doing a good job? If everything is working, there is nothing to see. Or have we collectively just been lucky to that point? Unless you have an active attack taking place, you can argue that your efforts are enough. But when you only look at a single point in time, it is a challenge to show that you are making a difference and reducing risk.

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In cybersecurity, the divide between IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) remains a problem that practitioners, vendors, and consultants must navigate daily. The differences between these two mindsets -- one rooted in the world of delivering data and maintaining software, the other firmly planted in the realm of continuous uptime of industrial systems -- can lead to conflicting priorities and misunderstandings. Even as the industry strives to align these domains, this divergence is still evident, as I was reminded just this week.

During my usual morning LinkedIn browsing, I stumbled upon a post featuring the “Top 50 People in ICS/OT Cyber Security You Need to Follow”. At first glance, I panicked. My immediate assumption was that the list featured individuals responsible for securing operational environments -- the unsung heroes safeguarding critical infrastructure around the globe.

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Unless you’re an Olympic athlete, you probably don’t want a stopwatch tracking your performance -- pushing you to work harder and move faster. But, according to Six Degrees’ newly published independent research, one in five IT decision-makers at SMEs feel that the clock is on them when implementing public cloud migration projects.

Six Degrees’ UK SME Cloud Intelligence Report 2024 found that the extent to which IT decision-makers feel rushed varies considerably between sectors. Finance and insurance (57 percent), blue light (55 percent) and education (42 percent) are impacted the most compared to those working in government (33 percent), healthcare (32 percent) and manufacturing (29 percent).

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In the last few years, we have witnessed some of the most seismic changes to the IT security landscape -- from global pandemics and geopolitical issues to a global energy crisis, growing cybersecurity threats, multiple country elections, and subdued economic conditions. But regardless of stretched IT and cybersecurity budgets, and a significant IT skills shortage, threat actors continue to innovate as cyber threats evolve at breakneck speed. Organizations have no choice but to defend themselves.

Today, cyberattacks are increasingly targeting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to JumpCloud’s latest Q3 2024 SME IT Trends Report. Forty-four percent of UK SMEs have been victims of cybersecurity attacks. Nearly two-thirds (60 percent) report multiple attacks in 2024. Smaller organizations often lack the manpower of larger corporations, with nearly half (48 percent) of UK survey respondents claiming that despite their best efforts, they lack the resources and staff to secure their organization against cybersecurity threats. This is compounded by a lack of access to skilled cybersecurity professionals, with many SMEs having IT teams consisting of only one or two people.

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Information technology leaders have long struggled to close a persistent skills gap, especially since the largescale shift to hybrid workforces and remote employees during the pandemic. To address the growing talent shortfall, many IT leaders are taking a strategic automation approach to outsource more IT functions. The use of automation can lighten the load to free up technicians for other pursuits such as streamlining network operations or learning new skills.

Auvik’s recent IT Trends 2024: Industry Report found that managed service providers (MSPs) and internal IT departments are deploying more automated systems today to address their staff shortages and resource constraints. Despite making some progress, nearly one-third of network and SaaS-related management tasks are still being done manually (29 percent), and 11 percent of IT professionals still perform their network documentation tasks completely manually.

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If I were to put you in a time machine and transport you five years into the future, do you know what you’d find in IT administration? Even more complexity, heterogeneity, and increased use of novel new platforms and technologies. And yet IT admins would still be worried and stressed about their security gaps, whilst still managing all user authentication, device management, and access to resources via a piece of legacy, on-premise, software first launched in the year 2000: Active Directory. 

You read that right. That’s 24 years ago. Don’t get me wrong; just because something wasn’t created yesterday doesn’t mean it’s not useful. But what is concerning is that, for all the incredible digital transformation initiatives that SMEs (small to medium enterprises) have initiated in the last few years -- we somehow think that the default option is best. 

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In-house IT teams across every industry can face all manner of challenges and disruptions in their day-to-day processes. While technology is becoming more accessible and demystified, it is important to ensure that you have a team that understands emerging technology. Research from Sharp found that 63 percent of businesses lack critical technology knowledge that could help push their evolution further.

