According to the IT Infrastructure Conversation Study conducted at the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, 7 out of 10 organizations believe IT infrastructure enables competitive advantage and optimizes business performance.
If you’ve never heard about this, it’s time for you and your company to learn more about strategic planning. This article will cover the basics of IT infrastructure management (IM) and explain a few of its most welcome benefits.
Here’s why you should consider IM services:
What is IT Infrastructure Management?
Infrastructure Management is “the management of essential operation components,” such as:
- Policies
- Processes
- Equipment
- Data
- Human resources
- External contacts
In today’s digital age, IM refers primarily to the planning, developing, and implementing of dedicated IT systems for entire organizations or specific departments and their continued maintenance and improvement.
Why Infrastructure Management Services?
As you might know from the experience, continued management of complex IT systems on an organization-wide level requires expertise, time, and resources. In terms of maintenance and improvement, in-house IT teams can only do so much.
Organizations that take professional infrastructure management services have reported better employee productivity rates due to high-performing technology – both on-premise and cloud-based. In general, the benefits of outsourcing IM are enormous:
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Better operational productivity
In the modern-day business environment, every organizational infrastructure is technology-based. But even the most sophisticated technological solutions can’t manage themselves. Every piece of software and hardware must be closely monitored.
The ultimate goal of regular maintenance is increased productivity.
By outsourcing infrastructure management to professionals, you’re ensuring that every cog in this complex machinery is healthy, up-to-date, and performing at full capacity.
In addition to maintenance, IM services include strategic planning by industry experts. This means that every piece of technology involved in your business operations will be strategically upgraded or replaced to meet your future needs and objectives.
Reduced workload for IT teams
An obvious benefit of hiring a professional infrastructure management firm is the reduced workload for internal IT teams. This means different things to different companies, depending on their industry and size, but it is crucial to IT companies.
Outsourcing means more time for creative problem-solving for aspiring businesses that provide IT-related services or rely heavily on complex IT infrastructures. It allows them to focus on creating better products, services, and experiences for their customers.
For all other companies, this eliminates the need for in-house IT specialists.
Most providers of infrastructure management services offer 24/7 IT support, so there is no need to keep internal IT staff on the payroll.
Reduced and predictable cost
Reduced cost is one of the greatest benefits of moving to IM services.
The cost of internally building and maintaining an IT infrastructure is always higher than outsourcing these tasks to professionals. Even with experienced IT specialists on your team, coming up with the most effective infrastructure is a trial-and-error process.
With managed IT infrastructure services, these costs are predictable.
Your infrastructure management services provider will assess your IT needs beforehand and discuss budgetary constraints with your company heads. Based on this assessment, they will build you an optimal infrastructural solution for your budget.
Access to know-how & expertise
When you hire an IT specialist, you can’t expect them to keep pace with all the industry’s emerging tech, current trends, and future developments. Your in-house IT expert should know the ins and outs of your organization’s current IT systems.
However, you can’t expect them to vet, install, teach your employees how to use, and maintain an entirely new system without completing the training course first.
Third-party IM service providers take training courses all the time. Their job is to keep learning about the IT industry and offer expertise and practical know-how for any technology or software used by their clients. They must be able to solve any problem in real-time.
Having an industry-leading expert on call is either essential or extremely useful.
Managed policies & compliance
In most countries, providers of IT services are directly and solely responsible for IT security and data privacy. This is the case in Europe, where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires compliance from professional providers of IM services.
If this is the case in your country, too, this is one huge burden off your shoulders.
Moreover, the best third-party providers of infrastructure management services are already in the loop with the legal procedures and compliance requirements for all industries and different types of IT equipment. You can rely on them for this with confidence.
Scalable cloud infrastructures
Every business aspires to grow. Planning for the future is always worth the investment, making scalability an essential factor in choosing an IT infrastructure. When you’re building one in-house, you usually have less flexibility than with third-party solutions.
IM service providers already have everything they need to support your growth.
For example, if your data storage is growing rapidly, the IM service provider can offer you additional cloud storage. The same goes for the systems your organization uses daily and for your general computing requirements.
Conclusion
The benefits of infrastructure management services for modern-day businesses are so extensive that building an internal infrastructure usually makes little sense. We recommend you request a professional assessment and talk to experts about your specific needs.
For a lot of businesses, outsourcing IM is a precursor for growth.
