5 Critical Tech Issues Businesses Must Proactively Address Today

Technology powers modern business success—there’s no way around it. However, the same IT solutions that supercharge productivity, streamline operations, and increase competitiveness can quickly become major liabilities unless properly managed. In this guide, we’ll tackle five critical tech issues that businesses must proactively address today to avoid security breaches, compliance penalties, and other operational setbacks.

Issue 1: Cybersecurity Threats

Modern cyber attackers are faster, stealthier, and more sophisticated than ever before. According to the CrowdStrike 2024 Global Threat Report, the average amount of time it took hackers to breach and move through a network decreased from 84 minutes in 2022 to 62 minutes in 2023, and the most aggressive attackers could start extracting data or deploying ransomware in as little as 2 minutes after gaining initial access. 

Making matters worse, 75% of modern attacks don’t even use traditional malware. Instead, they often use social engineering attacks or fileless malware, which are impossible or extremely difficult to detect with conventional security tools. These are some of the reasons why the past year saw a 76% surge in businesses having their data exposed on criminal leak sites, while attacks specifically targeting cloud environments skyrocketed by 110%. 

The impact of a single cybersecurity incident can be devastating because it goes beyond immediate financial losses from ransomware payments or system recovery. Organizations face regulatory fines, legal liabilities, and long-term reputational damage that can take years to repair. Moreover, in today’s interconnected business environment, cyber attacks can quickly spread through supply chains and partner networks (the SolarWinds attack in 2020 is a good example).

Solution

Modern cybersecurity threats require organizations to create a comprehensive cybersecurity culture—an environment where security is everyone’s responsibility. 

Every effective cybersecurity culture must rest on three essential pillars:

• Regular security awareness training to help employees recognize and respond to threats like phishing attempts and social engineering attacks.
• Implementation of strong cybersecurity policies that clearly outline security expectations, such as whether employees can use personal devices for work (BYOD policies).
• Clear incident response procedures that everyone understands and can follow.

This cybersecurity culture must be supported by effective security tools wielded by experienced cybersecurity professionals. Examples of such tools include endpoint protection and security information and event management (SIEM) systems to proactively identify and mitigate risks. 

However, many organizations, especially small and medium-sized businesses, find it challenging to build and maintain their own cybersecurity team given the high costs and scarcity of qualified talent. In such cases, partnering with a reliable managed cybersecurity services provider like us at OSIbeyond can be a cost-effective way to access enterprise-grade security expertise and technologies while focusing on core business operations.

Issue 2: Compliance With Data Protection Regulations

As organizations collect, process, and store more data than ever before, they face an increasingly complex web of data protection regulations. Each year brings new compliance requirements and stricter enforcement of existing ones:

• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): Requires healthcare providers, insurers, and their business associates to protect patient health information. Violations can result in fines up to $1.5 million per year for each violation.
• CMMC 2.0 (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification): This regulation establishes cybersecurity standards across the defense industrial base. Non-compliance can result in lost contract opportunities and removal from the defense supply chain.
• PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): Applies to any organization that processes credit card payments. Violations can lead to fines, increased transaction fees, and even the loss of ability to process card payments.
• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): The world’s strictest privacy law affects any business handling EU residents’ data, regardless of the company’s location. Fines can reach €20 million or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher.
• CCPA/CPRA (California Consumer Privacy Act/California Privacy Rights Act): These California laws give consumers control over their personal information and apply to many businesses operating in California or handling California residents’ data.

As you can see, the consequences of non-compliance can be severe, ranging from immediate financial impact of fines to long-term reputational harm that comes from failing to protect sensitive data. 

Solution 

To comply with data protection regulations, you need to know what data you collect, why you collect it, and how you handle it. In practice, this means performing a comprehensive audit that will provide a clear picture of your data environment. 

Once you understand your environment, you can implement appropriate security measures to keep the data safe. These typically include strict access controls with multi-factor authentication, strong encryption for data both at rest and in transit, and the zero trust security model. You’ll also need to train your employees on compliance requirements and create clear procedures for handling sensitive data, as human error remains a leading cause of data breaches.

Issue 3: Legacy Systems Hindering Performance and Security 

Legacy technology might feel like a comfortable old shoe, but it’s actually a liability that organizations can’t afford to keep because it often contains unpatched vulnerabilities that any moderately determined hacker can exploit, is difficult or impossible to integrate with other business solutions, and even leads to decreased job satisfaction when it frustrates employees. 

