The Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies across the world to adapt and transition rapidly to the cloud to enable remote work. What many businesses have not done is take a step back after the transition and ask themselves if the changes they implemented were the best for the business. Did the changes set their team up for success? Did the new landscape enable them to work in a safe, secure, and effective IT environment? Was their IT infrastructure better or worse than it had been pre-pandemic?
Making a change to your IT infrastructure is akin to remodeling your house while you still live in it – if you don’t do it correctly, you’ll be in trouble. Your business is made up of people who rely on sound technology to effectively do their jobs. A poorly set up IT infrastructure will result in frustrated team members, decreases in efficiency and productivity, and it will cost you much more in the long run.
According to a study by IBM and Oxford, 70% of organizations surveyed believe that IT infrastructure helps optimize business performance and provides them a competitive advantage.
As a business leader, it is imperative that you dedicate resources to create an IT plan that is focused on solutions that improve service for your team and your clients. A strong strategic IT plan first and foremost addresses the needs of the users while being flexible enough to satisfy new needs as the business grows. It then lays out all the necessary steps and analyze cost efficiencies that could benefit the business.
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Most small businesses start out with a “DIY” IT infrastructure that gets the job done. They invest in basic hardware like desktop computers, laptops, a simple phone system and a router for a solid internet connection. Delivering services and collaborating with team members, suppliers and customers is typically accomplished through cloud applications such as Microsoft 365.
But as small businesses grow, they quickly realize that the DIY IT infrastructure will not adequately meet their business needs. A more sophisticated infrastructure incorporates IT security, connectivity, computing speed, reliability, and overall productivity.
It is important to keep in mind that as your business grows, so too does your cyber vulnerability. Sixty-three percent of small and medium-sized businesses experienced a data breach in 2019. Even more concerning is that since the start of the pandemic this year, 22% of small businesses transitioned to remote work without a cybersecurity plan. Are you prepared for distributions and security breaches?
Ensuring that your IT infrastructure is reliable and secure is fundamental to not only your business’ sustainability, but also your scalability. Smart investments in hardware, software, network services and the right team to manage it all could be the difference between a profitable company and a failing one. Taking shortcuts with your IT infrastructure to save money in the short-term is unwise – even something as simple as poor cabling could make a fancy software application unusable.
To tackle the next-generation IT challenges, business leaders need to get involved in the infrastructure conversation, elevating the importance of IT infrastructure, and making the right investments for the future.
“According to a Microsoft SMB study, 78% of small businesses will have adapted cloud computing by 2020.”
While the basics of every IT infrastructure are the same, plans for building an infrastructure must be strategic.
Consider company growth in terms of employees and customers. Does your current IT infrastructure accommodate mobile access by request? Are you able to easily integrate cloud applications on demand? One of the major advantages of a solid infrastructure is that it provides for an exchange of information across your organization. A strategic infrastructure reduces the inconsistencies and communication barriers inherent in an organization’s structure, establishing cross-functional and interpersonal communications.
“Cloud infrastructure spending is still going up amid Covid-19” IDC’s worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker
The first step in considering strategic enhancements to your current infrastructure is seeing past everyday use of apps and software. Although they provide your company and employees with great value, without a strategic IT infrastructure in place, those applications are inefficient or worse, unusable.
Concerned that you aren’t getting the most out of your current technology infrastructure or IT strategy? Restore your confidence with some help from a Lazorpoint IT expert so that you can refocus on the growth of your business.