3 Smart and Strategic IT Investments Every Company Should Have

Pushed forward by a phenomenon known as the Internet of Things (IoT), we are now going through the 4th Industrial Revolution, aptly called Industry 4.0. In short, the Internet of Things is a network of various devices, machines, vehicles, and appliances that have built-in software and sensors.

These devices can connect and exchange data between themselves, creating numerous opportunities for direct integration of physical objects into digital systems. It will result in higher overall efficiency, reduced human activity, and plenty of economic benefits.

As one would expect, these technologies have been a genuinely disruptive force, not only in our day-to-day lives but the business environment as well. More and more companies are turning to these technologies to not only increase their efficiency, lower their costs, and increase revenue, but also to remain competitive in the market.

With that said, here are three smart and strategic IT investments that every company needs to make to take full advantage of the IoT.

The Cloud

Cloud computing is one of the most sought-after IT investments out there and with good reason, too. There are plenty of benefits that this technology can bring to a business. For starters, it provides flexibility where users can scale the services provided to fit their own needs. They can also customize applications and access these cloud services from anywhere there is an internet connection.

Companies can also determine the level of control with various as-a-service options such as software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS). And since data storage is remote, organizations will no longer have to pay for servers and other necessary equipment. It also means that any hardware damage will not result in data loss.

Cybersecurity

Cybercrime is at an all-time high, mainly because more and more devices are connected to the internet, providing hackers with additional avenues to get into the system. Half of all small to mid-sized organizations reported at least one such attack in 2017, with global spending to prevent these crimes exceeding $80 billion in that same year. Statistics also show that the total cost of cybercrime is estimated to reach $2 trillion by as early as 2019, going up by $1.5 trillion since 2015.

For all the damage that it can prevent, cybersecurity is not given enough attention and businesses are not investing enough to keep their data and hardware secure. The probable reason for this is that the more one invests in cybersecurity, the less visible its benefits are. In other words, when a proper security system is put in place, nothing out of the ordinary will happen.

Staff Training

Even though training is not an IT investment, per se, it is, nevertheless, a critical aspect that needs to be given necessary attention. Surveys have shown that the second most significant security risk, after outdated software (51%), is the employees themselves (48%). The reason for this is somewhat straightforward. Aside from the occasional human error that tends to happen now and again, your staff can fall victim to all sorts of social engineering scams allowing hackers to get inside the company's network.

Secondly, is the issue of your employees not knowing how to leverage new technologies to better provide for your customers' needs, to manage internal processes or your business strategy.

Conclusion

While this list is not exhaustive, we believe that these are the most basic and urgent IT investments that every company should have. At Titanium Cobra, we provide our clients with services that include Project Management, Systems Engineering, Management Consulting, and Training Services. For more information, do not hesitate to contact us.