Outdated IT Infrastructure – Time for an Upgrade?
Is your organization looking to make a change as the economy prepares to reopen? In order to evolve you will want to take a good hard look at your IT infrastructure. It is and will continue to be the cornerstone of success for SMBs/SMEs in 2020 and beyond.
In an effort to help you make more informed decisions we have identified key things to look for in your IT framework. If you recognize any of the following then you know it’s time to pivot and update as needed.
4 Signs That Your IT Systems and Infrastructure Are Outdated and in Need of Support
1. You’re Still Investing in Antivirus
It’s great that you’re acting on your concerns over cybercrime, however continued investment in antiquated antivirus software provides a very false sense of security. Recent data finds that there are 480 new malware variants generated every minute. That’s 691,200 per day! There is absolutely no way for common antivirus software to keep up. Every minute that your company continues to rely on AV alone is one minute closer to an advanced attack and potential shutdown of your operations. It’s time to end your sole reliance on AV and adopt cybersecurity and productivity tools that employ artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Only then will your IT systems be protected from the ever-advancing threats.
2. You Still Rely On Legacy Systems
By definition, a legacy system is any hardware or software business solution that was once widely used but has long (a relative term in IT) since been replaced with something newer. Hardware and software age alone isn’t necessarily the determining factor, as a newer version may have been released even just a few months ago, with a given vendor no longer supporting the system. This creates both vulnerability and opportunity on your end.
When it comes to Software as a Service (SaaS) it’s important to take a good look at your subscriptions and check for updates and even consider a switch should there be a superior alternative. For example, Microsoft 365 solutions are well-suited to organizations who are looking to integrate a collaborative working environment with legacy systems. That being said, legacy applications that have a local server dependency can be a significant hurdle for companies looking to adopt the cloud model with Microsoft 365. For this reason you may need to abandon your physical server for a private model OR at least consider a hybrid customized cloud approach.
You’d be surprised to find that a large number of businesses still rely on physical servers for MS integration. In fact, a recent survey found that over 80% of businesses still use the premises-installed Microsoft Office suite. By relying on this legacy system, these businesses are missing out on many updates. In moving to an MS Office 365 subscription, the same companies would enjoy a product that receives automatic feature updates which would improve efficiencies across the board.
3. Your IT Budget is About the Same as Last Year
Unfortunately many SMBs/SMEs set their IT budgets based on a percentage of their revenue as pulled from some industry study. A restauranteur may see a report that states the average IT spend for the hospitality industry is typically 11% and apply that to their ongoing budget. However, there is a LOT more to be considered. The IT spending framework can factor in numerous ratios, statistics, and other cost metrics necessary for strategic IT allowance analytics. IT spending is not only a percent of revenue, but dozens of other ratios. This lack of understanding is why fewer than a third of IT projects are successfully completed on budget.
Keeping your spend the same (or nearly the same) as last year, and quite possibly the year before (and before) may have you spinning wheels. Now we’re not saying that you must significantly increase your budget, because the solution may instead be in how it is allocated. For instance, by moving money from one spot (maintaining old hardware) and into another (the cloud) you may end up increasing efficiencies and ultimately free up money to put towards new IT projects that will help you better secure and/or service new customers/clients.
However, given that there are so many ratios, statistics, and metrics to consider, setting a new IT budget on your own can be extremely difficult, which leads us to our next point.
4. You Rely On In-House IT Alone
If you’ve identified with any of the above then you will have arrived at the inevitable conclusion. In-house IT alone simply can’t keep up with advancing threats and opportunities alike. If it could, there would be no gaps. But this is no slight to your IT team (where applicable) as like most of their peers they are working hard in reactive mode to deal with the numerous fires that pop up on a weekly if not daily basis. With limited resources they simply do not have the time and budget for more rigorous testing of systems or for investigation of new software/hardware solutions for your business. Nor do they have the time to update their own skill set to a level that has become requisite in 2020.
It’s time to alleviate some of the burden on your IT team, and bring in IT support in some capacity. When you work with a Managed Services Provider that offers a diverse set of solutions, you can build out a support package that makes the most sense for your company size and budget. Take a look at SAV Technology’s Managed IT services for example. We offer fully managed, co-managed, and custom managed support in addition to separate cloud and/or data backup and disaster recovery packages along with a wide variety of IT project services. There is a match to your explicit IT needs, no matter how unique or eclectic they may be. The only way to find this match is to begin with a friendly consultation. Contact SAV Technology today.