How have IT infrastructures changed in the last year?

Last year saw many companies forced into making changes to their IT infrastructures that they likely will not have planned on making. This has meant that many “quick fix” solutions will have been implemented without the usual rigorous planning and testing that is normally undertaken.

A recent article by McKinsey noted the dramatic transformation that business operations underwent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their global survey of business executives indicated that businesses have accelerated the digitisation of their operations by as much as three to four years.

Unfortunately, in the course of this lightning-fast transformation, many organisations did not keep security front of mind, as the many headlines covering the spike in successful ransomware and data theft incidents have made clear. It is no surprise that 51% of IT decision-makers attributed greater vulnerability to increased working from home.

Now businesses are playing catch-up with the changes to their IT landscape, as well as some items that may have been missed off during the adaptation to working from home. The main area of concern being, ensuring the same level of security for remote workers as those in the office.

Before pandemic disruptions, nearly three quarters, 72%, of CISOs and CIOs planned to implement zero-trust security in 2020. Zero trust security strategies are designed to “never trust, always verify”. Whilst these would have been large projects for businesses to undertake without the added pressures of the pandemic, now it is even bigger given the extra work needed to include the large-scale adoption or remote working. 

Many businesses are now working to ensure that both the user and the device connecting into the corporate network are verified before providing access to data. The popularity and demand for products such as Microsoft InTune or AirWatch have increased as businesses adapt to the new way of working. The traditional perimeter of the corporate network has now been removed with every employee’s device becoming the perimeter. So we have seen a change in the adoption of new technologies to help further protect the endpoint.

Another area we have witnessed a significant change is with telephony. Many clients who had traditional phone systems installed within their office have accelerated their plans to move to a new cloud-based solution. We’ve found that Microsoft Teams has been the most popular choice across our client base. Having one central system for collaboration, Instant Messaging and telephony has really helped the efficiency of teams working at home.

The adoption of Office 365 as a whole has also accelerated, albeit the majority of firms were already using part of the product suite already. Over the past 12 months, we have completed tens of Office 365 migrations for clients as they look to gain the advantages that cloud computing can bring to their business.

The last 12 months have shown how, as an industry, IT providers and technology can really play a vital role in accelerating growth within the economy. Ten years ago it would have been far more difficult for businesses to survive throughout a global pandemic when the workforce was largely prevented from leaving their homes. Improvements in connectivity and collaboration tools, as well as developments in Cyber Security, have provided the opportunity for many businesses to continue functioning during an unprecedented change to life as we know it.

As a Managed Service Provider we are incredibly proud of our team. They have played a huge role in helping our clients survive and thrive through the last 12 months.