IT Infrastructure Management: What New Business Owners Must Know

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, IT Strategy (30-slide PowerPoint presentation). The key drivers of Information Technology (IT) or Management Information Systems (MIS) value are an organization's IT mindset and its ability to execute. Today’s best practices show that IT value can be maximized when enterprise IT investments are aligned with business goals and IT execution is [read more]

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Business owners are busy individuals who need to put on different hats to make their companies profitable. Running a company is a liberating yet challenging experience, especially if you’re a new business owner. Often, when owners become too immersed in marketing or research, certain areas like the IT infrastructure are overlooked. Unknown to some new business owners, the result of disregarding the IT department may lead to unplanned expenses, lost clients, or lengthy downtimes.

Knowing how to manage your brand’s digital transformation and IT infrastructure is beneficial to survive the regularly changing digital landscape while protecting your finances. To give an overview, this article would discuss what new business owners must know.

Benefits of IT Infrastructure Management

If you’re keen to know what you can get out of IT infrastructure management, here are several examples:

Business Continuity

One of the primary goals of IT infrastructure management is to ensure business continuity. Preparation and readiness in disruptive conditions prevent lengthy downtimes and data loss that may cost your company thousands of dollars. Having a sound infrastructure management plan as part of your business continuity plan (BCP) ensures your customers experience the same quality of service even during disastrous events like hurricanes or earthquakes.

BCPs equip businesses with the confidence and knowledge to respond swiftly to operational interruptions through decreased repair times and faster deployments, so creating a BCP is best done with experts. There are a lot of service providers you can work with, but if you’re still undecided and prefer to work with a local company, you can read more about IT services from ITSco if you’re from North Carolina.

Cost Reduction

Downtimes are expensive, so businesses must be proactive in planning how resources should be used in the event they experience an interruption in operations. This is why having advanced and intuitive technology can help forecast and mitigate potential service interruptions that make your company lose money.

Aside from this, companies reduce expenses when their infrastructure is in good shape and goes through scheduled maintenance to avoid unforeseen costs for repairs or replacement. Keep in mind that you can’t close a shop while you wait for software updates or hardware replacement. You must have contingency plans to keep your operations running.

Better Labor Productivity

Another benefit businesses can experience with sound IT infrastructure management is improved productivity for their staff. Automation and streamlining day-to-day functions can help personnel meet overall business demands rather than spending hours trying to extinguish IT issues that could’ve been prevented in the first place.

Efficient IT infrastructure management keeps productivity flowing and empowers IT staff to pursue tasks that contribute to more meaningful and long-term goals.

Improved Customer Satisfaction and Overall Performance

Perhaps one of the most profitable benefits of having a well-managed IT infrastructure is improved satisfaction from your customers. Excellent IT infrastructure management builds your integrity with your customers and stakeholders. Enjoying uninterrupted delivery of services and continuous communication is one sure way to gain loyalty from your current customers and another way to acquire new ones.

How to Make the Most out of Your IT Infrastructure

Your IT infrastructure comprises various IT assets like software, hardware, and networking equipment. Investing in these means coming up with ways to maximize their use. So, to make the most out of these assets, you have to:

1. Create a Business Continuity Plan

A business continuity plan (BCP) outlines the necessary actions to be taken should there be interruptions in operations or if business comes to a halt due to disastrous events like hurricanes or malware infections. Proper IT infrastructure management should have one to ensure you don’t lose money from downtimes or impact the delivery of services to your customers.

2. Schedule Training for Your Employees

Having the latest tools and technology is useless if your employees don’t know how to handle them. Upgrading your IT equipment should always be followed with employee training so they can use these tools correctly. Ensure all your staff are consistently trained and updated to reduce the risk of downtime or equipment damage.

3. Keep Yourself Updated in New Technology

Not every trending technology fits your business, but this doesn’t mean sticking to old technologies until they become discontinued. Keeping abreast of future-focused systems and technology is one way for your business to adapt to the changes in your niche and the digital landscape.

4. Protect Your Investment

Keep in mind that every time a particular technology advances, the security threats also improve. Legacy systems are prone to cyber-attacks, so if you still insist on keeping old database servers, it may be time to put them to rest. Minimizing the vulnerabilities coming from old IT equipment is an excellent way to save your business from unplanned expenses.

5. Don’t Lose Sight of Your Business Demands

Business owners may frequently fall into the shiny object syndrome regarding IT matters. Remember, not every new software or hardware is appropriate for your business needs. With that said, assessing your technological needs is essential to avoid wasting your resources and money.

Conclusion

Having the latest and most advanced IT Infrastructure without the proper IT infrastructure management is more detrimental than beneficial for your company. Each component of your IT infrastructure is an asset. So, to get your money’s value and profit from these pieces of equipment or software, you must be able to manage them correctly.

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