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Every business wants to achieve their goals and be successful. However, if you approach your technology infrastructure as an afterthought, you could be seriously restricting your organization's potential.
A technology refresh allows a company to assess its IT infrastructure's present condition and evaluate the benefits of trying something more effective. For a company's long-term success, it's ideal to examine its current IT infrastructure (hardware, software and other technology solutions) and see what other options are available that would better suit its needs.
However, some barriers prevent many organizations from investing in their technology infrastructure, such as time, a lack of expertise, apprehension about change and financial constraints. When you work with an MSP like us at Superior Managed IT, we will assist you in planning and implementing a technology refresh that suits your business. Before you refresh your technology infrastructure, there are six factors you need to consider that will be discussed in the upcoming sections.
Your IT infrastructure refresh strategy should be based on your long-term vision. If you try to rip up and replace platforms every year without a plan, it can eat up your time, drain your wallet and cause employee dissatisfaction.
You must have a clear understanding of where your company is now and where you want it to go in the future, and if any technology component is preventing you from growing, it’s time to replace or update it. Ensure that your key stakeholders are informed about the change ahead of time to avoid friction later on. Your strategy must consider a few key indicators that show you whether your technology infrastructure is assisting you in realizing your vision.
Setting goals requires you to make challenging decisions and confront the reality of your business and technology. Once you have a good idea of how you want your business to look in the future, you can create a roadmap and lay down weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly goals. These goals serve as guideposts for you and your employees as you build your company.
Ask yourself the following questions before setting goals:
Goals are important because they translate your vision into measurable targets. It also helps employees understand exactly what they are expected to do and when they are expected to do it.
Before you begin a technology refresh, you must first establish a budget. Asking the questions below is a good place to start:
Consider your technology refresh budgets as a way to align your IT infrastructure with your vision, rather than as a burden or unnecessary spending.
If you want to stay within your budget when planning a technology refresh, you must prioritize which technologies need updating.
First, determine which technologies are essential and which are optional. Technology refreshes/upgrades that your company can’t unleash its true potential without should be considered essential. Optional refreshes are “nice to have,” but they won’t make or break your ability to meet your goals.
Integration meets companies’ growing IT demands by making it easier to combine new solutions with the existing IT infrastructure. In fact, many manufacturers design their technology products with future integration in mind.
One of the primary reasons why businesses invest in integration is to optimize business processes. A centralized infrastructure improves the efficiency of information exchange and workflows, resulting in increased productivity. It also lowers operational costs, improves overall reaction time and ensures that information is readily available when required.
Not only do integrations improve your company's productivity, but it also eventually adds value for customers by improving the performance and quality of your products and services.
After you’ve considered the five factors listed above and created the ideal architecture for your refresh, ask yourself whether it will genuinely accomplish what you need it to. This is where peer feedback from your community or a third-party audit from an MSP might help.
Technology refresh is essential to keep up with rapid technological advancements and to gain a significant advantage over competitors. Get started on your path to refresh/upgrade success with an experienced partner like us. Knowing that the process is in expert hands gives you peace of mind and time to concentrate on growing your company.
Contact us to learn more about how we can assist you in implementing the optimal technology refresh strategy for you to increase your chances of success in today’s highly competitive business environment.
1306 County Rd F West
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Minneapolis, MN 55112
Service Desk: 612-788-9233
Inquiries: 612-999-6200
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Superior Managed IT can manage, or assist you with, your IT assets across their entire lifecycle.
From assessment, design, migration and deployment to ongoing management and security. We serve small to midsize businesses across the Twin Cities as their trusted business technology partner.
Contact us today for your free consultation!