Start the year with an IT Plan
Now that the holidays are finally over, and 2017 is beginning to pickup steam, we wanted to make sure you’ve thought about your IT plan for this year.
For small businesses, planning for Information Technology does not need to be a difficult or time consuming process. But it is essential, if you wish for your business to remain secure and for your staff to remain productive.
SMB owners can make an IT plan any number of ways. Techromatic has our own proprietary way of approaching Information Technology planning.
We think every IT Department is like a 3-Tier Pyramid:
Note the 3 tiers. IT Strategy is at the top, Core IT Infrastructure in the middle, and End-User Support on the bottom.
IT Strategy exists at the apex of the pyramid because it is the most important, and because everything that happens at the top of the pyramid will have a major impact as the strategy flows down onto the layers below.
Smart decisions at the top can mean a much more stable network and tighter security in the middle tier, and happier and more productive staff at the bottom tier of the pyramid.
Note that the top of the pyramid is also the smallest. This is relevant, as it doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time to put together and manage an IT Strategy for SMBs. Maximum return on your investment combined with minimum time requirement, means you really should give IT Strategy the attention it deserves.
The second tier of the pyramid is Core IT Infrastructure. This layer is identified by the things that users share to get their job done. Servers, Routers, Firewalls, Network Security, Cybersecurity, Endpoint protection, Printers, Wifi, Cloud services, and more all live in the middle tier of the pyramid. When something is poorly designed or maintained in this layer, multiple users are less productive than they should be. So ironing out all kinks in this layer is critical to a smoothly running IT department.
The third and final layer of the pyramid is End-User support. This is the foundation of most IT departments just as the people that work in the business are the foundation of the business. Everything that happens in a business happens because of it’s people. It’s critical to make sure they have the tools and support they need when they need it, so that they can do their part to make sure the strategy that you set out for them is successful.
Understanding where each element in an IT Department maps to the 3-tier pyramid is essential to crafting a policy that works. And putting processes in place to ensure that each tier of the pyramid has it’s own set of goals and plans to achieve them will ensure that the IT Department remains a key factor in delivering amazing results to the business.
There’s no time like the present. Call now to put together your IT Plan for 2017!