All businesses want to spend money wisely, improve efficiencies, minimize downtime and ensure the successful adoption of new technologies by employees. Is your company performing a business situational analysis (or a business IT infrastructure assessment), to make this happen?
If not, your business is, more than likely, suffering from the wasted time and increased costs associated with downtime. The 2017 Veeam Availability Report revealed that enterprise organizations lose an average of $21.8 million (USD) a year due to unplanned downtime.
Growing businesses rely on technology, but they often spend more time solving the problems within their existing IT infrastructure than they do trying to identify them before they cause disruption.
According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime for enterprise firms is $5,600 per minute. However, since there are so many differences in how businesses operate, downtime, at the low end, can be as much as $140,000 per hour, $300,000 per hour on average, and as much as $540,000 per hour at the higher end.
The Gartner study found:
- 98 per cent of organizations say a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000.
- 81 per cent of respondents indicated that 60 minutes of downtime costs their business over $300,000.
- 33 per cent of those enterprises reported that one hour of downtime costs their firms $1-5 million.
Not only that, but there are additional costs that don’t show up in dollar form. Downtime and the time it takes your IT infrastructure to get fixed directly affect your bottom line, but the time it takes for your staff to get their head back in the game also impacts your productivity indirectly.
For example, a study by UC Irvine found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds for an employee to refocus and get back to the task they were working on once distracted.
That’s why small, medium and enterprise companies can all trim costs, streamline processes and avoid potential IT infrastructure issues by simply undertaking a business IT infrastructure assessment that helps make the most out of their office technology.
What is an IT infrastructure assessment?
An IT infrastructure is an IT services strategy that focuses on giving a comprehensive review of a company's current technology systems. The assessment will outline these existing technologies in a detailed report, along with recommendations and best practices for how the company's IT infrastructure can be improved for reduced costs and improved productivity.
Once a business has a comprehensive review of the current state of its network, it will be able to identify opportunities for improvement and make better-informed and more strategic IT decisions moving forward. An improved IT infrastructure empowers company growth.
Why your business needs an IT infrastructure assessment
Here are four reasons why your company should make a business IT infrastructure assessment its top priority:
1 - Find your strengths and tackle your weaknesses
Assessing your IT infrastructure will give you real insight into where your strengths and weaknesses are as a business. You’ll be able to put together a complete and realistic picture of your existing IT systems, and how they help or hinder your company’s processes.
With this information, you’ll be able to pinpoint how to improve your internal processes and your bottom line - whether it’s by implementing new technologies or simply learning how your current systems and technologies can be better applied to your line of business.
2 - Align IT and business goals
If you have a separate IT department, it’s possible your company is suffering from a fragmented approach between your IT department and your executive team. If this is the case, it’s likely that your IT department will be working towards a completely different objective to the overall business.
With a professional IT infrastructure assessment firm such as OT Group, however, an IT assessment will focus on first understanding the goals set by your business. They will look at your IT infrastructure through the eyes of the business, implementing technology that will directly support your business goals.
3 - Reduce business disruptions
Inefficient processes are bad for productivity, but the true cost of business disruptions is when your company uses its technology until failure. Failed technology can put your company out of action for hours, and sometimes even days.
An IT infrastructure assessment will find the old, fragile and risky legacy systems that are supporting your business, and will help you replace these with reliable and efficient modern technology. This will significantly reduce the chance of downtime.
4 - Better plan your IT expenditure
Many small businesses buy technology with the assumption that the base price they pay will be the total cost of ownership (TCO), without ever thinking about other prices such as implementation, training, technical support, labour costs, maintenance and downtime.
In fact, A computer’s base price typically represents less than 20 per cent of its TCO [Network Alliance]. This can become an unwelcome surprise that affects your company’s bottom line in the future.
Through an IT infrastructure assessment, you’ll be able to work out the true TCO of your technology, which will give your business a better idea of how much you can afford when implementing a new technology solution.
Ways to improve IT infrastructure
There are a wide number of ways that IT infrastructure can be improved, from updating old software, replacing old hardware, or implementing new technologies into your processes that make your organization more productive. yet the only way to find out what your business needs, is to gain full visibility into your current IT infrastructure.
Once an IT infrastructure assessment is complete, some ways to rapidly improve IT infrastructure can include:
- Implementing cloud computing into the business.
- Updating aged and legacy infrastructure, both software and hardware.
- Training team members both safe IT practices and how to use technology more efficiently.
- Increasing storage space.
- Adding more server capabilities
- Creating data backups.
- Updating cyber security technologies.
How can OT Group help?
Here at OT Group, our core business is recommending, implementing and training your staff in new technologies to improve your internal processes and your bottom line. Sometimes you might need a new IT infrastructure, or sometimes the solution is as simple as showing you how your current systems and technologies can be better applied to your line of business.
By fully sharing your business vision and providing scalable solutions that help your business grow, we are able to recommend the appropriate hardware and software that promotes the growth of your business long into the future.
Are you looking for more information about how our Business Situational Analysis will reduce operating costs, maximize investment and help you realize a wide range of other benefits? Schedule a consultation today.
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