If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that IT plays a significant part in business. Throughout the year, we found that small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) faced common challenges – clunky legacy systems struggling to keep up, cyber risks increasing at alarming rates, and costly downtime when IT support wasn’t proactive enough.
But every challenge brings a lesson, and those lessons are the blueprint for building smarter, more resilient IT strategies in 2026. Here’s what we’ve learned, and how you can apply it in the year ahead.
1. Cloud-Based Solutions | Future-Proofing Operations
The 2025 Lesson – Businesses still tied to unnecessary on-premises systems found themselves restricted. Whether it was limited flexibility, outdated security, or slow disaster recovery, legacy infrastructure showed its cracks.
What To Do in 2026:
- Move away from legacy platforms. Transitioning to Microsoft 365, Intune, and Azure gives you scalable infrastructure, modern security tools, and seamless device management.
- Build resilience into your operations. Cloud backups and disaster recovery tools reduce downtime, ensuring business continuity even in the face of unexpected disruptions.
- Support your workforce wherever they are. Cloud-based collaboration tools keep hybrid and remote teams aligned, productive, and connected without reliance on old servers or VPNs.
2. Cybersecurity | Protecting Trust and Compliance
The 2025 Lesson – Cybersecurity threats didn’t slow down, if anything…they ramped up. We saw more SMBs targeted by phishing, account takeovers, and ransomware. And while frameworks like SMB1001:2026 and the ACSC Essential Eight are now well known, many businesses still struggle to implement them properly.
What To Do in 2026:
- Adopt modern security tools. Purview compliance, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and identity threat detection (ITDR) protect your business beyond just basic antivirus.
- Invest in people, not just technology. Staff mistakes caused the majority of the incidents we saw last year. Security awareness training reduces the risk of a single click causing a breach.
- Stay compliant, stay covered. SMB1001:2026, Essential Eight, and penetration testing aren’t just “checklist items”, they’re increasingly required for cyber insurance and customer trust.
3. Reliable Managed IT Support | Scaling with Confidence
The 2025 Lesson – Businesses relying on ad-hoc IT support often paid more in the long run – unpredictable costs, unresolved downtime, and stalled growth became the norm. Without a structured plan, IT became reactive rather than strategic.
What To Do in 2026:
- Move to a Managed IT agreement. Gain cost predictability, proactive monitoring, and peace of mind with 24/7 coverage.
- Build a tailored IT Roadmap. Strategic planning ensures your IT scales with your business growth, not against it.
- Eliminate downtime frustrations. Rapid IT support response and proactive maintenance keep your staff productive and your customers happy.
Future Planning | Smarter IT for 2026
The best way to avoid common pitfalls from 2025 is to plan smarter for 2026. From cloud migration and cyber security to proactive IT management, the right strategy will reduce risk, improve resilience, and create a better experience for both your staff and your customers.
Reach out to our team at IQPC to discuss building a tailored IT Roadmap for 2026, one that ensures your systems don’t just “keep the lights on,” but actively helps your business thrive in the year to come.
