The Best Way to Keep Your IT Infrastructure Operating at Maximum Efficiency

It’s the dream of every IT administrator that their network run smoothly, which ultimately makes the job of everyone in the company easier. Unfortunately, all it takes is one loose component to fail for this dream of IT Utopia to come crashing down.
With proper implementation and oversight and IT network can perform perfectly fine. When it comes to IT equipment, everything works flawlessly, when its new and installed correctly. However, given the imperfect nature of technology, it won’t be too long before the newness wears off and an unforeseen error ruins IT utopia for everyone.
There are two approaches that can keep your business IT infrastructure well running. The first is to wait for something to go wrong and fix it as once the problem is taken care of, your business will return to IT paradise, however, this paradise will come at a great cost that’s billed by the hour. The second way is to never let it slip away in the first place.
When it comes to safeguarding your company’s state of IT utopia, there’s no greater way than being proactive about it. Hence, we suggest some steps that can help you obtain your IT paradise.
 
Provide your employee with secure, consistent access to information.
One advantage SMB have over large competitors is flexibility – ability to react and adapt quickly. But if your company network is frequently down, sluggish or unsecured, that competitive advantage is eroded. A secure, reliable, self-defending network based on intelligent routers and switches provides your business with maximum agility by providing reliable, secure access to business intelligence. What’s more, a secure, reliable network infrastructure provides the necessary foundation for a number of efficiency-enhancing technologies and solutions, such as IP communications.
 
Dedupe your backup environment.
It is important for an IT department to take an inventory of the existing backup environment, business objectives for Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) for application. Dedupe to disk can save your organization a ton of money while still letting you leverage tape for long time archives. Make sure the solutions you choose integrate with any existing tape backup environment and enables you to automate tape for long term archives AFTER data is replicated offsite.
 
Deliver anytime, anywhere access to mobile employees.
SMB employees are typically more mobile than those in large enterprise, in order to be productive, while on the go. Technologies enabling ubiquitous access include Virtual Private Network (VPNs) which securely connect remote employees to the company network, and persuasive wireless network, which enables employees to stay connected to the network while roaming about an office building or on the field.
 
Fixing the network
The Local Area Network and Wide Area Network infrastructure must be robust enough to provide performance for all client access while providing residual bandwidth for data movements between locations. Invest in solutions that replicate data with maximum efficiency for DR and enable server-less, LAN free backups to remove backup traffic from the network.
 
Create effective business process with partners.
Some large enterprises make efficient, secure business processes a prerequisite for doing business with them. Your business needs a secure, reliable network infrastructure to develop efficient business process that meet the requirement of your partner.
 
Make it easy to collaborate
Effective, interactive, collaboration between employees, partners, suppliers and customers is a sure fire way to boost efficiency while also reducing cost. Integrated voice, video and data provides the kind of interactive calendaring, videoconferencing, IP communications, and other technologies your business needs to foster seamless, easy collaboration.
 
Streamline communication with customers.
Interacting with customers efficiently and knowledgeably helps keeps them satisfied. Linking an IP communication system to a CRM is one way to enhance consumer communication.
 
Optimize servers & application
In the world of open, distributed computing, server virtualization enables cost reductions through the ability to use less physical hardware for application services. IT should run applications on robust “blade server” or GRID infrastructures or Domain- and LPAR-based physical servers, or use server-based virtualization solutions.  Virtualization can put an organization ahead of its peers in terms of cost reduction and consolidation.
 
Virtualize your Storage Area Network (SAN).
The SAN can be one of the costliest areas of IT, especially as it pertains to annual operational expenditure. Take all available measures to provide a robust, high-performing and reliable infrastructure for data storage in the most cost-efficient manner as possible.
 
Outsource IT tasks
Is it the best use of an employee’s time to manage your network security or IP communications system? Often, a more efficient option is to outsource such tasks to a managed service provider. A service provider has the expertise that your business needs but may lack, without the need to spend time or money developing that expertise in house.
Also, outsourcing enables your employees to stay focused on productive activities related to your business’s core competencies and that helps keep your business competitive.
 
Implementing any of these steps individually will help reduce your cost, but together they create a compelling advantage in IT saving over the long run, or the way we see it, IT utopia isn’t beyond reach!