Seasoned companies know and understand the value of developing and implementing IT roadmaps for their organizations. It is just as important for small and medium businesses to have a roadmap that addresses their business challenges and highlights available technological opportunities. Ideally, the roadmap should identify the company’s technological needs along with how technology is to be implemented to meet those needs. Here are some items you may want to include in your IT roadmap:
Implementing Managed Services
Dealing with your IT issues internally may consume much of your company’s budget and time. This in turn could have a negative effect on your competitiveness. A managed service provider can act as your virtual IT department and handle all the technology that keeps your business running; reducing your IT operational costs and providing you with a higher level of IT service for your business.
Firewall and Security Overview
Firewall technology is an essential part of a small businesses network. If you haven’t added a firewall to your network, your computers may be vulnerable to viruses and hackers. As such, you should consider safeguarding the security of your network in your IT roadmap. Defending your system against common threats such as viruses, spyware and malware could just be the investment that ultimately saves your business.
Network Upgrades and Overhaul
Many small business owners are reluctant to upgrade their network due to cost, but the truth is that you could very well recover the money within a few months if you factor in the return on investment as a result of upgrading your network. Network upgrades could help you and your employees get things done faster and improve your service delivery.
Software Projects
As your business grows, you will need to improve and upgrade your IT systems so that they respond to your needs. An important area to remember is customizing software based on your needs. While this may be costly and time consuming, it could make running your business a lot simpler.
Cloud Migrations
With cloud services, it’s much easier for you to get access to your systems and data wherever and whenever you want. In addition to financial savings, cloud migration offers small businesses the benefits of improved access, security, backups and disaster recovery.
Other considerations for your IT roadmap include hardware upgrade, new branch offices/subsidiaries, mergers and acquisitions, expansions and relocations, outsourcing, and improving your website.
A proper auditing of your business IT infrastructure will go a long way in helping you designing an effective IT roadmap. We are willing to help you in this venture; we can offer a site and/or systems audit. Once the audit is complete, we will provided you with a detailed actionable roadmap that is in line with your business objectives and within your budget and time requirements.