But it’s a new year, which means it’s a perfect time to get the most unwieldy IT jobs in order.
A selection of IT pros shared the tasks that lead to the most messes, build-ups, and disorganization, along with their recommendations on how to clean things up in 2026.
Security equipment
When it comes to physical security, follow-through is everything. Robert LaDouceur, COO of CSP Consultants Group, has seen security cameras deployed only to be left alone, to the point where even a recently planted tree might block the view…and nobody notices. “There’s really nobody that’s looking at the security system unless there is an incident,” he told us.
Advice: This applies not only to maintaining security hardware throughout a physical site (i.e., cameras, sensors, locked doors) but also security software, firmware and software patches, and pretty much anything else that discourages external or internal threats. Have an internal employee or professional integrator ensure regular inventory updates, patching, and testing of camera views and motion detectors, LaDouceur said.
Cables
Cables get left behind in the course of normal events, eventually causing chaos when an IT pro is trying to build out new infrastructure or simply fix something that’s gone haywire. For example, wireless access points and other smart technologies have cords running from the device—sometimes mounted in the ceiling—back to the server room, where they terminate at a hardware assembly connection point (known as a patch panel); from there, short patch cables connect the panel to network switches providing connectivity—many opportunities for things to become unmanageable and parts to disappear, in other words.
Advice: Label your cables, LaDouceur said. Even better, lay the lines out in a tidy manner the first time, and keep arrangements as close to their original states as possible while performing typical IT tasks.
