There is a market for everything—2020 taught us that. One of the hobbies that rose again in popularity last year was building jigsaw puzzles. Social media was ablaze with folks proudly posting images of their completed creations. Some dove into them out of boredom because the challenge allowed them to use their brain and body interactively over time. Many young people with experience playing games solely on a screen, for the first time enjoyed the feeling of creating order out of chaos in actual 3D! And one of the beauties of a jigsaw puzzle is that there really is only one correct way to complete it.
Similarly, based on an organization’s budgets, goals, and level of embracing technology, there really is only one best way to put all the pieces of a network together—whether that is an entirely new network or just an upgrade or modification.
Modernizing IT Security
If you have an existing network, it might be time to better align it with your latest goals if any of the following are true:
- You do not already have in place at least five layers of security. Whether installing anti-virus software or implementing multi-factor authentication, the key to security is having multiple layers.
- Your core hardware infrastructure is over five years old. This means you are on the outer edge of the typical lifespan.
- Most of your key applications are stored and run locally on a server. You are not taking advantage of the cloud and the regular security and productivity updates provided by most cloud applications.
- Staff is complaining about speed, about wireless access and about the ability to store, share and collaborate on large amounts of data.
- Your competitors just seem to outpace you in the key areas of sales, marketing, and product/service innovation.
With technological change as a constant, even those who attach a high priority to it realize that keeping up with the pace of change is a real and daily challenge. New applications, hardware, and software are introduced daily, and each promise to facilitate business growth and enhance productivity.
Too often, not doing anything is the chosen avenue which leads to outdated systems and more of the problems described above. The organization that does not upgrade consistently and chooses to “get by with what we have” loses competitiveness, flexibility and ultimately sees disenchanted staff walk out the front door.
Firms that do not want that outcome need help from experts like the team at IT Radix to simplify their network architecture for the next five-year period. The emphasis on putting the pieces together today is on leveraging the cloud for the mobile/remote workforce and on finding ways to maximize efficiency and minimize downtime. Asking the right questions are part of the process of putting the puzzle together. Then the boundaries or outline of the network are designed and ultimately the interior pieces are planned for and included. Then a new informational technology masterpiece is created to allow the organization to fulfill its goals.
Strategically modernizing while aligning user needs with key security concerns is the optimal approach to moving forward with this IT puzzle. Doing IT right, one might say, is “pieceful.”
Contact IT Radix and get started today!
First published in our January 2021 IT Radix Resource newsletter
