Budget Restrictions, Security Demands Top IT Challenges Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Shortly after the dawn of 2020, the new year brought with it a global pandemic, and life as we knew it changed. And industries were forced to evolve over night amid a shifting economy and workforce.  The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the IT industry, in particular, as IT professionals were charged with keeping institutions afloat, helping millions of U.S. workers transition to remote work and more.

Overcrowded hospital systems. Air travel cancellations. Remote work. All of these challenges put IT professionals on “center stage”, says a new white paper from Service Express.

“IT professionals were forced to enact business continuity plans on a grand scale, help over 16. million U.S. workers quickly transition to remote work, while meeting organizational demands shaped by the effects of COVID-19,” Service Express shared.

The white paper explores results from a Service Express survey undertaken in an effort to understand the IT experience during this crisis. The report shares the findings and insights from almost 300 participants in an effort to show readers how their peers  pivoted and to take a look at what’s ahead in 2021.

The top three ways COVID-19 impacted IT plans, according to the report, are:

1. Additional technology demands due to working remotely
2. Budget restrictions
3. Increased security demands

Service Express pointed out that higher revenue companies indicated that security demands had a greater impact than budget restrictions. That said, responses from those at lower revenue companies found budget restrictions to carry a greater impact.

As for spending, a significant 37% of IT professionals surveyed  said that their spending was cut in the short-term during the early months of the pandemic.

But there’s good news, says Service Express as 2021 spending outlooks shows signs of rebounding.

Additional stats found in the report cover infrastructure project delays as the most significant challenge for IT stemming from COVID-19 at 26% of respondents.

“The effects of COVID-19 have shown organizations the value of digitizing key processes, improving the customer experience and leveraging technology to increase revenue and customer success.” — Service Express

But again — there’s a bright spot. According to the report, survey results indicate that IT professionals were prepared to deal with the impact of COVID-19 crisis on their IT operations, including  streamlined decision-making, resource reallocation and swift action.

“A high preparedness rating could point to most everyone in the organization being able to pivot to working at home early on. The IT department was able to or had already provided the required laptops, monitors, system applications, and VPN options to equip employees with the necessary resources and access to be productive remotely as quickly as possible,” the report highlights.

Moving forward into 2021, Service Express contends the new year will be one  of accelerated digital transformation.

Download the full white paper, “COVID-19 IT Response & Recovery Report,” courtesy of Service Express, to find quick insights into how IT navigated through remote work demands, supply chain disruptions, increases security requirements and more to keep business operations moving forward.