Guest post by Karen O’Connor, General Manager, Datapac
As 2025 begins, it is an ideal time for organisations to reassess their business goals and align their technology strategies to support these objectives. The year promises significant technology, regulatory, and operational shifts, shaping how organisations navigate and seize opportunities. From the end of Windows 10 support to the implementation of the NIS2 Directive, the coming year presents pivotal changes that will test organisational resilience and adaptability.
Windows 10 End of Life
Microsoft’s announcement that their Windows 10 support will cease on 14th October 2025 marks a critical deadline for organisations. It means that there will be no more Microsoft security updates, standard technical support, security patches, or new features and enhancements. After the deadline, devices running Windows 10 will face diminishing performance, growing incompatibility with modern software, and heightened cybersecurity risks.
This is particularly concerning for organisations that last refreshed their hardware fleets during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, global supply chain disruptions forced many to procure laptops from the limited selection available to enable remote work, often without regard for future-proofing or optimal specifications. Fast forward to today, and a significant portion of these pandemic-era devices remains in use, which creates an urgent need for strategic planning to ensure a smooth migration to Windows 11 while addressing hardware limitations.
Reimagining Hardware with Device-as-a-Service (DaaS)
The upcoming Windows 10 end-of-support deadline poses a significant challenge for organisations, especially for those that need to refresh large portions of their hardware fleets. However, it also presents an opportunity to rethink how compute hardware is procured and managed, paving the way for more efficient and cost-effective approaches.
Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) offers a modern solution for managing end-user hardware, combining devices, software, and lifecycle management into a single, streamlined service. DaaS provides a similar experience for organisations who are accustomed to consuming other aspects of their IT ecosystem as-a-Service, such as managed print services.
A significant deliverable of managed print services for organisations has been the degree to which it has released internal IT teams to operate more strategically and provide service continuity. The continuing shortage and transience of skilled IT professionals within the market sets the stage for the increased adoption of DaaS in 2025. It frees up internal IT teams to work more strategically while continuing to provide a high level of service, extending these proven business outcomes with the wider integration of the as-a-Service model.
Resourcing Solutions: Addressing Complex IT Needs in 2025
Partnering with a trusted IT provider is an effective strategy for addressing today’s complex IT challenges. However, no single approach can address every IT requirement. When it comes to highly specialised or intricate projects, organisations often require talent embedded directly within their teams to ensure seamless execution and alignment with internal objectives.
Expanding in-house IT teams to meet short-term or project-specific needs, however, is rarely straightforward. Recruiting full-time staff for temporary roles can be both costly and impractical, particularly in a labour market defined by intense competition for skilled professionals. This dynamic is set to become even more pronounced, as organisations grapple with increasing pressures to deliver complex IT initiatives to remain relevant and competitive.
We anticipate resourcing solutions becoming a mainstay of the IT service delivery landscape in organisations moving forward. By enabling organisations to access a growing talent pool of adaptable, pre-vetted IT professionals – on flexible, short-term contracts or fixed day rates – these services provide a rapid, cost-effective, and scalable avenue to inject tech talent when it’s needed.
NIS2 Directive: A New Era of Cybersecurity Governance for Irish Organisations
The European Union’s NIS2 Directive, expected to be incorporated into Irish law in 2025, marks a significant step in strengthening cybersecurity governance across critical sectors and is set to transform how organisations approach cybersecurity. While implementation details for Ireland are still pending, organisations should begin preparing now to meet the directive’s demands.
The urgency of this shift is underscored by data from our recent survey. Research carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Datapac found that 76% of IT decision-makers believe Irish organisations will struggle to meet all NIS2 requirements, while 86% say they experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year.
This year will see a change in mindset towards cybersecurity, particularly the governance element, bringing it to the board-level as never before. A crucial factor driving this is NIS2’s focus on accountability, which places responsibility for non-compliance squarely on senior management, creating a paradigm shift in how organisations view and manage cybersecurity. Historically seen as the sole domain of the IT department, cybersecurity is evolving into a governance priority that requires cross-functional collaboration and integration into broader business strategies.
Managed Threat Detection and Response (MDR) solutions are poised to remain central to these strategies. The growing reliance on MDR reflects a broader shift in how organisations approach cybersecurity—not as a standalone IT function, but as a fundamental element of their operational and strategic resilience.
SaaS Optimisation and AI Integration
Decisions made during the pandemic continue to shape organisational technology strategies. For many, the rapid adoption of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications such as Microsoft 365 was driven by immediate necessity rather than deliberate planning. This reactive approach left many without a comprehensive roadmap of how to effectively utilise these investments beyond surface-level integrations.
Today, these pandemic-era investments have proven their worth, with SaaS tools now a cornerstone of organisational operations and pivotally supporting ongoing hybrid work models. With increasing pressures to demonstrate return on investments, we foresee a concentrated effort in 2025 to mature and deepen the integration of existing SaaS tools.
AI adoption is also maturing. Initially driven by individual-led experimentation, organisations are now recognising the need for more structured integration to overcome widespread concerns around data quality, compliance, and security. Integrating AI capabilities into existing SaaS tools allows advanced capabilities to be seamlessly integrated within existing ecosystems, supporting standardised processes and procedures and ensuring compliance and governance are prioritised.
This dual focus on SaaS optimisation and AI adoption reflects a broader trend: organisations are no longer simply adopting technology; they are seeking ways to evolve it to meet future demands.
Embracing Hybrid Infrastructure: The Case for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) in 2025
Modern organisations increasingly operate in hybrid working environments, with the vast majority now embracing this model. This shift places new demands on IT infrastructure, requiring solutions that are both robust and flexible enough to adapt to evolving requirements. However, many organisations still view their infrastructure options as a binary choice between fully on-premises and fully public cloud. Both have their associated pros and cons and finding the right balance for an organisation’s needs can be challenging.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)—hybrid cloud solutions—has emerged as a compelling alternative, one which we anticipate gaining widespread popularity in the year ahead. By combining the scalability and flexibility of the cloud with the control and compliance benefits of on-premises systems, hybrid IaaS bridges the gap between these models.
A growing trend of reverse migration highlights this evolution. While public cloud adoption remains strong, some organisations are beginning to repatriate workloads back on-premises or into hybrid environments. While compliance concerns play a role in certain regions, the primary driver is financial: managing public cloud costs can be complex and unpredictable. The future of IT infrastructure relies not in choosing between extremes, but rather in embracing a balanced, hybrid approach.
Challenges matched by opportunities in 2025
As organisations navigate the complexities of 2025, the ability to adapt to evolving technological, operational, and regulatory landscapes will be a defining trait of success. While the challenges are significant, they are matched by opportunities to rethink established practices, strengthen resilience, and align technology strategies with long-term objectives. By viewing these shifts not as isolated developments, but as interconnected components of a broader transformation, organisations can position themselves to thrive in an era defined by change.
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