4 pro tips for predictable IT performance
Predictable IT performance is the dream of every small to mid-sized business owner. Who wouldn’t want an IT setup that runs completely automatically? Well, we have some good news. There are a number of steps you can take to make your IT experience smoother and less erratic.
That’s right. Predictable IT performance doesn’t have to be a pipe dream.
Just follow the 4 tips below and you’ll go a long way in keeping your company’s IT performance consistent and predictable. The impact on your business is no small thing.
1. Incorporate automation
Consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates that 45 percent of work activities could be automated using existing technology. How much more productive could your employees be if you gave them nearly half of their time back?
Not only does automation make your business more efficient as a whole, it also improves consistency and predictability. Automated software agents operate according to a predefined set of rules, which makes it easy to anticipate their behavior at any given time. Using business workflow automation helps you establish standard IT protocols, giving you more confidence in process outcomes.
2. Enable automatic software updates
Devastating malware attacks such as WannaCry and Petya reveal just how infrequently many businesses update their enterprise software. The Equifax data breach of 2017, which exposed 145 million Social Security numbers and other sensitive information, occurred because the company failed to install a security patch that had already been released for months.
Network security services are essential to keep yourself protected. In order to prevent a similar disaster at your own organization, and to make your IT more predictable, you should enable automatic software updates. This includes updates for both your operating system as well as software from third-party vendors.
3. Move to the cloud
With 96 percent of enterprises using the cloud in some form or fashion, cloud computing is no longer a key differentiator—it’s an established best practice that businesses must adopt to keep up with their competitors.
By migrating some or all of your IT infrastructure into the cloud, you can benefit from increased consistency and predictability. Many of your business productivity applications are already available in the cloud, such as Office 365.
Cloud servers are generally more reliable and available than their on-premises equivalents. In addition, moving to the cloud guarantees that you’ll have an off-site backup of your data that can be restored in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophe.
4. Make use of business analytics
“Big data,” like cloud computing, is another revolution in enterprise IT that can yield major returns on your investment. Thousands of organizations have used big data to make better business decisions. However, you can also collect internal data that will help you optimize your IT environment to make it more reliable and less prone to errors.
IT operations analytics (ITOA) software analyzes mass quantities of data in order to uncover hidden or complex patterns about your IT environment. In doing so, you can identify issues, such as an application whose performance is gradually declining, and fix the problem before it results in a crash that disrupts your operations.
Predictable IT performance
From business process automation to big data, there are a variety of strategies at your fingertips to achieve predictable IT for your organization.
Interested putting some of this information to use right now? Speak with your IT support partner to find out how they can set you on the path to predictable IT performance today.