The Information Technology (IT) industry is growing at a fast rate since its inception. It has a lot of potential and offers many opportunities for people to develop new skills. The IT industry is made up of two major sectors – IT Services and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing).
The IT sector is an ever-changing and developing industry that requires constant attention to details. With fierce competition between leading companies, it is very important to anticipate any upcoming issues that can impede the growth of the industry.
IT professionals need to know what challenges they are about to face. This will help them to know how to be prepared.
8 Challenges Faced by the IT Industry all Over the World
Let us get to know the challenges that might come up in the IT industry:
#1 Data Privacy
Many IT companies are having issues following the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR). Any tech company(or any other) operating in the EU territory or having customers there are obliged to follow the GDPR.
The regulation came in effect in May 2018. Companies who are not following the regulation will not be permitted to operate in EU countries. It was brought to protect the personal information of the European citizens. The United States is also considering bringing a policy similar to GDPR to protect the privacy of its citizens.
You can take Google’s 166 million US dollar fine from the French government due to its shady data collecting process for an example. The regulations regarding data privacy are causing a huge impact on the growth of the IT sector globally. Further, most of the foreign clientele are starting to prefer options close to home.
#2 Cloud Computing Issues
Cloud computing is a vital part of the IT industries worldwide. It is the most thriving sector and cloud professionals are very much in demand. Cloud opens new fields of revenue for tech organizations.
It does so by providing aid to cutting edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT). But every organization has a set quantity of budget to spend on it. Along with the budget limitations, there are not enough skilled cloud professionals to take advantage of this new technology.
IT companies require people with cloud skills in Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. More than half of the companies are using multiple cloud providers. There is also a security concern regarding these cloud services. Tech experts recommend using cross-cloud and cloud-agnostic platforms. This ensures the security of organizations’ assets.
#3 Increasing Cyber Security Issues
Cyber security threats are nothing new. But, with the vast rate at which the IT sector is growing, it is of uttermost importance to not take these threats lightly. The problem with cyber security is that the number of threats is increasing day by day but there is a shortage of skilled professionals who can provide this facility.
A global survey of Identity and Access Management by the International Data Corporation(IDC) showed that 55% of customers would change IT service providers for any perceived data breach threats. And 78% of consumers would do it if they suffered a data breach.
These numbers are worry-inducing as most of the IT organizations do not have sufficient professionals who can provide proper cyber security measures. Therefore, companies need to hire and train new as well as old employees to enhance their cyber security skills.
#4 Data Management
With the growing size of the IT sector worldwide the amount of data generated is also increasing. According to IDC the Worldwide data sphere will witness an increase of data up to trillion gigabytes (163 zetta bytes). This is 10 times more than the 16.1 zetta bytes of data generated in 2016.
New data is constantly being generated. It is giving rise to security risks. Storage capacity is another factor that one needs to be concerned about. For data management, IT professionals are needed. The only relief is that cloud platforms like AWS, Google Cloud., MS Azure offers help to accumulate, analyze, and store data. IT organizations need to hire analytics who can manage data and work on these cloud platforms.
#5 Improper Market Incorporation and Dread of AI
New technologies are being invented frequently. But these technologies are not being properly incorporated with existing markets and products. For example Artificial intelligence(AI) and Voice Recognition technology possess great potential. But, so far it has had a minimal effect on the market. This is due to improper market inclusion strategy.
Though one thing should be mentioned here is that the AI technology can cause several issues if not applied properly. People fear that they will be replaced once the AI tech is fully operational. Although it is true that some jobs (data entry, CRM, back office operations, customer support, etc) will be streamlined by AI automation software. But, there will be new roles created. Hence, the IT industry needs to address the challenges regarding AI.
#6 Visa Concerns
As most of the clientele of many IT companies belong to different countries the growing restrictions with the visa procedures have an adverse effect on the global IT sector. In 2019, the Trump Government changed the H1-B visa policy to make it more strict. US based organizations need the H1-B visa program to employ professionals from other countries.
According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, the majority (75%) of H1-B visa holders are Indians. Also, according to the new policy minimum salary of a H1-B visa holder should be $130,000. It is no surprise that after the changed H1-B visa policy many US companies shied away from hiring foregien IT firms.
#7 Economic Decline
The global IT field is hugely dependent on different western countries like the US, UK, Canada, and many more. Hence, the economic situations of these countries directly affect the IT sector worldwide. For the past few years the economy of the western countries is going downwards. On top of that the growing value of the dollar and euro is also negatively affecting the IT industry.
#8 Negative Publicity
In recent years, the technology industry faced a rapid fall in public trust due to negative publicity. Customers are beginning to fully understand the nature of the monetization policies in place by the bigger tech organizations.
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And, with privacy violations and security breaches making headlines almost everyday it is becoming hard for the IT industry to gain the trust of their consumers. Leaders of the IT industry need to take responsibility for their operations and create a positive image for the people of the society.
Finally
There are several issues blocking the growth of the IT industry. But the good news is that some of these issues can be resolved. Nothing can be done about other countries’ downfacing economy and visa policies. But the IT sector can acquire new talent and welcome new technologies. Big companies should maintain their goodwill and improve the reputation of their country’s IT industry. This will then help the global IT industry to eradicate the issues stopping their progress.
