So much has changed in the world of IT since 2020. In fact, a lot has arguably changed since last week!
This stuff moves fast. We know that, because we’ve been supporting a whole range of IT systems for many years. We’ve seen trends come and go and have avoided jumping on countless passing bandwagons.
One thing we have learned is that an IT plan is absolutely crucial when it comes to building an infrastructure that is cost-effective and capable of helping your business grow.
You can even create one yourself.
The rising cost of IT
It’s thought that over 60% of businesses expect their IT budgets to rise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has some pretty far-reaching implications. The average IT budget across EU businesses is around £2.7 million – the increases could therefore account for an extra £800,000 in spend.
This filters down to smaller businesses, too. Indeed, there’s a high chance you’ve experienced an increase in how much it costs to run your IT infrastructure following the pandemic. It’s probably why you’re reading this blog post.
The cost increases are largely related to the shift to home working – something for which many businesses simply hand’t planned.
As a result, IT plans are having to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Choosing your focus
If you fancy having a crack at creating your own IT plan for the rest of 2021 and beyond, you’re not alone – thousands of businesses are doing this.
It all starts with an honest assessment of what you need to focus on, IT-wise.
There are four common considerations for businesses of all sizes at the moment:
- Cyber security: With 78% of businesses lacking confidence in their cyber security capabilities and more people working from home than ever before, perhaps now is the time to really double-down on your defences.
- Permanent work-from-home policies: If you’ve had to cobble together a policy for the increasing number of staff working from home, focusing your efforts on a more permanent policy is a superb idea.
- Remote collaboration: Sure, your team members may not be in the same office as regularly anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can’t lean on the best tools to work effectively together, wherever they happen to be located.
- Cloud services: The shift to home working has revealed some serious inadequacies inherent within on-premise software. You can save, big time, on maintenance fees and significantly improve your team’s productivity by shifting as much as you can to the cloud.
There are plenty of other areas you could focus on, but we’d recommend starting with the above in 2021, because they represent the most common concerns for businesses in this new reality.
Why asking for help is no bad thing
While it might be tempting to create your own IT plan, finding the time to do so might be a little unrealistic.
This is why companies like Compex exist. We’ve helped countless businesses, big and small, create brilliant, workable IT plans.
Whether you need us to create one for you or simply provide the advice and guidance needed to build your own, give the Compex team a call and hit them with your questions!