The spinning color ball. The rotating stripes. The constant ring of notifications. We know you have been there before. At one point or another, we’ve all felt the frustration that comes with information technology. IT frustrations are more than headaches. These are issues that can bring your network and your company to a standstill. Between security issues, backup challenges, and servers crashing, companies are one step away from losing data and being offline for days. Here are a few of the most popular frustrating IT issues that can hurt your business:
Malware and ransomware are constantly evolving threats, and they don’t discriminate. These threats target operations large and small. Even the most sophisticated software can’t always protect organizations. You need more than virus scanning software. Our guide to Understanding and Defending Against Advanced Malware might come in handy in helping you understand the effects and how you can defend your organization against ransomware.
Most businesses have a misconception that security is only a problem for large companies. But in reality, security is a problem for companies of any size. Hackers and cybercriminals are opportunists. No matter what your company size, you are at risk of being attacked and breached by hackers.
Of course, a network doesn’t do you much good if you can’t connect to it. In the age of “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) and “The Internet of Things (IoT)”, connectivity is not exactly plug-and-play.
Most companies rely on personal devices like iPhones, tablets, to do things like manage documents, check email, and print. It’s frustrating when you can’t get these devices to work on your network, and the lack of connectivity can really drag down productivity.
When one of our clients had two servers crash simultaneously, their accounting department’s end-of-month activities were brought to a grinding halt. Without our Managed Business Continuity, the company would have been offline for at least 3 days waiting for the new server to arrive and they would have lost a lot of critical files. Fortunately, we got them back up and running in only a few hours, with all of their data intact.
When your network goes down, a natural disaster happens or ransomware encrypts valuable files, a lot of companies are caught off-guard and they lose their data. These events can also knock a company offline for days, causing a loss of revenue.
Auditors can fine companies that don’t follow compliance and government regulations which can have a catastrophic financial impact on your business. Just because you are not a law or healthcare firm does not mean you’re immune to legal and regulatory compliance risks. There are many compliance requirements that apply to any and all companies that handle employee data and even payment card information related to your business transactions.
IT departments are generally under- or over-staffed. In either scenario, you’re paying too much. If you’re understaffed, you start experiencing employee burnout and higher turnover. This costs you onboarding and training. If you’re overstaffed, clearly you’re paying too much in salaries.
Management needs to be aware of this workload and work to ensure that the IT department has the right amount of staff for the workload. It’s also a good way to compare how different staff members are completing similar tasks, so you can identify if you have an IT person not pulling their weight and address that problem.
Embracing the digital ecosystem is now the standard. Your IT is now becoming the heart of your business operations. By focusing on your IT strategy, you can mitigate these issues and keep your company running smoothly and stress-free.
BlackPoint is working alongside customers every day to help them adapt and strengthen their IT strategies. If you are ready to explore how Managed IT Services can help you combat the IT frustrations and challenges, take the first step and start with an assessment. BlackPoint IT will provide you with a comprehensive top-bottom evaluation of your system vulnerabilities and help you map out the best approach for your security.
