Chicago-based businesses who rely on a secure, efficient, and optimized IT infrastructure plan a period of reduced activity or downtime to focus on maintenance, updates, or enhancements to their software and hardware systems. They choose a season of lighter demand for IT services, often targeting the summer months, a period of time when activity may slow due to staff vacations or seasonal slowdowns, to schedule intentional downtime. But preparing for summer downtime demands wise planning. What are the essential steps for a smooth transition?
1. Assess Current IT System
Before the scheduled downtime, inventory current hardware and software and identify items that need to be upgraded or replaced. Has your network performance degraded over the past year? Where do performance bottlenecks reside? Identify underused systems to determine if they can be eliminated.
Cybersecurity remains an ongoing and evolving threat to Chicago businesses. Assess the state of the security of your IT infrastructure. Perform penetration testing and identify the existing vulnerabilities in your network.
2. Plan Maintenance and Upgrades
Of course, you must apply upgrades to your security software throughout the year. But you may not be current on the patches for your other software applications. Effective year-round maintenance should include applying software patches, but summer downtime offers the opportunity to schedule major system upgrades.
Does your team need to replace outdated servers, laptops, desktops, or storage devices? According to vendor Hewlett-Packard (HP), for example, the average lifespan of a laptop is 3 to 5 years while a desktop performs well from 3 to 8 years. To prepare for summer downtime, identify these upgrades and replacements. The summer plans should address these maintenance items when they least impinge on important business activities. Would your business benefit from new technology? Plan to transition to new technologies during downtime. For example, plan to convert to cloud computing or hybrid systems during the summer months.
How effective are your existing disaster and recovery plans? How well has your IT team maintained its backup schedules; are these schedules effective? Test how quickly the current recovery protocols can return the IT network for full functionality after a calamity and prepare to enhance these plans.
3. Communicate with Departments and Customers/Clients
The Team – To prepare well for summer downtime, inform all departments of the proposed maintenance schedules. Enlist the input from these groups to ensure the proposed IT downtime schedule aligns with the summer business goals.
The Customers/Clients – Plan to communicate proposed disruptions in service to customers or clients. Assess the impact of the downtime on these individuals and prepare to offer alternative solutions for extended service interruptions.
4. Employ Co-Managed IT Services
For the IT staff, “downtime” is a contradiction in terms. Performing maintenance, installing upgrades, and transitioning to new technologies will likely require more attention, time, and expertise than during other seasons. Consider engaging a Chicago managed IT service group whose professionals can not only prepare for summer downtime, but they also can offer the expertise to monitor the health of your IT infrastructure and recommend upgrades to optimize its efficiency.
Furthermore, engaging a Chicago-based IT services group to manage your IT needs offers additional benefits.
The professionals at the service group can manage your IT vendor relationships, monitor the performance and vulnerabilities of your network, routinely apply software updates, and recommend upgrades and new technologies to optimize your IT infrastructure’s effectiveness.
5. Review and Document
Plan a post-summer review of the preparation you made for the downtime. What activities went well? How could you have been better prepared? Note any lessons learned from the current year that would ensure a smooth downtime experience next summer.
Chicago businesses often find summer the best season to schedule some much-needed system downtime. Staff vacations or seasonal slowdowns provide less stress on the IT infrastructure. But organizations must prepare well in advance for these performance interruptions to ensure they can accomplish this focused IT activity without disrupting important business goals.
And, they must determine well in advance if they have the internal IT resources to handle these critical activities. Hiring temporary IT help may not prove effective due to the time required to hire and train a new employee. Connecting with a Chicago managed IT service like JMA Consulting in a co-managed relationship or allowing the service to handle all your IT needs ensures you will be well prepared for summer downtime and reap the benefits of an optimized infrastructure throughout the year.