When Should I Consider an IT Infrastructure Assessment?
An ideal time for an IT infrastructure assessment of your network may be before a large rollout that is expected to change the nature of your network structure. For instance, a decision to move to the cloud, the addition of new applications, or simply to understand where needed improvements exist could all be the best time. The important thing is to complete your IT infrastructure assessment in advance to give you enough time to do a thorough analysis and implement needed changes.
Another good prompt of when to do an IT infrastructure assessment is if you have aging technology infrastructure nearing its end. Actually, any time you’re unsure of what’s going on in your network is a good time to have an assessment performed.
IT infrastructure assessments are often the first step in making long lasting, critical changes to your IT environment, so it is important that you are confident the assessment will produce the foundation you and your company want. Here are a few quick reasons why IT infrastructure assessments are an important tool for your IT organization:
Identify Issues and Immediate Needs: An assessment can often reveal significant issues, such as a security issue or end of life equipment that is no longer supported by the vendor.
Old and New: You need to understand the past before you can comprehend the future. IT infrastructure assessments let you know exactly where you stand and can become a comprehensive plan for future infrastructure upgrades.
Learning Tools: IT infrastructure assessments are a particularly valuable tool for IT leaders that are new to your organization. A documented view of the current environment can identify issues new leadership and team members may not be aware of.
Problem Detection: Experiencing an outage or serious downtime is good timing to kick off locating the problem. A proper assessment should identify the reason for the outage, and outline a plan to prevent it from happening again.
Free up Your IT Team: If your IT team spends all day with a series of issues, it takes away from their real work. Finding a long-term solution to avoid daily interruptions is a plus for them and your business.
Before You Begin, Identify Your Primary Goal
At the onset, identify your primary goal. You most likely have a major pain point that you need to address. Is there a certain application that is running slowly? Did you suffer a recent security breach? Do you need to refresh your end-user hardware? Are you thinking of moving to the cloud?
Whatever the reason, make sure your IT infrastructure assessment provider is well aware of your primary motivations. This will make sure that when your assessment is completed, you are receiving something that is valuable and can help you quickly and efficiently address troublesome issues.