These days, IT is the foundation upon which most successful businesses in London are built. Technology underpins just about everything an enterprise does, such that it would be almost impossible to separate a technology from the operation it’s used for. Choosing the right IT support provider in London is essential for ensuring seamless technology operations and swift resolution.
What’s more, automation, data processing and our always-on connectivity have given rise to new and impressive capabilities and efficiencies. But understanding IT management is all about organising, monitoring, administering and supporting your IT – from hardware, software and data to network services and technical people – to empower your enterprise to achieve its objectives according to your needs and priorities. And that requires your business and IT strategies to be aligned. So in this article we’re taking a closer look at the important topic of IT management.
Understanding IT management can drive your digital transformation
Understanding IT management means understanding the new and evolving role of IT to generate value, ensure your information systems operate efficiently, help your people work more effectively and, by doing all the above, enable your small to medium-sized London-based enterprise to achieve its goals. It’s why savvy organisations place their IT at the centre of their overall business strategies. In today’s digital world, we’re not just asking technology to do more, our technologies are becoming the driver of innovation, reinvention and renewal.
The IT management essentials
When we think of IT, we think of all the usual hardware such as servers, routers, mobile devices and laptops. But then there are also less tangible resources in play, such as Cloud-based solutions like software and apps, as well as data and technical professionals.
So your IT infrastructure could be on-premises, in the Cloud or on a hybrid platform that integrates both. The common factor is that whoever manages your IT, whether it’s one of your people or an outsourced managed IT services provider (MSP), you’ll want them to monitor and manage your systems so that they’re always available, function reliably and perform effectively to give you the confidence and business continuity you need to succeed.
So in general, IT management responsibilities include:
- Determining the business’s requirements for IT systems.
- Managing IT budgets and costs.
- Monitoring safety and compliance.
- Controlling system and network security.
- Implementing new software, hardware and data systems.
- Providing technical or help desk IT support.
Your IT manager should work with the rest of your senior management team to ensure their IT strategy delivers the goals the business requires. In the future, IT management will evolve from a maintenance and management role to one that’s focused on higher-value, strategic activities.
What makes IT management so important?
We all know there’s no upside to downtime – your business is vulnerable when systems underperform or fail. A down network, lost data or malware can severely impact a business. A study by the Internet services provider Beaming, found that cybercrime in the UK has doubled in the last five years, costing businesses £87 billion since 2015.
For a start then sound IT management practice ensures your information technologies are secure, available and perform at their peak, so that your people and your business can do the same.
In addition, effective IT management also means spotting and adopting new technologies – such as machine learning, analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) – that can streamline your operations and reduce costs while increasing productivity and competitive advantage.
Indeed, IT management has changed from an old-fashioned back office function to one of aligning innovation and strategy to deliver a tangible and positive difference for your business. So fully integrate your IT manager into your business, then they’ll know how to use technology to resolve your operational challenges and drive improvements forward.
The crucial features of effective IT management
Not only will your IT manager need to undertake their usual day-to-day IT responsibilities, they will also need to leverage technology in new, innovative ways to help your business keep pace with – or stay ahead of – rapid change.
There’s a range of IT management software and tools that can help you get a better understanding of your IT’s performance, such as data, analytics and Cloud computing. But coming up the road are innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) that will have a positive impact on the way we manage I.T. Consider:
- Analytics
Use analytics to quickly plough through terabytes of operational data to discover the root cause of any problem that creates service issues.
Analytics can help you identify internal potential bottlenecks, predict outages, understand data or processing problems and drive greater efficiency to avoid system chaos.
Similarly, analytics can provide invaluable insights into your customers’ behaviors to help drive business strategy and improved levels of care and service.
- Cloud computing
Cloud services are flexible, scalable, secure and cost effective. Opt for a Cloud solution and you can improve efficiencies, productivity and performance, reduce infrastructure costs (particularly IT overheads such as mainframes) and tee your business up for transformative Cloud-based innovations in the future.
- Artificial intelligence
AI systems analyse data, learn and predict problems to help with your IT management to improve service delivery. Then there are AI-based chatbots, which can function as virtual agents, talking with users to resolve technical issues and communicate the benefits of your products and services.
- Internet of Things
IoT platforms can collect, analyse and utilise data from countless intelligent devices and sensors around your business to help you proactively resolve issues and improve productivity. This is gold dust for your IT management, showing you what your business is doing right and less than well. IoT sensors can help you see patterns and even self-diagnose and solve operational problems with a human being involved.
Cut through the IT management confusion
If this all seems rather complex and daunting, don’t worry, help is at hand.
For independent, objective, expert and highly experienced advice about enhancing your understanding of IT management, simply give us a call for a confidential, no obligation chat about your requirements.
You’ll quickly discover why totality services is London’s go to IT and IT support team and has earned two consecutive Feefo Gold Trusted Service Awards, Five Star ratings from both Trustpilot and Google and a 98% client retention rate.