The changing face of IT

So Ant and Dec are back on Saturday prime time after winning at the National Television Awards for the 16th year running, Newcastle United fans are getting excited and Sunderland are hoping to play their ‘get out of jail free’ card yet again. It would appear that some things never change. 

The same certainly can’t be said for the IT sector. 

Back when I first started, you probably wouldn’t have described IT as a strategic resource in most small and medium-sized businesses, and it’s easy to forget how clunky everything was. 

If it broke, you’d pay someone to come and fix it. Hence the term ‘break-fix’. 

As reliance on technology started to increase, what was previously frustrating or irritating became genuinely disabling. 

TSG SystemCare was amongst the first to bring enterprise-level monitoring to the SME market, allowing potential issues to be predicted, pinpointed and resolved before they became problems. 

It was all about ‘keeping the lights on’ and the focus was still as much on the nuts and bolts as it was on the strategic value. 

For many, technology remains a cost rather than an investment. But an increasing number of businesses are looking for solutions that will help them to operate more effectively, bringing improvements to both the top line and the bottom line. 

The IT Manager is transforming into the CIO and is being joined in the boardroom by the business transformation team, and their aim is to create a technology roadmap that will futureproof the business. 

However, the challenge is often knowing what questions to ask and whilst most are using technology at home, they don’t necessarily understand exactly how it fits and what’s required to make it work in their business. 

Every business will have its own priorities. There’s no right or wrong place to start and it makes sense to tackle one piece of the jigsaw at a time, as long as you always understand how they fit together in the bigger picture. 

As an industry, we need to redefine our offer and make ‘next generation’ IT support the norm. 

Keeping the lights on will always be a key priority, but with technologies such as Office 365 and Datto now in the mix even that’s changed beyond recognition. 

Aligning technology with business strategy will become increasingly important. That’s why we’re taking our Futuretech events around the country to help our customers understand how to get started or progress on that transformation journey. 

Quick wins and ROI will help transform the way business managers perceive the rather nebulous concept of digital transformation, and that’s critical if it’s not just going to become a white elephant. 

I’m excited about what might come next and how it will make the difference for our customers – it’s what gets me up in the morning. 

And whilst I don’t dislike Ant and Dec, I certainly hope my viewing options will be something other than I’m a Celebrity…., Britain’s Got Talent or Saturday Night Takeaway in a couple of years’ time, however, if we could keep Strictly that would be great! 

If you want to find out more about starting your digital transformation journey, sign up to our Futuretech Midlands or Futuretech North West events now.