This is where co-managed IT services, which offer a collaborative approach to supporting your organization, can act as a solution. Offering a collaborative approach to IT support with external resources and expertise for managed IT, co-managed IT services can remove some of the strain your in-house team experiences. But what exactly can they assist with?

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The convergence of IT and OT (Operational Technology) networks has been instrumental in driving operational efficiency and innovation across industries. As businesses are rapidly heading towards Industry 4.0, the benefits of this integration are clear.

However, with digital transformation comes the risks of a constantly expanding threat landscape. The merging of IT and OT environments has amplified the risk of wide-scale disruptions and sophisticated attacks like ransomware, extending from digital to physical infrastructures. These concerns are also evident in the growing demand for OT security, as the market is projected to reach $38.2 billion by 2028.

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This year, IT teams across the globe are facing a tech landscape that’s undergoing a major transition. Cybersecurity has emerged as a paramount concern, with escalating threats and sophisticated cyber-attacks posing significant risks to business operations.

At the same time, the widespread move towards cloud adoption introduces complexities in managing data across different platforms, making it essential for companies to follow strict data management and oversight practices.

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Just a few years ago, it was hard to directly link the impact digital tools were having on productivity across a business. But as businesses have transformed and become more digitally mature, that’s all changed.

With metrics for tracking productivity ubiquitous, business leaders want to take it up to the next level. Now they are focused on HyperProductivity -- driving unprecedented levels of productivity across the organization. To date, businesses have tried a range of tactics to foster HyperProductivity, frequently involving discouraging workers from spending time on anything other than core tasks. As an extreme example, some businesses even installed uncomfortable toilets designed to limit time employees spend in the bathroom. Instead, they should be focusing on making it as easy as possible for employees to do their jobs, which is why optimizing workplace technology is a better path to explore.

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The IT and cloud computing landscape has grown and evolved in 2023, and it’s poised to continue developing in 2024. Companies worldwide are actively adapting to the dynamics of a post-pandemic world. In this pursuit of resilience and innovation, we anticipate the emergence of four key trends that will shape the new year. These trends encompass technological advancements and shifting IT paradigms regarding spending, loyalty and governance.

Here are four trends we will likely see in the new year.

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For decades, IT departments have been viewed as a siloed part of the business, designed to offer technical support, from resetting passwords to resolving hardware issues. While dealing with technical difficulties is a key aspect of the role for many IT professionals, the rise of digitized workplaces and solutions requires businesses to both re-evaluate and reprioritize how they view IT teams and their potential.  

In our increasingly online, data-driven world, technology now facilitates almost every aspect of a business in some capacity. Effective use of these evolving systems is crucial not just for basic day-to-day functions but for communication, data analysis, and customer and employee experience, all of which are essential drivers of growth and productivity.  

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We hear a lot about the cybersecurity skills gap, which the latest research puts at 3.4 million globally. There are lots of reasons why organizations find themselves dealing with a skills deficit -- from an actual dearth of qualified talent to internal factors including turnover, lack of budget/competitive wages, limited opportunities for growth and promotion, and lack of training. 

One aspect that is within a company’s control, but is often unremarked, is unrealistic hiring practices. While this can be a problem across all sectors -- after all, every business wants to be sure they get highly experienced people on board -- there seems to be a particular issue around cybersecurity hiring. 

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The cost of supporting employee devices continues to increase, as does spending on network bandwidth and cloud services. Unfortunately, for many organizations, IT budgets are not keeping pace with the rising costs.

While IT spending is expected to rise in the next year, a large portion of that increase will go toward increased labor costs, as inflation and a stubbornly tight tech labor market will force companies to increase salaries.

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The whiff of a recession is in the air as some of the largest multinational organizations, from Google to Goldman Sachs, enact layoffs at a massive scale in an effort to shore up their finances. In this environment of economic uncertainty, organizations keep one eye glued to the bottom line while the other eye anxiously scans the organization, looking for areas to trim costs.

When it comes to technology, however, these cost-cutting efforts need to be approached carefully; otherwise, organizations risk losing functionality or compromising on application quality -- both of which can impact employee productivity and put the organization in even worse shape to weather any tough times that lie ahead. So, how best to approach this undertaking?

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