In the ever-evolving world of technology, it’s important to be flexible. Building your IT infrastructure so it’s ready for change will help organisations to remain competitive, maintain operational efficiency and facilitate growth, without significant interruptions. When an IT infrastructure is future-ready, it creates a level of agility that can help businesses to elevate productivity, putting them in the position to be able to adopt emerging technologies at speed.
This means that businesses are more robust and more resilient. They are better prepared to scale; better protected against rapidly developing cyber threats; more capable of meeting sustainability targets and flexible enough to adapt to market demands quickly, staying one step ahead of the competition.
In this blog, we take a look at some of the steps companies can take to make sure that IT infrastructures are future-ready.
Simplify your networks
Streamlining your architecture can make your infrastructure easier to manage, which in turn means it is better prepared for future challenges and changes. Start with an audit of your systems and networks and look to complete a house keeping exercise. If there are legacy systems in place that are no longer required, can they be retired or consolidated? A clear network hierarchy should be in place with well-defined roles for services, systems and devices while network management should be centralised so that it’s easier to monitor performance and so that changes can be rolled out quickly. Consider leveraging the internet for connectivity and adopting software-defined platforms to boost resilience and speed of operations. By simplifying the infrastructure layer, businesses can become much more agile which puts them in a better position to adapt to change.
Embrace the cloud
Enterprise cloud brings many benefits to businesses, but two of the biggest advantages are flexibility and scalability. By adopting cloud technologies and bringing them into your infrastructure mix, your organisation will be better prepared to adjust to demand quickly and easily. Scaling your infrastructure can be done in minutes, while cloud brings options to implement a level of resilience which means that any service interruptions can be reacted to fast, with little to no downtime. Cloud also offers access to the latest tech innovations, providing a conduit into services such as AI and machine learning which in turn can boost an organisation’s readiness for change. All of this means that when an opportunity for growth arises, businesses can be ready and prepared to grab it with both hands.
AI and automation
From automating tasks to analysing data, AI is reshaping the way businesses operate. Whether it’s CRM or ERP systems, or bespoke AI innovations, using these technologies to improve efficiencies can assist with the streamlining of operations, making organisations more adaptable to future challenges or changes. The efficiency that AI can create helps businesses to react to increased workloads and market fluctuations more quickly, while rapid and complex data analysis can be carried out rapidly, improving the decision-making process for better business outcomes. Make sure that any steps towards AI are in line with your business strategy. Jumping on the AI bandwagon for the sake of it risks unnecessary expense, but when done right, AI and automation can support your business processes and your teams, boosting productivity, bottom line and competitive edge.
Prepare for future cyber threats
With an increased threat surface and growing complexity of networks, cyber threats are evolving just as quickly as the rest of the world of tech, and while simplified networks, cloud adoption and AI and automation can all assist in helping businesses to be better prepared to handle potential attacks, there’s more that you can do to be future-ready when it comes to protecting your business. By adopting a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) you can be better prepared for cyber threats by reducing the risk of security breaches. The continuous verification that ZTA deploys brings a level of agility to security processes that enables businesses to react to malicious threats in real time. Having the ability to take immediate action to combat cybercrime helps organisations to stay one step ahead of threat actors, protecting critical assets and keeping businesses safe.
Sustainability
Businesses that are ready for and embracing change will be better prepared to meet sustainability targets. ESG and sustainability targets will continue to evolve, and it is important that organisations are able to adapt to meet these targets. If you create a flexible, future-ready culture where innovation is celebrated and transformation is advocated, then your organisation as a whole will be more likely to embrace new sustainability practices, while the adoption of new and emerging technologies will give businesses access to tools which can be utilised and customised to track progress and sustainability metrics.
We all know that in business, anything can happen and to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail. Technology can help you to be ready for the unexpected. From network management to device security, and by embracing new technologies to create a robust, resilient and agile IT infrastructure you can prepare your business not only for growth, but for change, standing your business in good stead to react to the inevitable fluctuations it will face.