Our workday has become dependent on devices and the IT systems that run them. Beyond employee productivity, external customers also expect quick, reliable service at their fingertips. In today’s digital marketplace, any disruption in IT services is more than just a point of frustration; it can have serious consequences for the business.

As the reliance on reliable IT services grows exponentially, so does the likelihood for issues to arise. While traditional monitoring techniques have worked well in the past, today’s modern businesses demand a more comprehensive approach. This is the why having recurring infrastructure assessments is critical to modern IT management.

What could happen if you don't assess your infrastructure regularly?

Gone are the days where you can set it and forget it. Organizations looking to grow must continuously retain, extend, and modernize their IT infrastructure to meet modern business demands. Without a clearly defined strategy in place, it’s only a matter of time before an outage occurs. And when that happens, the business stops.

If you don't assess your infrastructure regularly, you'll spend most of your time reacting to issues rather than getting to the root of the problem. Frequent outages can cost your company time, money, and even threaten the survivability of the business – and your job! Beyond evaluating mean-time-to-resolution, IT departments should regularly review their environment, especially those areas that have yet to be fully investigated, to proactively prevent issues from happening in the future.

With less time spent on putting out fires, IT can significantly reduce the likelihood of an outage and get back to focusing on improving productivity and driving value-added initiatives that drive the business forward.

How to Build a Recurring Infrastructure Assessment

1. Create a checklist & schedule: Create a list of all your critical IT systems and the health checks you'll do to each of the items on that list. Then, set a schedule for how often you'll check them to maintain your infrastructure's good health over time.
2. Create a RAID log: Next, create a RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) log. A RAID log will help you prioritize what needs to be fixed. An added benefit: if a decision to delay is made, it's properly recorded so there's no confusion as to why.
3. Verify your backups: This is extremely important. When all else fails, you want to know your key systems are not only backed up but that the data is safe. To verify your backups, schedule regular recovery tests. This means restoring your backup data and verifying it functions as expected afterward. There's nothing worse than attempting to restore your backups after an outage, only to find them unusable.

Outages are a problem that can have serious effects on your business. Without knowing what to look for or how frequently to check, the threat of an outage can easily go unnoticed until disaster strikes. This is why it's vital to schedule regular infrastructure assessments so you’re not just reacting to the problem, you’re preventing it!

At BDO Digital , we understand the challenges most midsized companies face. This is exactly why we are here to help with personalized solutions for your all Modern IT Management needs. Contact us today for a no-cost consultation to see what BDO Digital can do for you.