When the credit crunch hit Britain in late 2008 and early 2009, it was a tough time for British businesses, but now many companies in the country are experiencing a tech crunch. This development is quite unexpected for many, but predictable for others, given the developments in AI that are occurring in the U.S. and China.
Interestingly, it’s not about supply chain disruption or economic headwinds. Instead, it’s much more related to the complexity of the IT environments. Many firms have to deal with compliance, IT infrastructure issues, and cybersecurity threats, making computer use in the modern workspace more challenging than ever.
Solutions 4 IT an IT Support firm that works with UK businesses said the following:
“British companies are having to adapt rapidly to a changing IT environment, which seems to refresh itself every few years as new technologies become available. It’s not just about dealing with issues when employees get locked out of their emails or calling a friendly representative to receive hot desk support. Instead, it’s more about how businesses are struggling to build ecosystems while also delivering hybrid working models and native cloud operations. Every time a company thinks it’s reached the next rung on the IT ladder, it discovers that there are significantly more steps to climb.”
Hybrid work and IT challenges
One of the biggest issues since the pandemic has been companies trying to manage both hybrid work and IT challenges. For a lot of firms, it’s a security nightmare, especially when employees take their computers and phones outside the office and leave them on trains. The geographic dispersion of workers in the UK is destroying the perimeter defence of most conventional corporate IT departments. Remote workers’ Wi-Fi can drop mid-presentation during critical client calls, and synchronisation with business cloud apps can fail.
The challenge is combining consumer-grade digital devices that workers are using in coffee shops with enterprise-grade security and uptime solutions. Historically, the two did not go together, and even today it remains challenging, with many systems outside businesses’ control. A lot of IT managers are calling the current situation a form of chaos.
Changes in working practices and regulations mean that companies are in a difficult position and are finding it much harder to get workers to comply, not even mentioning the technology frictions that now exist but didn’t before. One of the biggest issues, and one of the reasons why many companies are going directly to IC support, is problems with authentication tools.
Solutions 4 IT goes deeper:
“When an employee gets locked out of their authentication tools, it can be very challenging to get them to log back in. This is why secure backups of all of their login credentials and information are critical. Companies that don’t do this can find themselves reinventing the wheel and taking their employees through onboarding processes again, while also losing any content that was on non-shared accounts.”
Changing cyber threat environment
At the same time, the cyber threat environment is changing substantially, with the rise of AI hacking and the ability to quickly find vulnerabilities. Many companies are finding themselves at the mercy of overseas challenges. Cybercriminals view many UK SMEs as soft targets and stepping stones into larger supply chain networks and data.
Botnets are now being used to farm information from practically every British business, regardless of size, meaning that traditional break-fix approaches to IT are fundamentally unsound. It’s now essential for companies in the industry to take a proactive approach to defending themselves against the threats they face. If they don’t, they could face investigation by authorities while also losing significant value. They may also ruin their relationship with their customers if they are unable to implement preventative measures to reduce data loss.
Many progressive IT support companies are now moving towards managed security service provider (MSSP) models compared to traditional support operations. The goal here is to provide clients with real automated threat intelligence and endpoint monitoring, while also implementing multi-factor authentication, one of the most effective methods for keeping criminals out of critical systems.
At the AI revolution
At the same time, AI is revolutionising and reshaping the help desk. Artificial intelligence has become a regular boardroom discussion in companies across Britain, as many try to understand what its impact will be on their IT and operations. What’s happening is often much more subtle than many company leaders imagine.
AI is changing what businesses need IT support for. That’s a given, but it’s also changing the way IT support gets delivered. One-tier help desks, usually bogged down by password reset requests and basic troubleshooting, are now being augmented with AI and virtual agents. It’s no longer necessary to field experienced staff for these simple tasks.
Meanwhile, human operators are providing more sophisticated support for users who have significant problems. They’re not available 24 hours a day, but they can focus on more high-value and strategic initiatives that push the company forwards.
At the same time, there are challenges regarding the introduction of AI in organisations. Many departments are developing their own shadow IT infrastructures that remain unvetted by the IT department itself. For example, many are using unvetted or custom-built software tools that don’t appropriately fit the business’s objectives or regulatory requirements. This is one of the reasons why IT support is becoming more of a governance partner for many organisations.
Moving away from being a cost centre
Finally, IT support is moving away from being a cost centre and something to minimise, and is becoming a critical part of business infrastructure that supports growth. Previously, it was viewed as a line item and something that was unavoidable for keeping the company running. Employees needed working tools that they could use to get the job done, but with advances in AI and other digital technologies, that’s no longer the case.
Forward-thinking businesses are now seeing IT support as a partner they can work with to fix more than just broken routers or end users locked out of their accounts. Instead, it’s all about strategic direction and vision.