The Top 5 Challenges Managing Your IT Infrastructure
Ahhh computers.
Can’t live without ‘em, but they certainly can cause a lot of headaches.
When you’re running a business today, you can leverage the huge upside of IT to your advantage. But when things go wrong, they go really wrong.
Here are 5 of the top challenges we’ve seen that business owners need to overcome with their IT. The more you can anticipate them, the more likely you are to avoid them.
Slow or Out of Date Hardware
No matter how modern your computer systems might be, it often feels like within a few months there is something more advanced available. The average lifespan today of a computer is between 3-to-5 years. Of course, this depends on how much power you need under the hood.
As a rule, look at replacing or upgrading your hardware over a 5 year period. Begin with the older computers and rotate them out for newer, faster models.
No Access to Data
Firewalls are great for protecting emails, applications and web browsing. But they can reduce the network speeds considerably, making online collaboration (via video, VOIP) almost impossible.
While itis important to have your computers as safe as possible, remember that you need the right balance. Working with a managed IT services provider is one way to get the best of both worlds.
Lack of Data Backups
While Cloud storage has taken over in most of the cases in the modern world, many companies rely too heavily on the cloud to keep everything safe. It can be wise to have an onsite backup server or at least some hardware backups of your most important documents. While this might seem like overkill in some cases, it is a much better alternative than losing all your data!
Bad Network Connectivity
For any company to work smoothly, you need high speech internet. It is basically a necessity of modern life, and without it, most things shut down.
Getting reliable fast internet to your business is fairly simple if you know the best options. Working with an experienced team like Affant can give you an array of options that can make sure you’re connected at optimum speeds.
Poor Team Protocols
Even though you love your team, did you know they can be one of the biggest threats to your IT security? The problems caused by team members can cause security breaches, lost data, and a lot of inefficiencies. The key is to have correct team protocols in place, as well as training to help the team know what to do (and what NOT to do) when it comes to using IT in your business.
Should You Do It Yourself? Or Get Help?
It seems today that business IT needs should be all able to be managed by one person in-house. In some cases, that is true, but in a lot of other cases it is wise to outsource to a managed IT company.
Affant can provide security monitoring, expert advice for both hardware and software and we can help you create a cost-effective plan for the future proofing your IT needs.
Founding and leading technology-oriented service organizations since 1988. Specializes in Public speaking relating to Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Communication Network Management, Network Security, Managing your Team, and IP Telephony /VoIP / IP Communication.
