Information technology (IT) is at the core of all operations in today's business world. Even the smallest issue with your company's IT infrastructure can interfere with the smooth running of your business.
Potential problems that may arise include security vulnerabilities, downtime, and data issues. The best way to avoid issues affecting the company's productivity is through IT infrastructure assessment.
To boost your company's competitive edge, conducting routine IT infrastructure assessments is crucial. Proper IT infrastructure assessment reduces interruptions while delivering services to your customers.
That said, what steps should you follow when conducting an IT infrastructure assessment? Worry not, as here's a comprehensive guide on the essential steps you need to follow when conducting an IT infrastructure assessment.
What Is An IT Infrastructure Assessment?
An IT assessment refers to the formal process of examining an entire IT environment's data, procedures, and systems. Companies usually carry out routine IT infrastructure assessments once or twice a year. It’s a task performed by managed IT service providers, such as Powerconsulting.com, or an in-house IT team.
The need for IT infrastructure assessment might also be triggered by something that could violate IT policies or compromise the company's IT system, such as:
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Relocating the data center
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Starting enterprise transformation
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Moving legacy systems to the cloud
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Opening or moving to a new office setting
Routine IT infrastructure assessment helps businesses gauge their IT environment. With that done, it's possible to identify necessary changes to make within the IT environment. A few advantages of conducting an IT infrastructure assessment include the following:
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Identify your current IT position to better guide you and develop a plan for your future infrastructure upgrades.
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Implement proactive measures to address potential issues before they affect day-to-day operations.
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Pinpoint issues that need immediate attention, such as end-of-life equipment, which is no longer supported by a vendor.
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Discover defective processes causing significant downtime for the business.
These benefits best illustrate why routine IT infrastructure assessment is vital for your business to achieve its future goals.
Steps To Follow During IT Infrastructure Assessment
Here are the steps you need to follow during an IT infrastructure assessment to boost your company's bottom line:
Step #1: Assess The Current IT Infrastructure
Examining the current state of your IT infrastructure should be the first step to pinpoint areas of improvement. When assessing the current IT infrastructure, your areas of focus include:
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Business models, that is, B2B or B2C
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Assets
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Workflows
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Policies and processes
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Your goals
Understanding these systems will help you determine whether your current IT infrastructure meets your business objectives. It's especially important because there's a high chance your company is relying on an outdated schematic.
Besides knowing the basics of what you need to do, it's much easier to adhere to regulatory rules and laws. Learning your company's existing IT infrastructure helps with better resource management.
Step #2: Collect Software And Hardware Inventory
It's crucial to have an inventory of all the software and hardware tools your business uses, including:
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Routers
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Computers
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Switches
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Smartphones
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Hubs
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Servers
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Network equipment
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Third-party software
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Software applications
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Printers
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Scanners
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Operating systems
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Access points
When examining the capabilities of this hardware and software, focus on several aspects, including:
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How often do you update the current systems?
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When did you last perform a gap analysis of the critical systems?
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How old is the existing system?
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What's the plan for imminent upgrades or system migrations?
Proper assessment of your hardware and software inventory will help optimize your company's resource management. Doing so allows you to better handle your future IT needs.
Step #3: Back Up Your Data
Technology helps streamline business operations and ease data storage. However, with cybercrime cases on the rise, it's prudent to establish data recovery measures to prevent data loss. Such a data recovery plan also proves helpful if a natural disaster leads to hardware destruction.
With this in mind, a crucial data storage and recovery measure to take during an IT infrastructure assessment is to inspect data storage. Doing this enables you to implement recovery feasibility, which entails several elements, including:
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Data backups
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Cloud storage
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Disaster recovery
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Compliance requirements
Implementing such measures protects your business from losing sensitive data in the event of a disaster.
Step #4: Identify What You Are Lacking
There's always something in the IT infrastructure that can be improved. For this reason, you need to carry out a gap analysis to pinpoint areas in your IT infrastructure where there's room for improvement. Some questions that can help you identify areas that are lacking include:
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Is your existing IT infrastructure delivering as expected?
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Are your staff happy and productive?
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Does your IT infrastructure give you a competitive advantage?
Conducting routine gap analysis allows you to better gauge your existing situation. You can then use the insights to find out how to develop a solid plan to resolve current IT problems.
Step #5: Assess The Current IT Systems
Another task you must undertake is to assess the current state of your IT systems. Routine assessment of your IT systems allows you to determine the ideal time for system upgrades. Knowing the right time to replace or upgrade, and to carry out routine maintenance of software or hardware, reduces downtime.
During the assessment of the IT infrastructure, your tech experts need to test the entire network. Comprehensive testing of the network components and connections according to specific timelines helps make debugging much simpler.
Another reason to assess the current IT infrastructure is to understand its underlying running cost. For instance, the IT infrastructure assessment gives you a better idea of every indirect cost that might go unbudgeted, such as:
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Downtime
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Staff training
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Routine maintenance
You then gain a better picture of the cost of buying new technology. Remember, purchasing new technology only accounts for 20% of technology-related expenses.
Takeaway
Regular IT infrastructure assessment allows you to better gauge the effectiveness of your company's technology systems. It does so by pinpointing the strengths and weaknesses of your technological framework. Detailed in this guide are the steps to follow during an IT infrastructure assessment. You'll then be in a better position to ensure that your IT network infrastructure is up-to-date and robust enough.