In 2023, generative AI forced businesses to throw away their old playbook and rewrite a new one as the rules of the game changed. Governments around the world started imposing regulations on the tech sector. Add to that the rising geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, cybersecurity attacks and data breaches and IT leaders have their work cut out.
2024 will bring new challenges. CIOs will have to drive digital transformation initiatives to success during tough economic conditions. Businesses need to be flexible and adaptable to changes in order to stay relevant in today’s dynamic IT and business world.
The more nimble and agile your business is, the better it can cope with these challenges. There will be some warning signs that you should keep an eye on in order to thrive in 2024. In this article, you will learn about six warning signs CIOs should keep an eye out for in 2024.
6 Warning Signs IT Leaders Should Watch Out For In 2024
Here are six warning signs IT leaders should watch out for in 2024.
Talent Shortfall
The demand and supply gap in the cybersecurity industry is widening with each passing day. There are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions but not enough qualified candidates to fill in those open positions. Despite mass layoffs across the tech sector, the talent shortfall issue is not going away anytime soon. Combine that with rising employee turnover rate, hiring will become a daunting challenge in 2024.
IT leaders must identify the root cause of rising employee turnover rate and address employee grievances to retain their top talent. After all, you don’t want to loose your best employees in an environment where finding the best cybersecurity talent is not easy.
Organizations must look to provide an employee friendly work environment that can help them feel right at home even when they are at work. Instead of asking your employees to work on mundane, boring and repetitive tasks, you should automate them to free them up. Once they are free from these repetitive tasks, they can focus more on value driving activities.
Skill gap is another issue that IT leaders might have to deal with in 2024. New technologies, platforms, frameworks and tools are introduced every month and businesses should upskill their workforce to take advantage of these tools. Organize training programs and encourage employees to learn new skills so they can take full advantage of new tools and technologies.
Rising Cloud Costs
Most businesses have already migrated their workloads from cheap dedicated servers to the cloud. Sadly, their cloud implementation is not reaping the rewards as their cloud costs are rising slowly. To make matters worse, a large percentage of their cloud budgets goes to waste. If your business is experiencing similar issues, you need to focus on optimizing cloud resource utilization and only acquire resources you need.
This will keep your cloud costs under control and help you pay only for resources you use. The added benefit of scalability and flexibility is only worth it when your cloud costs are in check. There is no point in jumping on the cloud when you can not make the most of the advantages offered by the technology.
Rapid Changes In AI Regulations
2023 was a breakthrough year for artificial intelligence in general and generative AI in particular. Expect 2024 to be the same. The only difference would be governments and regulatory bodies racing to regulate the technology. 2024 will be the year where AI regulations will be everywhere, irrespective of industry and location.
If your business has already put AI into the pilot or implementation phase, you need to take these regulations seriously as it can derail your implementation. Take some time out to learn about all the AI regulations that apply to your business and find ways to comply with the rules. Thai will help you ensure safe use of artificial intelligence to gain a competitive edge over your competitors.
Operation Disruption Due To Geopolitical Tensions
We live in an uncertain world where geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and economic headwinds are commonplace. The war in Ukraine, Gaza, tensions in the Red Sea and sues Canal, rising inflation and growing threat of a looming recession have negatively impacted businesses around the world. 2024 is an election year so expect some more political tensions as well.
IT leaders should be prepared to deal with all these challenges to thrive in 2024. You might have to work with the hardware you have as your procurement and supply chains could be disrupted. Have a plan to deal with the worst case scenario so you can easily swim through the turbulent waters and steer your organization’s ship towards safety.
Neglect and Security Loopholes
With an exponential increase in the number of cybersecurity attacks and data breaches affecting businesses, enterprises can not afford to put security and privacy on the back burner. They have to make it a priority and make it an integral part of their business strategy. IT leaders should identify security vulnerabilities and plug them before they can be exploited by cyberattacks.
Taking small steps such as practicing cybersecurity hygiene, following cybersecurity best practices and enforcing stringent access controls can go a long way in mitigating the threat of cybersecurity attacks and data breaches. Investing in cybersecurity training and tools can also help you improve cybersecurity defenses of your organization.
Data Management Investments
The sheer volume of data organizations work with is mind boggling. Collecting, storing, managing and analyzing all that data is not easy, especially if you are doing it manually. You need to invest money in smart data management solutions that can do the heavy lifting for you and help you extract actionable insights from large data sets. Focus on streamlining your data management processes and putting the data you already have to good use instead of collecting data for the sake of it.
Which warning signs do you keep an eye on in 2024? Share it with us in the comments section below.