Updated October 2026. Originally published January 30, 2025.
IT is changing faster than most budgets. Gartner expects worldwide IT spending to reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% from 2025, with the fastest growth in AI infrastructure, cloud services and software (Gartner). For small and mid-sized businesses, the question isn’t whether these changes arrive but how to adopt them without adding risk. In our video, Adam from Starfish Computer highlights three forces shaping IT services: compliance, artificial intelligence and the cloud.
Cybersecurity and compliance keep tightening
As threats grow more complex, regulators expect more, and their requirements are often buried in long, dense documents. Federally insured credit unions, for example, must report a reportable cyber incident to the NCUA within 72 hours (NCUA). Banks and credit unions also lost a familiar yardstick when the FFIEC retired its Cybersecurity Assessment Tool on August 31, 2025, with NIST CSF 2.0 and CISA’s Cybersecurity Performance Goals among the recommended alternatives (Federal Reserve).
Starfish Computer specializes in translating these requirements into plain terms: what applies to you, where your gaps are, and a practical plan to close them.
AI cuts both ways
AI already helps defenders. Modern email filters use it to flag messages that don’t match a sender’s normal patterns. Attackers use it too: Verizon found threat actors using generative AI for targeting, initial access and malware development (Verizon DBIR), and the FBI received reports of more than $30 million in 2025 losses from business email compromise scams involving AI (FBI IC3).
Inside your own walls, unmanaged AI creates new risk. Some 45% of employees now regularly use AI on their corporate devices (Verizon DBIR). IBM’s 2026 research found that incidents involving employees’ unapproved “shadow AI” more than doubled, to 43%, and 68% of organizations that had an AI-related incident lacked AI governance policies (IBM via Baker Donelson). AI tools can also produce convincing but wrong output. Starfish Computer helps businesses capture the benefits of AI with approved tools, clear policies and human review.
The cloud makes flexible work practical
Cloud services have become affordable enough that small businesses can use the same platforms as large enterprises, and spending on cloud infrastructure services is forecast to grow 29.3% in 2026 (Gartner). Cloud applications let employees work securely from anywhere, so bad weather or flu season doesn’t have to stop the business, and a sick employee can stay home without spreading illness around the office or falling behind. That flexibility depends on security: multifactor authentication, managed devices and monitored access.
Planning ties it together
Starfish Computer looks beyond the technology itself to how it fits your business strategy, operational planning and budget. That planning matters now. Gartner notes technology budgets are being strained by inflation, supply shortages and rising hardware and memory costs (Gartner), and any PCs still running Windows 10 stopped receiving security updates when support ended on October 14, 2025 (Microsoft). Building upgrades and new services into a multi-year plan avoids surprises.
Plan your next step with Starfish Computer
Whether you need help closing a compliance gap, setting rules for AI, moving to the cloud or building a technology budget, Starfish Computer can help. Contact our team to talk through where your business is heading and how your IT should get it there.
Protect your business: start with an assessment
The question isn’t whether your business will face a cyber threat, but whether you’ll be ready when it does. Since 1994, Starfish Computer Corporation has helped businesses across Northeast Ohio:
Assess current security posture and risk
Plan a cybersecurity roadmap aligned to NIST CSF 2.0
Implement the right tools and processes for your size and budget
Train your team on today’s threats, including AI-driven scams
Support and improve your security over time
Call (440) 808-0468 or visit starfishcomputer.com to schedule a security assessment.
About the author
R.J. Arhar is President of Starfish Computer Corporation. He has more than 35 years of experience in IT, served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, led IT operations for an international security company with more than 8,000 users, and is the author of Attack or Defend – When is Enough Cybersecurity Enough?
This post provides general cybersecurity guidance. Requirements vary by industry and business. Statistics are current as of October 2026; consult Starfish Computer Corporation for a plan tailored to your risk profile.
Sources
Gartner, “Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 14.2% in 2026, Totaling $6.37 Trillion”
Federal Reserve, Community Banking Connections, “Cybersecurity Risks and Resources”
Verizon, 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report, Executive Summary
Baker Donelson, “Ten Takeaways from IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report”
Microsoft, “Windows 10 support has ended on October 14, 2025”