Risks and benefits of investing in IT in 2020

If there is one thing we can say for sure, it is the fact that IT is already dominating our daily lives and businesses. No matter what you do, you can probably find dozens of tools and apps to help you speed up the process. 

According to a report, the global IT market is worth more than $2.4 trillion. It is obviously a game-changing trend of the 21^st century, but does it mean you have to invest in IT to improve your business? 

There is no easy answer here because it depends on the purpose and the nature of your company, but we can help you by presenting the risks and benefits of investing in IT in 2020. Let’s take a look!

Advantages of IT in business

We begin with the list of IT pros, so let’s waste no time here:

• Comparative advantage

Business leaders are much more likely to invest in new technologies than their less agile competitors. Leaders understand the value of modern tools and that’s why they enjoy experimenting with cutting-edge IT trends. 

You don’t even need to go beyond simple platforms to understand what makes IT devices and programs so beneficial. For instance, we bet you are not using the ancient pen-and-paper approach anymore because computers make the work much faster.

• Productivity boost

It doesn’t take an IT expert to realize that new technologies can help businesses to boost productivity. Almost everything you do can be completed more efficiently with the help of IT platforms. Think about data analytics for instance – a typical employee would take years to go through massive information libraries, while big data tools do the same job within minutes. 

• Greater flexibility

IT also makes entire teams more flexible and adaptable. If you purchase a reliable program and automate a portion of work, then you and your team can spend more time focusing on other tasks and activities. Such a high level of flexibility is impossible to reach without IT programs and gadgets.

• Strengthen employee morale

Let’s imagine two workers: One employee has to do everything manually, while the other can delegate large portions of work to the state of the art software. Who do you think would be more satisfied with their jobs? 

The answer is clear – IT strengthens employee morale because it makes the job more comfortable and easier to complete. 

• Security 

No matter how careful you are, you are not immune and safe from hackers and malware attacks. A study even reveals that nearly 70% of business leaders feel their cybersecurity risks are increasing.

This is where IT tools play a major role because they protect you from all sorts of cybersecurity threats. Although you cannot stay perfectly safe 100% of the time, antivirus software keeps an eye on your work and helps you fend off the vast majority of attacks.

Disadvantages of IT in business

Now let’s take a look at the downsides of IT in business:

• IT tools are a costly investment

Many entrepreneurs believe that IT tools are free of charge, but that’s not exactly true. While you can find a lot of free platforms and trial versions online, the fact remains that the best and most reliable tools come with a hefty price tag. Apart from that, free versions are not as good as paid tools.

• The time needed to deploy new technologies

There are two time-related issues we should mention here:

• It often takes some time to deploy new technologies and incorporate them fully into your system.
• Your employees might be struggling to learn how to use a new tool, especially if it’s complex and packed with various functions and features.

• Security risks

We mentioned security as one of the greatest benefits of investing in IT, but the concept has a different face as well. Namely, security risks pile up as you keep adding more tools and programs to your internal system. This makes it more difficult for security experts to protect your firm and make it resistant to the growing number of hacker attacks. 

• Data regulation

Finally, IT tools store a lot of information about your customers and you’ll need to take care of data regulations. This type of risk is closely related to the previous one on the list because it takes a powerful data protection mechanism to administer client-related information safely and securely.

The bottom line

Entrepreneurs looking for a way to improve their businesses should certainly consider investing in modern tools and technologies, but is it always a good solution? We showed you the pros and cons of investing in IT in 2020, but you are the one who needs to compare the advantages and disadvantages based on your business needs. What is your first impression – can IT take your firm to the next level?

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(Featured image by Christina Morillo via Pexels)

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