New Year’s Resolutions: get fit, get healthy, and complete a Business IT infrastructure review!
A comprehensive review of your IT systems involves a strategic look at the effectiveness of your current technologies. It’s a chance to look for areas of optimization, streamline operations and to root out redundancies or inefficiencies. An IT infrastructure assessment can also scrutinize your business cybersecurity measures and identify possible security flaws.
The IT infrastructure assessment lowdown
An IT assessment will help your business:
- ensure you have the right hardware, software and user access levels
- stay on top of security – analysing your policies, technological safeguards, and employee training and behaviour.
- Create a roadmap towards more agile and proactive operations.
Checklist to consider when reviewing your technology
Now that you’re aware of the benefits of a new-year IT infrastructure review let’s look at the areas you’ll need to assess.
Current state assessment
What is the state of your system right now? Are your employees working productively with what they have or experiencing a lot of downtime? Are your customer-facing systems up to scratch? Do your IT approaches match your company priorities? Are you meeting your regulation and compliance responsibilities? Do your technology policies reflect new conditions (working from home, for instance)?
Answering these questions will give you a baseline of what you want and need to accomplish. Don’t skimp on this step! Identifying your current processes, policies, and pain points will help you identify improvement opportunities.
Software and hardware assets inventory
This is where you get to the nitty-gritty. Take a detailed inventory of all the software and hardware in your business. Tally up hardware assets (desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, printers, servers, routers etc.) and software assets (operating systems and versions, business solutions, antivirus software etc.) to see what may need to be replaced, upgraded or removed.
Remember: outdated systems and applications can create holes in your technology security. The last thing you want is to skimp on upgrades, and then suffer a costly cyberattack down the line.
Data storage and disaster recovery plans
Your new-year IT infrastructure assessment should also consider your data storage and recovery practices. You should assess where and how you store critical data and how it is backed up. Audit your storage infrastructure to ensure the correct data is being stored on-site, off-site and/or in the cloud, and identify any changes that may need to be made.
Disaster recovery precautions and processes should also fall under this assessment. If disaster strikes (whether it be a cyber breach or a flooded office), do you have procedures at hand to deal with it?
User access and experience
Assessing user experience covers both internal and external parties. Survey your employees on their current technology use and satisfaction. What apps are kicking goals? What improvements would they like to see? Are there workflow inefficiencies that could be improved with technology? This assessment is also a chance to look at your onboarding practices, ongoing IT training, and where your staff are with their security knowledge. We don’t want to see anyone using the password, ‘pa$$w0rd’!
Don’t forget to look at the customer experience of your tech infrastructure, also. Is website navigation a problem? Are there wait times on your phone lines? Identifying these types of issues is the first step to solving customer-facing technology issues.
Need help? Contact Geelong’s IT assessment specialists.
An IT assessment is a robust way to improve the efficiency of your infrastructure. After all, if you make technology and upgrade decisions on the hop, they may not result in the best outcomes for your business in the longer term. Planning ahead allows you to budget for technology requirements and avoid unplanned expenses.
Of course, detailed technology and security assessments take time, and you may already be juggling multiple competing business demands. Don’t leave your new year’s technology review resolution by the wayside – we’re here to help!
The experienced team at Geelong Technology Group can thoroughly review your technology environment to give your business a roadmap for the new year. We service Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Surf Coast, Golden Plains, Colac, Warrnambool and beyond, so get in contact today!