1. Cybersecurity and fraud
- Many owners list cybersecurity and online fraud in their top‑3 concerns, with AI‑driven scams and phishing causing more complex attacks than ever.
- They struggle with patching, multi‑factor authentication, endpoint protection, and basic staff training while feeling they have little or no internal IT support.
2. Stretched or missing IT resources
- A very common theme is "stretched IT teams" or having *no* in‑house IT, leading to reactive firefighting instead of proactive planning.
- Without proper resourcing, firms can't keep systems updated, manage backups, or handle incidents quickly, which increases downtime and reputational risk.
3. Legacy systems and integration
- Businesses complain about being stuck on old desktop applications, file‑based processes, or legacy back‑offices that don't talk to modern cloud tools (e.g., CRM, accounting, e‑commerce).
- Integrating these systems is seen as technically complex, expensive, and risky, so many delay migration and live with manual workarounds.
4. Data management and compliance
- GDPR‑style rules, audit requirements, and data‑retention policies are cited as "daunting", especially when tools are spread across email, spreadsheets, cloud apps, and on‑prem servers.
- Companies struggle with consistent backups, disaster‑recovery testing, and proving to auditors or insurers that they are actually protecting data.
5. Keeping up with AI and new tools
- Rapid AI adoption is a top‑10 concern for many UK SMEs; owners worry about fraud, but also how to use AI tools effectively without deep technical know‑how.
- Beyond AI, they feel pressure to keep up with social‑media platforms, digital‑marketing tools, and constantly changing payment/POS systems.
6. Remote work and collaboration tech
- Hybrid/remote working has made unified communications, secure remote access, and collaboration tools (Teams, Zoom, file sharing, etc.) a common pain point.
- Firms complain about inconsistent access, poor Wi‑Fi at home, unmanaged devices, and the difficulty of giving secure, reliable access to everyone without a tight‑budget IT team.