The IT nightmares keeping leaders up at night

Communication issues

At times colleagues make some strange requests of IT. It can be annoying, frustrating, or even laughable but we’ve all had to deal with it over the years.

From questionable business decisions like buying software that can’t be installed to supporting out-of-date Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions – or putting the metaverse centre stage for marketing – participants of Brother’s recent survey have seen it all.

In the survey, we asked IT Decision Makers for their biggest IT nightmares, revealing real-life examples of IT nightmares. One IT nightmare roll moment involved a colleague photographing a handwritten note only to send it on as an email. In another exasperating incident a staff member replied to a helpdesk request to press the windows key with ‘it’s just a sticker’ – who knew?

In other cases, IT were called upon to help with technical set-ups even though devices were unplugged or not switched on. As one participant put it ‘there’s nothing going on without electricity’. We feel your frustration.

Joking aside, communication is key for IT leaders, and things like bad quality video or internet can make the task of helping others even tougher. This brings us to the top working from home challenges…

Working from home challenges for IT decision makers/CIOs

With more colleagues working from home on a regular basis, IT leaders have had to utilise all their skills to adapt. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.

One issue many of you mentioned was the feasibility of ‘bring your own device’ in a non-cloud environment. A classic nightmare moment was colleagues wanting to use their own personal devices but not being as keen on having management or security software installed on it by the business. You can’t have it both ways, right?

With a rise in hybrid working, it’s vital to provide workers with all the right equipment to succeed. Many IT leaders are now looking for a solutions-based approach to support their evolving workforce. Challenges here included the saturation of remote access at busy times and the increased threat of cyber-attacks. Again, highlighting the need to equip remote workers with secure devices.

Cybersecurity and passwords mistakes

Cybersecurity is a dominating issue for IT leaders, from the financial threat of phishing attacks to keeping hardware, like office printers, secure and online.

Security is a major concern and something most of you are constantly assisting with, but it has its moments too. The subject of passwords provided one of the biggest eye-roll moments/IT challenges of the last year; do some of these sound familiar?

• Passwords sent in plain text via email
• Users continuing to choose bad passwords which have been previously breached or don’t meet criteria
• Ignoring password update prompts or the mishandling of sensitive data
• Request for administrative rights to install unnecessary/non-work-related software

These day-to-day annoyances seem fairly regular for IT staff, but those surveyed had bigger concerns around the repercussions and growth in cyber-attacks – especially hacking and ransomware.

For example, the hacking of a rural German district Anhalt-Bitterfield where a cyber-attack paralysed the entire IT infrastructure. Others were troubled by hospitals becoming a target and the double, or even triple, extortion of ransomware.

Staff training is paramount to propping up cyber security as they are the first line of defence in any breach. Elsewhere in the survey 51% of respondents said their company didn’t offer or know about security training – that’s an IT nightmare waiting to happen.

In a slightly more humorous response, one IT leader found themselves ‘explaining not to give credit card details to a stranger on the Internet pretending to be Microsoft.’ Yikes!

Brother's hardware, services and solutions provide triple-layer security across your network, devices and documents. Learn more at Security by Brother.

Real-world events of 2023

Sometimes it’s not the everyday annoyances but bigger world events keeping IT leaders up at night. The $44 billion deal by Elon Musk to takeover Twitter (now rebranded to “X”) caused a few headaches, along with advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The emergence of ChatGPT and how to implement the Large Language Model (LLM) into digital transformation plans got a mention too, along with the increased capabilities of artificial intelligence and the pressure from directors to implement it almost instantaneously.

Ronak Halani, Chief Operating Officer at Agile Automations said: “The pace at which technology like AI is developing can be a cause for concern, because it is so rapid. There is a real fear of missing out which every IT decision maker will recognise. However, the constant reminder to not get left behind can become an annoyance for many as it takes strategic planning and proper implementation. It can’t just happen overnight.”

If these IT challenges are keeping you up at night, Brother is at your side to help. Find advice here.