Today is the world of technology that we live in. Technology is ruling over everything. From our personal life to our professional life, the significance that technology has is undeniable. The workforce is now more dependent on Virtual means than ever. Companies and startups are embracing this technical paradigm shift and with this, the role of CTOs and CIOs is carrying more importance day by day. Apart from this, the existence of the COVID-19 virus has influenced the whole world drastically. This pandemic has impacted almost every aspect of human life. The world has seen radical economic changes both nationally and personally. The working sector is not out of this immerged issue. After being standstill for months, it was time to change the mindset and adapt to something new. Working from home and attending the office virtually was something people needed to adapt in order to keep things going. Therefore, it is not inaccurate to say that the COVID-19 scenario has speeded the wind that was already blowing.With the increasing roles, the CTOs and CIOs have now had to face lots of difficulties. This article describes some of the challenges nowadays a technical head has to go through.
1. Dealing with malicious threats and ensuring cyber security
With the introduction of information technology and the world wide web, the Internet has become one of the most crucial means of running a business. Workplaces, and offices are trying to become paperless. Although the advantage of depending on the cyber world is not mere, the drawbacks can not be taken lightly too. Subotizing competitors with malicious threats or invading their cyber security is a real concern for CTOs and CIOs. A recent report is enlisted saying that the economic value lost due to global ransomware could exceed USD 231 Billion by 2031. In 2015, this threat was around USD 5 billion only which means over this entire period the threat is expected to be 46X more. Apart from this, hackers are also an important threat to the data security, and privacy of a company. Generally, they use social engineering tactics to get info from employees. hus Nowadays IT leaders are not only accountable for making IT decisions but also for ensuring companies' cyber security. To overcome the challenge, it is important to train and educate employees to be more aware of privacy and security concerns.
2. Enforcing cloud-based work-culture
Companies and startups having multiple products normally work on a divisional management structure so that a dedicated team can work on a single product at a time. This divided task between the team members needs to be synchronized. Cloud-based project management tools are a great innovation to solve this issue. There are multiple cloud-based workspaces where a group of people can work simultaneously. Their real-time work update is visible. The features like auto-save and edited versions work really well for an organization. To add to this, there is a number of workspaces available which are developed according to the nature of the work.IT leaders have to ensure to manage the project management tool and keep the harmony between the tasks and deadlines.
3. Enforcing a hybrid working system
After a long, lethargic yet comfortable work-from-home system, organizations are starting to move back to their original working modes slowly. The shift from virtual meetingshave to a physical office is crucial. IT heads has to be creative in this respect to break the ice carefully and also ensure maximum productivity. This is the reason the shift is taking place slowly so that the employees can adapt to their previous work mode. Splitting weekdays in such a way that has both a physical office and a virtual office is a nice way. Although the immersion of work-from-home culture has been introduced by the pandemic, even after the time when it is not necessary anymore, it is still popular to date. Apart from the reason that working from home helps in cost cutting, it can also be considered as a day off or a half leave. Thus employees get more time to spend with their families and also contribute to their work.
4. Retaining IT Talent and providing mentorship
Even if the COVID-19 pandemic has been a disaster for the whole world, there are some positive impacts also. The world has seen how much the internet and the world wide web can contribute to mankind and its life. With the introduction of the virtual workplace, it is now possible to work from anywhere in the world. Although some of the online-based marketplaces have introduced such sort of freelancing, the pandemic has shown that it can be a full-time job too. This has made the job market wider. Opportunities are now more than ever. Talented, motivated IT personnel are in demand not only locally but also globally. Since the IT sector has this unique job characteristic that doesn't require a physical meeting, retaining such team members is a challenge in 2022 for CTOs.
5. Building a balanced work-life culture
In 2022, employees care about their work-life balance. It is also important for maintaining a healthy working environment. Such an office environment helps to build a non-toxic corporate culture and flourish creativity. This is very much required especially for the IT sector because the job demands more creativity than any other job out there. So, to receive the maximum outcome from personnel, a balanced work-life routine is to be maintained.CTOs and CIOs are nowadays in charge of not only making decisions and meeting project deadlines but also creating a healthy working environment, ensuring companies' security, and protecting them from cyber-attacks. In the coming days, it is inevitable to say that the challenges they are going to face will require some serious experience to solve.
