The Business IT Challenges That Aren’t as Painful as You Might Think

No business gets to be big and successful without overcoming a numerous challenges along the way.

Some of these challenges might seem so complicated that the mere thought of them brings you out in a cold sweat. However, the most common ones can be resolved painlessly with a bit of planning and a bit of IT expertise.

A Move to New Premises

There are a lot of different reasons for considering making the move to new premises. Maybe the business has become so successful that a bigger location is needed, or maybe a change is needed to kick-start the company. Whatever the reason for this move, it is sure to be something that few people in the organization look forward to. All sorts of things can go wrong with an office move, and the main negative result is time being taken from the important things that need to be done to grow the business.

The IT infrastructure in the new place should be load tested and fully understood before you move. To make the IT transition less painful you need to put someone in charge of managing network passwords, cabling, computer moves etc. Having a dedicated contact means that everyone knows who to go to, and where to find the information they need.

Provided the person given the responsibility of overseeing the move is organised and creates some simple checklists, the operation should go pretty smoothly. A move to new premises can be exciting for your staff and, if done correctly, will help them to enjoy work more. You could give them the chance to have input into the new office layout, the kitchen facilities, or anything else you know will be of interest to them. They should also feed into the set up of their work station.

The Switch to Cloud Computing

We have all heard of cloud computing before and most people will be aware of the benefits it can bring. Cloud computing is essential for a geographically dispersed team, but can also offer other benefits to your team as well. An interesting study by cloud service specialists Cloudamour indicates that the main concerns for companies moving to the cloud are security, cost, administration time and the effect on staff. Clearly these are all vitally important areas and no business leader will want their firm to take risks on these issues.

However, the same study goes on to show that the majority of companies move over to Cloud computing with far fewer problems than they had expected. One issue to bear in mind is that while 72% of companies saw no change in the role of their IT managers, 36% said that a lack of understanding about cloud computing held back their transition.

When it comes to business IT change management, one of the biggest positives is that people are increasingly comfortable with modern technology. For example, when it comes to adopting cloud computing services in your firm, there are almost certainly going to be at least a few members of staff who have already used it in their personal lives at some point.

Finding the Right Staff

It is always a tough job to hire the right staff for your company, especially when it comes to filling the most demanding IT roles. This is certainly a delicate matter and must be done right in order to benefit the business. It is far from impossible, though.

The first step to getting this hiring right is to draw up a job specification. Once this is done you can work out what level of financial package would be needed to reward someone doing this job. The good news for your business is that the recent financial problems have left many workers looking for a new challenge. The job market is filled with top class candidates for many roles now, and you could get a quality member of staff if you go about the recruitment process in the right way. Advertising online is the most convenient and expedient way for most companies to find new staff these days.

The biggest challenge comes when an IT role requires diverse knowledge and skills. For example, candidates with several programming languages, sharepoint knowledge, and specialist security knowledge are few and far between. When projects require rare skills it is the norm to employ IT contractors on short term contracts. An IT recruitment agency can help you with the logistics of finding and employing people.

Coping with Change in General

Many people get worried about any kind of change at work, which is the main reason why companies can find it difficult to push through much-needed IT changes. This could be a new computer system, new computer based training practices, or something as simple as an upgrade in MS Office.

The situation gets worse when yours is a company that has not historically changed much because everyone is settled into their routines. However, when looked at in the right way a change can provide a new challenge, stimulate staff and can get everyone pushing in the same direction with more efficiency.

The key in the majority of cases is to get staff buy in right from the outset of your IT change project. This means that instead of imposing change on them it is far better to involve them in the process. This can be done by setting up a project team that includes members from different areas of the business, having project ambassadors, and getting stakeholder input throughout the process. With a high level of transparency and genuine staff input any sort of change can go through a lot more smoothly than you might initially have thought.

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