Municipalities and government agencies work for public welfare. Government agencies are responsible for executing legislative and administrative regulations within the communities and becoming a channel for the public to access government resources. However, most government departments and municipalities work on a limited budget. They constantly look for ways to utilize the minimum resources they have on welfare services. The current pandemic situation and financial crisis brought by it have further dried up the funds. In such a situation, the budget for federal IT solutions or CMMC MSP Virginia Beach is often the first to be cut. 

According to a report by the IDC, only a fraction of the $3.8 trillion budget to combat the Covid-19 crisis will be utilized for government IT. The budget cuts will directly impact new investments in IT infrastructure. Ultimately, core IT services will have to take a blow from the fund shortage.

This blog has discussed the adverse effects of lack of IT funding in municipalities and government agencies.

1. The Effects of an Aging Infrastructure

IT infrastructures have a life span of a couple of years. And as they age, their efficiency starts depleting. Such IT components also become vulnerable to downtime and data loss. Equipment may stop working efficiently due to no up-gradation. When hardware and software reach each of their life, they stop receiving support. These situations make the agency network vulnerable to problems like downtime and outages. Risk to government data and sensitive information is another problem faced by federal agencies that use aging infrastructure. Timely availability for vital services is necessary to manage the well-being of the constituents. With an aging infrastructure, government agencies may have trouble fulfilling their responsibilities.

2. The Risk of Inadequate Data Protection

Disaster recovery and backup technologies are some of the essential government IT solutions. Backup and disaster recovery allow businesses and government organizations to continue their services in the event of data loss. However, federal budget cuts mean fewer resources for improved and robust data backup strategies. For agencies that are under constant threat from hackers and cybercriminals, disaster recovery strategies are the only way to prevent the consequences of data loss.

DoD companies should practice the 3-2-1 data backup rule. According to this rule, organizations should have at least three copies of their files on at least two types of storage systems, and one should be stored off-site. For proper implementation of the backup strategy, investment in backup storage capacity and data center is necessary.

3. Falling Behind on Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is that one area no government agencies should overlook. Cybersecurity technologies safeguard the organization and its data from cybercriminals. With sloppy cybersecurity measures, it can be impossible to protect the crucial data and prevent people from becoming prey to cybercriminals.

In situations like ransomware attacks, disaster recovery and backup strategies allow an organization to recover from the damage. Ransomware attacks cost millions and billions to the government even if they refuse to pay the money to the attackers. With a sound backup and data recovery strategy, one can prevent the spiraling cost of recovering the data and putting the system back after a breach.