IT requirements: How to build a business case
The IT systems you choose should work for your company, and when they don’t perform as they should, it can cause a host of problems for your productivity and output. Slower processes and missed deadlines can result in unhappy staff and clients alike. Technology should add to your company’s processes rather than hinder and cause frustration.
Therefore, building a case for what you need out of your IT systems and suppliers is vital for the success of your business. Understanding where you need your investments and why it will benefit you as you choose technology suited to your company based on calculated decisions. Predicting the benefits of technology upgrades can be challenging, but by building a business case, you can explore each requirement and the potential outcomes -- whether positive or not.
Go forth and conquer: New technologies shaping IT in 2023
One of the IT sector’s great strengths is its ability to embrace innovation and new services. As we enter the new year, this trait will be called upon -- with IT departments under more strain than ever.
A combination of sky-high expectations for digital services from users and customers, as well as skilled professionals like software developers in short supply, means IT teams are feeling the pressure. To continue to meet soaring demand, while streamlining workloads, IT teams are exploring new technologies and working methods.
These are the three biggest goals for an IT organization
One of the biggest misconceptions about IT is that we are only called when something is broken and needs to be fixed.
But IT’s unique knowledge and skills place us in a central role for the organization. And we should use that position of influence to unlock potential and achieve three main goals: enablement, protection, and innovation.
Reprogramming the enterprise: How IT teams aim to keep pace with demand
Over the past two decades, the role of IT in the enterprise has shifted from peripheral to strategic. Businesses are now digital-first and technology plays an integral role in driving innovation, differentiation, and sharpening the competitive edge. The past two years have not only shown us what digital channels are capable of, it has placed them front-and-center in the battle for customer engagement. This has forced yet more rapid evolution in enterprises. They are striving to build teams that can respond to the demand for seamless, multi-channel customer experience while fending off competition from disruptive digital native start-ups.
Recently we conducted research among senior IT decision-makers to uncover the key areas of focus, the challenges, and how they are writing new rules for the digital era. The results show how IT teams are effectively reprogramming the enterprise and drawing on new technologies as they seek to deliver outstanding digital experiences with reassuring security levels, while also wrestling with the challenges of talent shortages in the industry.
StarTech.com launches laptop backpack for commuters, travelers, and IT professionals
The COVID-19 pandemic really turned the world upside-down, effectively killing work travel and relegating workers to their own homes. Yes, remote work has reigned supreme for a few years now, but finally, many of us are returning to the office and resuming business travel. Whether or not this is a good thing is debatable, but it is what it is, folks.
Road warriors know just how essential a quality laptop backpack is, not only for holding the actual computer, but for accessories, documents, devices, and yes, even snacks! And now, StarTech.com has begun selling its first-ever backpack designed for on-the-go professionals. Available in two sizes to accommodate either 15.6-inch or 17.3-inch laptops, the backpack features an ingenious removable travel accessories pouch to help keep you organized. And yes, the backpack has a water-bottle pocket on the side.
The great balancing act: How to manage your workloads amidst ongoing change
Amidst the ongoing skills gap and permanent move to hybrid working, workloads are continuing to grow. Two and a half quintillion bytes of data are generated every day, often scattered between the cloud, data silos, and on-premises storage as employees work from a range of locations. Although this flexible approach to working has many benefits -- increased productivity, improved employee wellbeing, and a better work-life balance -- it also can create a sprawl of data.
Left unattended and unmonitored, workloads stack up and enterprises are left with a balancing act to manage data stored in multiple places. Whilst this can be maintained in the short term, it is not sustainable in the long term and will eventually spill over. Many will remember offices before the widespread use of computers and technology, when stacks of paper were piled up on desks and filing cabinets were full to the brim with important documents. Trying to find the single piece of paper with the information you needed was a difficult task that wasted valuable time. Having a disparate IT environment has a similar impact on today’s business operations.
From digital revolution to evolution: How IT leaders can implement small-scale change for long-term benefits
The popularity of cloud is self-evident. A recent IDC report showed that spending on shared cloud infrastructure reached $13B in Q3 2021, an increase of 3.6 percent from Q3 2020. Additionally, according to IDC projections, cloud spending in 2021 is expected to have increase by 8.3 percent in 2021 compared to 2020. Cloud adoption of is no longer a competitive differentiator, particularly in the wake of the pandemic rush to digitization.
Business success is in the details. Large transformation initiatives such as cloud may be appealing, but in today’s climate of digital parity, these projects may not deliver the return on cost and time invested which leaders desire. To stand out amongst competitors, business leaders need to shift their focus from complete digital transformation to smaller, more incremental evolution.
