The average employee loses 22 minutes each day on information technology (IT) issues, hindering productivity, jeopardizing the security of sensitive data, and compromising company processes.
Apart from solving all of that, the upshot of managed solutions for IT issues is that they also increase job satisfaction — 92% of employees say having technology that helps them do their jobs efficiently makes them happier at work. Luckily, specialized IT service providers are there to assist no matter the issue.
This article lists the most common IT issues that affect organizations of all sizes and profiles and provides ways to address them head-on.
Table of Contents
1. Poor Network Security Measures
Bad or no security practices at all can pose a great threat to your business and its database of sensitive files. This is why keeping your network secure is a critical consideration for any organization’s IT sector, regardless of size.
Moreover, smaller businesses are at a greater risk of having their network breached because they often do not have robust security policies in place, making them ideal targets for malicious actors.
To ensure your network and technology devices are safe and secure, proactively seek solutions such as:
- Multi-factor authentication
- Firewalls and other forms of connectivity security
- Data back-ups
- Training employees in security principles
- Keeping passwords particularly secure
2. Outdated Equipment
Businesses using outdated, obsolete equipment are also at risk of experiencing severe technical difficulties. Small businesses with budget restraints are particularly affected, while other companies suffer from the complexity of integrating new hardware into their IT infrastructure.
While the fact that old tech equipment may malfunction is evident, the true danger lies in the inability to receive new software updates, making it prone to cyberattacks.
It is important to maintain your equipment regularly and stave off the inevitable decline for as long as possible. It’s also vital to use support services, replace parts of the IT infrastructure, and, whenever possible, factor in new equipment within the limits of your budget.
Consulting with IT experts is especially needed in this case, as their advice can limit your expenditure and help you work within your budget. They can also help with freezing, crashing, and the general slow performance of your hardware, but more on that in a bit.
3. Untrained and Inexperienced Staff
Human error accounts for most IT issues. These errors can happen out of negligence or lack of focus but, often, they're the outcome of untrained and inexperienced staff.
While the technicality of operating certain systems may be complicated, your in-house staff that works on maintaining these systems (or the IT service provider that you hired) can assist in training all pertinent employees in this regard.
Ideally, IT management professionals should maintain and monitor web hosting, data storage, servers, and other aspects of a company’s IT infrastructure. This also positively affects productivity, as your in-house is free to tackle existing or new projects.
4. Data Loss and Lack of Recovery Plan
Losing 100 important files can incur financial losses of up to $35,000 for any business, with large-scale damages being in the millions.
Organizations can lose their data due to many reasons, such as:
- Cyberattacks
- Equipment malfunction
- Human error
- Power outage
- Catastrophic events
To soften the blow these threats present to your business, you need to have a detailed disaster recovery plan in place that would consist of cloud-based data backup, IT support contacts, backup servers, and external storage.
Cloud services use multiple security measures that let you store and access your sensitive information from anywhere in the world.
5. Loss of Passwords
Another inevitable occurrence in the workplace is that people will forget their passwords. It is also one of the most frequently recurring issues with IT troubleshooting services.
This is a highly disruptive event that can damage your team’s productivity and affect the final output levels. To avoid this, your organization should use software that allows you to generate thousands of very strong passwords and secure them in an online, cloud-based vault.
Tools like Zoho Vault, Dashlane, LastPass, and NordPass have multiple recovery options, making them quite cost-effective solutions, as most of their pricing tiers are very reasonable.
6. Slow Performance
As we mentioned with outdated equipment, computers, servers, and other components that perform slowly can hinder your company’s productivity and affect employees’ job satisfaction. The slow performance is often caused by outdated or simply poorly chosen hardware, depending on your needs.
While upgrading the hardware is the only foolproof solution, there are certain measures you can take before that is feasible.
Inefficient Use of RAM
In case end-point systems have insufficient random-access memory (RAM), instruct your staff to keep open only those applications that they use. For example, if they have too many tabs open in their browsers or a lot of apps running in the background, this can significantly slow down the device if it doesn’t have enough RAM.
Keeping only what you need open reduces the usage of RAM.
Lack of Hard Drive Space
Another common cause of slow-performing systems is the lack of sufficient space on the computers’ hard drives.
If there is too much data on employees’ drives where the operating system (OS) is installed, the entire system may slow down.
Malicious Files and Viruses
Systems that are infected with malware are usually slowed down, apparently for no reason at all. If you’ve determined that the system’s specifications are adequate, but it’s still slowing down, you might want to check for malware.
Antivirus, antimalware, and anti-spyware software are essential nowadays, so make sure your entire IT infrastructure is equipped with appropriate cybersecurity solutions.
7. Unrestricted Access to Data and Other Information
Your organization’s employees need access to certain data and files so that they can perform their tasks efficiently and successfully. However, not all of them need access to all the files and data in your IT system.
While this isn’t necessarily an IT issue at face value, all employees having access to sensitive data presents an additional attack vector that malicious actors may exploit.
When giving your employees access to certain data systems, make sure each of them gets access only to those systems they need for specific job duties, i.e., practice the principle of least privilege.
8. Accidentally Deleted Files
One of the most common IT problems, but also one that is very easy to avoid, is losing files to accidental deletions.
As soon as the file is deleted — and in case whoever deletes them notices that right away — you should inspect the recycle bin to see if the file is there. Restoring it is quite easy in this case. Also, if you know the file’s name, try searching for it in case it got accidentally moved instead of deleted.
To prevent any accidental permanent file deletions, it is advisable to use programs that sync all your system files to cloud drive systems, such as Google Drive, OneDrive or your provider’s cloud storage.
This effectively creates a copy of your file and saves it to the cloud so that even if in the unfortunate event that you do delete the file permanently, the most recent version can be downloaded from the cloud.
However, even that doesn’t guarantee that your files are completely safe from being lost, as cyberattacks also target cloud-stored data. Now that syncing files to the cloud is not enough, it is also advisable to have a backup IT cloud solution that would fully eliminate the risk of permanent file loss.
Finally, if you are certain that your file is lost and you don’t use cloud storage, look for specialized IT support partners that can help you recover lost files. Top-quality IT providers will automatically back up all your data, making sure that any files you lost can be recovered quickly and efficiently.
9. Software Incompatibility
Another common IT issue faced by many organizations is software incompatibility. This primarily happens when businesses introduce new software that doesn't integrate well with their existing systems. These compatibility glitches could:
- Hamper your productivity as obstacles begin to surface during regular tasks
- Lead to data losses and security issues
Testing your new software with existing systems for conflicts can ensure seamless integration. Firms often employ professional IT services for this critical task, lending their expertise in identifying potential problems.
Also, modern software vendors offer the necessary support to ensure their products can blend well within your existing IT architecture.
10. Insufficient IT Support
To cap things off, one final overarching issue can simply be insufficient IT support. As you’ve seen, there are plenty of potential setbacks your business can experience, and without a dedicated IT team, solving some of them may prove very challenging.
When you're faced with IT complications, you need experienced professionals who can not only address the problems quickly but also provide preventative solutions to minimize future disruptions. When this level of support is absent, the resulting downtime can impact your business considerably.
What’s more, the stress stemming from unresolved IT problems can deteriorate both the morale and efficiency of your employees.
IT Issues: Key Takeaways
With so many IT issues businesses face daily, having a reliable and ample IT support system has become a must. It not only keeps the operations in motion but also ensures the company can function at full efficiency with minimal technical interruptions.
FAQs
What is the biggest IT challenge?
One of the biggest IT challenges is staying ahead of cybersecurity threats. The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks not only threatens data privacy but also disrupts operations, putting an organization's reputation and customer trust at stake.
