In the business world, you can’t afford to stand still, which means you must periodically review your business for areas you could improve, including your IT strategy. Your employees depend on your IT systems to get their work done and your customers depend on your IT for information, interface and, often, payment.
Because your IT strategy is so important, it’s vital that you make sure your long term and short term IT goals match up with your goals for your business. Here are a few IT strategy tips to improve the responsiveness of your business and increase your long-term success.
As your business grows, your IT needs are going to grow as well, which means you need to have both a short-term and long-term plan to deal with any growth you might experience.
In the short term, you should determine if your present needs are being satisfied by your current IT strategy. Do you have enough resources for all of your employees? Do your customers have the access they need and an easy way to connect with you? Answering these questions can let you know if you need to update your strategy or invest in new infrastructure.
When it comes to planning for the long-term, your focus should be on be on scaling up in order to meet the growing needs of your business. IT Infrastructure like cabling, switches, firewalls and local servers are the backbone of your network. Auditing the backbone, and budgeting to keep your infrastructure current, is an important step in planning for future network performance.
Security is a primary concerns of your IT strategy. As new technology is released, cyber criminals find exploits, and your IT security must adapt to these vulnerabilities. Your IT strategy should include the challenge of increasing your security, and if not, then it might be time to shift your focus.
In the short-term, you should be focusing on closing any existing holes and making sure your users are educated about keeping your system secure. Informed IT users are one of the best weapons against hackers and data loss. Make sure that your IT strategy lines up with keeping hardware and software up to date and enforcing password policies.
In the long-term, investing services like OpenDNS , Two Facto Authentication, and Managed Engine can help to keep your network locked down.
Is your IT investment tied to the office? If so, you might want to start thinking about the world around you. Your business works and lives in a mobile world, which means your IT strategy must be functional in and out of the office.
When updating your IT strategy to include mobile solutions, think about how you can effectively deploy portable technology like laptops and tablets, as well as how you can incorporate cloud solutions for your on-the-go work force.
Your IT Strategy should be centered on ways to keep your business mobile and how you can leverage existing technology in both the short and long-term.
Finally, it’s important to decide if your IT strategy allows for the best possible communication with vendors and customers. Competition in the market is fierce and customers lean toward providers they can most easily access.
Your IT strategy should focus on making it simple to stay connected with customers and vendors so that your relationships grow and prosper.
If you need help with your short and long term IT Strategy, you should consider working with U.S. Computer Connection. We can work with you to plan out an effective IT strategy that will keep your company stable in the shifting technological winds. Contact us, today.