As your business grows, it is necessary to ask yourself some critical questions as you strategize how to keep the momentum going well. And here’s one of the most often overlooked: do you have company-wide IT standardization and standardized IT protocols in place yet?  

When your business was small, perhaps standardized IT management didn’t matter much. But as your business expands, it gets even more vulnerable to security threats and unexpected risks—not to mention the costly headache that comes from managing multiple IT protocols and programs. This is where IT standardization and standardized IT protocols can make such an impact on your organization.

IT Infrastructure Optimization

IT standardization allows you to define the hardware and technology that specific roles need within your organization. This often looks like having a standard computer and suite of software access for each employee that fits within their assigned job title rather than buying something without much insight and hoping it works.

When you understand what roles require specific IT infrastructure, it makes budgeting much easier. Instead of each department handling their own IT needs (which would mean varying technology expenses), you already know the expected technology costs for each team member, even when you’re planning to make new hiring decisions. This IT infrastructure optimization also ensures everyone has the technology they need to do their jobs well, putting them in the best position to succeed in their roles long-term.

Updated Technology

IT standardization and standard IT protocols do the important job of keeping all of your technology (both hardware and software) up to date. After all, any computer, software application, or server eventually becomes outdated and needs to be replaced. The last thing you want is for an unsupported, out-of-warranty server to go down and then have to wait two weeks or more for a replacement server to arrive from a non-incentivized vendor. Standardized IT management will keep track of the quality and age of your equipment, making sure your inventory is under warranty so any vendor support required is always a quick turnaround.

Streamlined IT Operations

When it comes to your IT operations, do you know where your most valuable company data is currently being stored—and who has access to it? Navigating the data management landscape is a key aspect of healthy IT management. But if your applications aren’t standardized company-wide, you could be buying several data storage tools that ultimately do the same thing. Standard protocols, however, can eliminate redundant applications, maximize your budget, and make sure your critical data is properly stored with the right protections—ultimately leading to the streamlined IT operations your company deserves. This also ensures that your company controls the data it owns.  When your team has a policy for where files should be stored, then everyone knows where to find the files they need, and in the event that someone leaves the team, everyone else is able to access their work.

Enhanced Cybersecurity

Standardizing your information security process is very important to having cybersecurity measures in place that can protect you from today’s technology risks. And this starts with establishing the right security baselines needed to meet the minimum requirements of modern cybersecurity protection.

At Affinity, we help you determine these baselines by using globally-recognized industry benchmarks as our guide. With these benchmarks in mind, we perform a security standards assessment for your organization, analyzing your unique security risks given your industry, mission, company size, and the type of data you’re storing. From there, we point out the areas in your cybersecurity that aren’t in alignment with these benchmarks, the risks of not being in alignment, and what it takes (including costs) to achieve these baseline security measures.

You’re not left to figure out next steps on your own, however. As your outsourced IT partner, we create a long-term roadmap that spells out what you need to do to achieve these enhanced cybersecurity standards. Working together, we help you prioritize what’s most important and create a practical strategy you can follow to put everything in place.

Need IT Standardization and Standardized IT Protocols for Your Business? Affinity Can Help

While standardization can protect your company’s IT operations, these protocols can ultimately help your team maintain steady, invaluable control as you navigate your business’s new growth. If you’re ready for enterprise-level IT management solutions that can pave the way for industry-leading success, we can help at Affinity Technology Partners. Contact our team today to learn more about our IT standardization solutions for your business.