The weaponization of Information Technology raises the stakes for cybersecurity
As pressure grows on governments worldwide to take decisive legislative action to protect vital networks, data and infrastructure, there is a growing acceptance that despite its vital role, regulation alone cannot address the challenges posed by nation-state and criminal cyberattacks.
The pressure to act has been growing. Among the devastating attacks mounted on public sector IT infrastructure in countries around the world, the now infamous SolarWinds incident arguably did more than any other to push politicians into action. While both the US and UK governments blamed Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (the SVR) for the supply chain attack, the Russian government refuted the claims in an exchange of rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War.
AIOps: The technology to combat IT employee burnout
IT systems run around the clock, and sometimes, so do the employees who support these systems. After all, our digital world is incredibly sensitive to system failures and downtime. But how does this perpetual stress affect IT professionals?
A recent study found that 83 percent of software engineers experienced professional burnout. And, the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the issue with 81 percent of software engineers reporting elevated fatigue due to growing pandemic-related workloads. Technology doesn’t have to be the root cause for this burnout, and in fact, tech can actually combat these issues. Let’s dive into what’s causing DevOps and site reliability engineering (SRE) teams to get burnt out in the first place and how solutions like AIOps can alleviate some of their stress.
IT outages can cause severe business damage in hours
A new survey finds that 83 percent of companies would suffer business damage during the first 24 hours of an outage and its aftermath.
The study from Dimensional Research on behalf of Netenrich also uncovers a number of contradictions in enterprises' attitude to scaling their security operations.
Staffing crunch forcing commercial insurance industry to embrace technology
The COVID-19 pandemic shone the spotlight on growing labor shortages throughout the U.S. economy. While most of the attention to find entry and mid-level workers has focused on retailers, restaurants, and other service industries, the reality is that the staff shortage is affecting Wall Street banks, construction, manufacturing, trucking, and more. The pandemic has exacerbated long-standing staffing issues for commercial insurance brokers and carriers and is driving more companies to look to technology to bridge the gaps.
Many common dynamics are driving the overall labor shortage. As the pandemic rose and fell, more Americans reassessed which types of jobs they wanted and at what pay. The rising acceptance of remote work, elimination of the daily commute, lack of access to childcare, desire and opportunity to start a business, and simply workers choosing to leave the workforce altogether are driving the staffing gap. Experts believe the staffing challenge is not a temporary issue but, in fact, the new normal.
Five tips for optimizing your IT team's time
Today, IT teams are short-staffed and overworked like never before. And COVID-19 has made IT professionals busier than ever, with record numbers of people working from home and using more technology resources from remote locations. This can lead to additional projects and even more support issues. IT teams are constantly juggling between day-to-day maintenance activities and more strategic, long-term projects that can drive innovation and have a positive impact on an organization.
In theory, it would be ideal to have 70 percent of a team’s time spent on strategic projects and 30 percent spent on daily maintenance tasks. In reality, the opposite numbers are probably true. So, how can you shift that dynamic and get more time spent on strategic, high-impact projects, rather than all the maintenance work? Here are five tips for improving your IT team’s efficiency and optimizing their time.
The role of Information Technology in elevating customer experience
"Exceptional service" has always been a key customer demand over the years. But customers today expect more -- a combination of customized insights, connected interactions and an agile approach in addition to exceptional customer service. Therefore, while focusing on customer experience, communication and connection become highly crucial.
The recent pandemic and the process of businesses overcoming it have further brought to the spotlight the need for customer experience backed by flexible technology support and exceptional customer satisfaction, especially during adverse times. Information Technology (IT) has a significant role in providing the exceptional service and connected experience customers have always demanded.
The costs of 2020: What have we learned about IT spending?
To say 2020 was a year of change is probably an understatement, and that’s no different for IT leaders. Pressure to optimize costs while simultaneously maintaining key operations to ensure survival (or even growth) has led to a lot of re-evaluation and, hopefully, reflection for the industry.
Technology now sits at the heart of almost every organization, but managing technology costs has become incredibly complex due to things like the flexibility of cloud, proliferation of the use of SaaS applications and increased investment in IT by business units outside of IT.
How to get a new tech job during a pandemic
Earlier this month, we took a look at how COVID-19 is impacting the technology job market, with a focus on precarious tech positions. In this piece, we want to explore a related question: if you are a tech worker who has recently been laid off or lost your job, which steps can you take right now to stay competitive in a tight job market?
Here are three tips for tech workers seeking jobs who want to set themselves apart from the pack.
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