Technology continues to adapt for the better. Driverless cars, drones delivering packages and wearables are all examples of IT innovation companies across the globe are working towards to make the world a more manageable place to live in.

IT innovation isn’t without obstacles, however.

Management is always pushing their IT staff to come up with the next big thing because IT innovation helps fuel profits. But the daily more immediate responsibilities of IT staffers often puts IT innovation on the shelf.

According to a report in Baseline Magazine, which polled 2,785 global IT professionals, there are eight important IT barriers preventing professionals from following through with development of IT innovation.

Addressing and Preventing Security Issues

Security is undoubtedly an important aspect of maintaining IT infrastructure. Breaches, malware, ensuring former employees don’t have their hands on important passwords – these are all day-to-day concerns IT staffers must address. These IT barriers sometimes take so much time that they preempt any creative or groundbreaking innovations in IT. 25% of the survey group chose security as the number one barrier to innovations in IT.

Monitoring Infrastructure and App Performance

Performance monitoring is a crucial aspect of IT. System downtime can limit productivity and in extreme cases shut down operations, preventing profitability. There’s no question IT can be a stressful job, considering responsibility for maintaining key infrastructure uptime. IT employees need to always be on their toes, identifying and solving issues with infrastructure the moment they arise.

Deploying New Technology

It may be innovative, it may not be. Whenever a company makes updates, whether it’s a hardware refresh, transitioning from Lync to Skype for Business or just keeping up with the latest trends and ensuring your business is taking advantage of all the tools it can be, IT professionals need to stay on top of new trends in technology.

Time, Budgets and Resources

You have an innovative idea, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Company budget is too thin. You don’t have the development team at your disposal to deploy certain aspects of your project. These three important IT barriers can quickly put your innovative ideas at a standstill.

Business Issues

Business issues, whether it be miscommunication or shifting priorities can deter from innovations in IT. Maybe your boss doesn’t understand technology and his priorities are elsewhere. Maybe you spend more time focused on current business or even customer needs. Vendor management often falls on the IT department, and can be a stressful endeavor given so many moving parts.

Data Management and Storage

Data storage and maintaining an internal data warehouse can be costly and time consuming IT barriers. Backing up the servers, setting rules and ensuring accessibility is one responsibility that can take priority over innovation.

Managing BYOD

Nobody wants to be the iPhone police, but BYOD policies can cause a headache and suck time from IT pros. From drafting the policy in the first place to ensuring Susie doesn’t connect her personal laptop to the company network at Starbucks, your IT staff is responsible for enforcing and securing more devices than ever before. It gets even more challenging with Wearables entering the mainstream.

Automation & Reporting

Automation isn’t as simple as it sounds. “Oh, just automate it, you won’t have to do anything,” they say. Implementing system automation isn’t automatic. Neither are meeting the reporting demands of executives or clients.

Save Your Most Important IT Resource for Innovation

Is your IT staff feeling pinched by their daily responsibilities and these IT barriers to the point where IT innovation is an afterthought? Many of these IT barriers can be broken, freeing up valuable time for your internal IT staff to focus more heavily on growing business through IT innovation.

ThrottleNet provides Managed Network solutions for small business that address many of these IT barriers, including 24/7 monitoring, remote support, Virtual CIO services, Cloud Storage, IT Consulting and even Vendor Management.

Outsourcing some of the day-to-day to a local, trusted firm can save your business money in the long-run, by allowing your IT staffers to focus on what they’re really good at. While we agree your IT employees are experts at putting out fires, they are also possess knowledge suited for developing innovative solutions to help your business grow.

Contact us at ThrottleNet to learn more today!