Spring cleaning, like raking leaves in the fall, is a long-standing tradition in Chicago. Businesses, too, need to do some deep cleaning, particularly with regard to their IT systems. What actions should you take to give your IT infrastructure a good spring cleaning?
As you consider these steps, remember you can employ the services of an IT consulting group in the Chicago area to do a clean sweep for you.
Streamline Your IT Infrastructure
Your network hums along, your applications serve your core business well, and your staff and employees seem happy with your IT solutions. But could the performance of your IT infrastructure improve? Spring cleaning should include a good assessment of your IT system’s performance.
- Monitor – Utilize network monitoring tools to judge the health and performance of your IT. Track downtime and MTTR (the mean time to repair) to assess how quickly your system recovers when equipment needs repair. Include the time to test the fix before the equipment can be restored.
- Manage – Monitoring tells you the current health of your network, but you also need to establish key performance metrics (KPIs), performance objectives for your IT infrastructure.
- Modify – What changes do you need to make to your system to achieve your KPIs? Perhaps it’s time to upgrade devices or utilize the cloud for your data storage or applications. As you develop your strategic business plans for the year and budget for changes, include IT goals and budget for system upgrades.
If you find developing IT goals and budgets as part of your strategic business plan daunting, partner with an IT consulting firm. Their professionals can present you with solutions that fit your needs and budget.
Secure Your Data
Cyber thieves develop new ways daily to infiltrate your IT system and threaten your data. Spring cleaning should include an assessment of the security of your system, too.
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- Review Network Activity – It’s also important to monitor attempted attacks on your system. Increased network activity or slow response time can indicate a breach of your firewall. Review your system and look for unfamiliar software applications. Analyze your access logs to determine if someone using an unfamiliar IP address is attempting to access your system.
- Upgrade Security Software Applications
Hackers take aim at outdated software applications. What makes these applications targets for cybercrime? Upgrades patch currently known vulnerabilities, introduce new security features, and enable applications to recognize the newest malware threats. Upgraded software simply limits its vulnerability to attack.
Security magazine reports that on average companies use more than one thousand applications. You can keep software updated by employing automatic updates. Spring cleaning should include consolidating applications or removing software tools that you no longer need. An IT service provider in the Chicago area can do the heavy lifting of keeping your applications upgraded and secure.
- Evaluate Backup Schedules
Spring cleaning should include an evaluation of your current backup schedules. How often does your schedule regularly back up your valuable data? Has the change rate of your data accelerated in the last year? Are you employing a combination of full, incremental, and differential backups? Do you store copies of your data in both on-site and off-site locations?
- Update Disaster Recovery Plans
Robust backup schedules feed into your recovery plans. Adjustments to your backup schedules should include a review of your disaster recovery plans. Spring cleaning must include testing of your backup and restoration procedures. Along with your employees, your data is your most precious asset. Ensure you can recover from a disaster or data breach in a timely manner and with minimal data loss.
- Provide Employee Cybersecurity Training
A 2020 report supported by Stanford University cited 88% of security breaches can be attributed to human error. With the development of AI and its use by cyber criminals, that percentage has likely increased. IT spring cleaning should include employee training to recognize phishing and malware scams. And consider making cybersecurity training part of your new hire orientation.
Upgrade Your Business Hardware
How do you know it’s time to upgrade your hardware? Look for these warning signs:
- Diminished Performance
Are your employees complaining about how long it takes to reboot their computers, load new applications, upgrade software, or move between tasks?
- Incompatible Software
Does your current hardware no longer support application upgrades?
- Warranty Expiration
Quite simply, have the warranties on your equipment expired?
- Increased Repairs
Review your repair costs; have they increased over the past year?
If you are running out of data storage, noticing your hardware overheating, or facing increased downtime due to hardware issues, it’s time to upgrade your hardware. And don’t forget to evaluate if your phone system continues to serve your needs.
Engaging an IT service provider like the professionals at JMA Consulting means you have a partner who will not only spring clean your IT infrastructure, they can regularly monitor your system for cybersecurity threats and diminishing performance. Their technicians can keep your software ungraded, alert you to the need to upgrade hardware, and work with vendors to keep purchases within your budget.
Spring has arrived. Don’t forget to give your IT infrastructure a good cleaning.