Perhaps the most straightforward mistake you could make as a business is to simply "set and forget" your IT foundation. Odds are the point at which you laid out your business, you put a great deal of thought and work into the technology you'll need. Network elements are all about your connectivity (such as your office LAN). This also covers your internet connection, VoIP, network cabling, hubs, switches, and routers sort of fall into this category as well.
There are some key tasks you should be performing periodically on the elements of your IT. Now, whether you choose to perform these tasks yourself, or hire outsourced IT services; that’s up to you.
1. Reviewing
A comprehensive IT infrastructure audit will take a look at all your hardware devices and network structure to ensure that your equipment is sufficient for its assigned tasks (i.e. your server device isn’t sluggish and overheating from being underpowered).
The drawback to this process is that it requires particular information or experience that numerous entrepreneurs are probably not going to have.
2. Updates
As it pertains to software, this is absolutely something that you can take care of internally. However, it can become drawn-out or tedious when you have numerous devices and platforms generally working on various update schedules.
Your hardware may sometimes require driver updates or patches as well; these are totally pivotal as far as keeping up with your framework. While programming updates can run in significance (from security to an innocuous error), equipment refreshes are generally carried out less habitually and are much more important additions to the performance and function of the device.
3. Backups
Backups are a fundamental part of IT foundation support. Your system should have a backup protocol set to a regular schedule. There is nothing worse than requiring your backups after a catastrophic failure, and finding out that the last six months of backups are corrupted or otherwise absent.
4. Analyze and Consolidate
You're probably not still using your first smartphone. That does not mean that you have upgraded after each new release, but after a while, it becomes apparent that the phone you are using is no longer keeping pace. Consider your IT the same way. What was appropriate for your business two years ago, may no longer be up to the task of your current needs.
5. Security
Security upkeep and support are an immense piece of your IT foundation. Your organization, your firewall, your server access, end-client gadgets, messages, and so on. These are all subject to potential cyber-attack, or infiltration. We strongly recommend every business should perform periodic self-evaluations in terms of cyber security.
Always remember, that IT infrastructure is the framework upon which your business operates. It is the roads, tunnels and services that carry and protect your data from network to consumer. Be sure it is built right, schedule an IT review today.