The digital environment is now more complex than ever and doesn’t show signs of changing anytime soon. The demands placed on the average IT team to keep up with cybersecurity, compliance, and emerging technology are too great.
In that landscape, it’s no surprise that outsourcing to a strategic IT partner is now a necessity. Outsourcing is well established, thanks to growing costs and the lack of trained personnel globally.
As Karen O’Connor, general manager of Datapac, puts it: “A strategic IT partner can provide the necessary expertise to navigate these requirements, ensuring organisations remain compliant while strengthening their overall security posture.”
While providers bring valuable IT services, cloud storage, or backup, organisations tend to overlook the extensive knowledge base they bring.
Personnel like skilled project managers, service desk experts, cybersecurity consultants, compliance specialists, and infrastructure architects can unlock more efficient IT operations, ensure smoother digital transformation initiatives, and provide guidance on navigating complex compliance and regulatory requirements.
Another area that O’Connor suggests organisations rethink is co-management. This can benefit those with their own in-house teams, as they can support their operations at scale.
“Modern IT workflows allow for greater integration between in-house and outsourced teams, ensuring that organisations get the best of both worlds – control where they need it and specialist expertise where they don’t,” she said.
“The key is moving beyond a transactional IT relationship and embracing a more collaborative model where IT partners are actively involved in strategic decision-making.”
Linked to that is the success of both software as a service (SaaS) and managed print services (MPS). There are many reasons for this, says O’Connor: predictable costs, reduced administrative overhead, the ability to scale as business needs evolve, and the assuredness of service continuity, which allows organisations to focus on more strategic initiatives.
She added that the same thinking extends to device as a service (DaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS), allowing organisations to rethink how they procure and manage critical IT assets.
The success of IaaS is reshaping how organisations think about cloud adoption. Datapac has seen a trend of ‘reverse cloud migration’. That is, organisations moving workloads from the cloud back to on-premise solutions.
“Organisations that previously moved significant workloads into the public cloud are beginning to repatriate data and applications back on-premises or into hybrid environments, for myriad reasons,” explained O’Connor. “Primarily, the often significant and very difficult-to-forecast data transfer fees associated with data ingress and egress.
“Organisations are recognising that their cloud strategy doesn’t have to be an either/or decision - it’s about finding the right balance based on business needs, and IaaS is proving to be the correct answer for many.”
With those technology service models growing in success, they tend to go hand in hand with technology advancements, something that can be daunting for the average organisation to understand.
O’Connor mentions that many organisations accumulate software and infrastructure without a clear strategy, which leads to underutilised technology, unnecessary costs, and integration challenges.
It’s here that a trusted IT partner like Datapac shows its worth, helping organisations get more value from their existing technology before they consider new investments.
“Many organisations are already paying for powerful capabilities - particularly within platforms like Microsoft 365 - but aren’t using them to their full potential,” she said. “Rather than chasing the latest trends, organisations should be asking: ‘Are we fully leveraging what we already have?’”
O’Connor adds that the best IT partners challenge organisations to take a step back and ensure they’re making informed, strategic decisions and not blindly following the hype.
Another area organisations are keeping a close eye on is NIS2, which establishes a unified legal framework to uphold cybersecurity across the EU and is expected to become Irish law later this year.
Recent findings from Datapac found that 76 per cent of IT decision-makers agreed that Irish businesses would struggle to meet all the requirements for NIS2, highlighting the pressure organisations face in meeting this.
It’s about finding the right balance based on business needs
Among the challenges faced, the biggest shift it creates, says O’Connor, is that it makes cybersecurity a board-level issue.
“Senior leadership will be legally accountable for compliance, and failing to meet requirements could result in significant financial penalties,” she added.
“We view this as a positive step towards ensuring that cybersecurity receives the attention it deserves at the right level in the organisation, but also recognise the new set of challenges this presents to directors and others in senior management positions.”
She also warns that organisations that assume NIS2 won’t apply to them should reconsider, as its influence will extend across supply chains. This means organisations not directly covered by the regulation will have to strengthen their security posture.
“We’ve seen real cases where organisations are now auditing their customers as a result of NIS2, bringing supply chain security into sharp focus,” said O’Connor.
With the skills shortage continuing into the future, IT resourcing provides a flexible alternative, allowing organisations to bring in skilled professionals on a short-term or project basis, without long-term commitments.
O’Connor mentions that this approach is valuable for specialist roles, such as cloud architects, cybersecurity analysts, and digital transformation consultants, where expertise is needed for a defined period rather than an ongoing role.
Likewise, contingency helpdesk roles can be used to manage periods of planned leave or with service demand spikes. All of these measures let organisations scale their IT capabilities as needed, instead of committing to a fixed size for the long term.
“At the same time, the IT job market is shifting, with many skilled professionals choosing contract work over permanent roles,” she added. “This means businesses that rely solely on traditional hiring processes risk missing out on top talent.
“A well-connected IT partner can bridge this gap, providing access to specialist expertise exactly when and where it’s needed,” concluded O’Connor.