I have worked in several IT environments and not one is the same. The approach to the IT infrastructure in a large corporate company is noticeably different to that of a more laid back university. It also, I have discovered, comes down to the type of management that you have in place.
Getting It Wrong Means Downtime:
The last thing that your company wants is its staff being unable to get on with their work because the IT systems are down yet again. One of the biggest problems I have seen in IT departments is there being a lack of storage space. Storage space costs money and a lack of approach to this problem seems to be a constant headache. Obviously companies who have delved into the cloud have to a point resolved this issue; however the more traditional companies who want to keep their data onsite always find it a battle. Careful management of systems is needed and adopting methods such as installing the Cisco ucs server into a company’s infrastructure can help to alleviate such issues. Also having policies on data handling is a must and should be part of any company’s ongoing activities.
A Good IT Infrastructure Helps Keep Your Customers Happy:
If you have a website which is constantly going down or a payment systems that consistently gets things wrong or does not work, your customer base is going to suffer. Dissatisfaction with a company’s IT gives the wrong impression and makes your company seem unreliable and unprofessional. It is the side of you that a customer sees and they will make a judgement call based on the quality of that service. I for one have had endless issues with Inland Revenue sites and have little respect for their IT infrastructure capabilities.
Time is Money:
A good IT infrastructure will in the long-term save your business money. If you get it right it should create a more efficient working environment which allows your staff to work quicker and with more resources available to them than ever before. This means more clients, customers and potential work. If your systems cause bottlenecks and spend more time going down than they are up, then your business will suffer. The initial investment and a good plan in the first place will always be worth it if done properly.
Spend the time with professionals who can advise you on what the best options are for your business. Do not decide just to go with the cheapest option – it is not always the best, in the same way that the most expensive is not always the best either. Do your research and take your time to get your infrastructure right. You will not regret it.