When we say legacy technology, we don’t just mean printers from the last millennia or dusty servers. We’re also talking about systems that might seem relatively current, like Windows 10, which is still used by 64 percent of Windows users worldwide despite approaching its end-of-support deadline in October 2025.

Solution

The obvious solution is modernization, which doesn’t have to be painful or disruptive if you approach it correctly. 

We recommend you start with an IT inventory to understand what you have and what actually needs to be replaced. Look for any legacy systems on which no other systems are dependent—these are prime candidates for immediate retirement.

Many legacy systems can be replaced with cloud-based alternatives. Such alternatives allow you to move away from costly, on-premises infrastructure while enjoying better scalability and improved security. 

Based on our experience, it’s better to adopt a phased approach when replacing legacy systems instead of doing it all at once. This minimizes disruptions to your business operations by allowing your team to adapt gradually.

Issue 4: Inadequate Data Backup and Recovery Plans

According to Acronis, a backup and recovery solutions provider, even small-scale data loss incidents involving just 100 records can cost organizations between $18,120 and $35,730, depending on the data’s value. Despite their massive financial impact, data loss incidents are occurring regularly in businesses large and small across the country because their potential causes are numerous and include: 

• Human error: Human mistakes such as accidental deletion or falling victim to phishing attacks that result in ransomware infections remain a leading cause of data loss. 
• Hardware failures: With a combined annual failure rate of 1.71% for traditional hard drives and SSDs, hardware-related data loss remains a persistent threat.
• Cybersecurity vulnerabilities: Systems where important data is stored can become infected even when people don’t make mistakes because software can contain unpatched vulnerabilities.
• Physical theft or damage: Theft of devices or physical damage to storage media can result in data loss if there are no offsite backups.
• Natural disasters: The recent devastating impact of Hurricanes Milton and Helene reminded us all of nature’s destructive power and how quickly it can cause businesses to lose not just their physical infrastructure but their data as well. 

Solution

Cloud-based solutions like Microsoft OneDrive have revolutionized data storage by automatically syncing files to secure cloud infrastructure, offering significant advantages over traditional local storage. With OneDrive, every change is instantly reflected in the cloud and can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. Since Microsoft maintains multiple data centers across different regions, your files remain accessible even if a physical location is affected by hardware failure or natural disaster.

However, cloud storage solutions are not comprehensive backup systems, mainly because of their limited retention periods, which affect your ability to recover historical versions of files or access data from deleted user accounts. This becomes particularly problematic when organizations need to retrieve old files for legal compliance, audits, or litigation purposes. 

To address the limitations of cloud storage solutions, businesses should implement dedicated third-party backup solutions like DropSuite to maintain complete backups of all Microsoft 365 user data outside of Microsoft’s ecosystem.

Issue 5: Lack of Mobile Device Management

Mobile devices have become essential productivity tools in modern business, with approximately one fifth of the US workforce now working from home. But while smartphones and tablets are basically portable computers, they often fall outside normal IT management practices—creating significant security and compliance risks.

Without proper mobile device management (MDM), organizations have little visibility into how these devices are being used and whether they’re compliant with company security policies.

The critical nature of this issue becomes even clearer when you consider that 30 percent of employees have lost a work device while on vacation. If a company doesn’t have the ability to remotely wipe lost employee devices, then bad things can happen when they fall into the wrong hands, such as data breaches, unauthorized access to company resources, or compliance violations.

Solution

The implementation of an MDM solution doesn’t have to be complicated. For most businesses, Microsoft 365’s built-in MDM features provide all the essential protections you need, including:

• The ability to restrict remote access to devices and set strong password requirements.
• Options to remotely lock, wipe, or configure lost or stolen devices.
• Policies that help organizations move away from legacy technologies to more secure modern alternatives.
• Built-in tools like BitLocker encryption, Microsoft Defender Antivirus, and Windows Firewall to protect devices from threats.

These and other features give organizations the visibility and control they need to keep mobile devices as secure as traditional workstations, all through the same Microsoft 365 admin center they’re already using to manage their other IT resources.

Conclusion 

Addressing these five critical tech issues is essential for any business looking to maintain a secure, compliant, and high-performing IT environment. The good news is that solutions to them have become more accessible than ever before. The biggest challenge remains their implementation, which requires expertise and ongoing attention that many businesses, especially smaller ones, find difficult to manage in-house. 

At OSIbeyond, we specialize in helping businesses like yours implement solutions that keep your operation running smoothly. If you’re ready to take your IT environment to the next level, then don’t hesitate to schedule a meeting with us.