Your IT infrastructure provides a backbone for your business. It enables smooth workflows, cost savings, productivity improvements, and procedural efficiencies.
However, to deliver on expectations, your IT setup must be well managed. This can only happen with the right preparation, planning, and intent.
A focused checklist overview can help you approach this challenge with the mindset for making realistic, target-driven improvements, while maintaining the elements that work well and continue to deliver benefits.
A practical plan for maintenance and improvement
An IT infrastructure checklist is a detailed and up-to-date list of all the key areas of your IT. Creating one provides a baseline from which your business can:
- identify tech-related goals, weaknesses, and strengths
- ensure informed decision making and greater transparency
- facilitate the adoption of best practice when it comes to your IT.
The importance of an IT infrastructure checklist
In service of the above goals, the checklist should offer two key functions.
A framework for monitoring and tracking
A checklist can help establish regular observations of system performance, as well as a culture and policy of staying up to date with compliance and security, spotting opportunities to integrate emerging tech, and identifying any inherent systems issues.
A plan for outsourcing IT management
An infrastructure checklist will be helpful in the initial stages of identifying an IT services provider who has the expertise to help you achieve your specific business goals. Your checklist will be important when briefing them, and for monitoring their performance.
What should be included in a checklist?
While any list will need to be tailored for your organisation’s unique circumstances, it should provide a starting point for addressing the following aspects of your business.
Goals and strategies
Where you see your business going, and how IT can help you get there, should be addressed.
- What do you need or want your IT to help you achieve both now and in the future?
- What is your budget?
- How will you monitor and achieve your goals?
- How often will you review your infrastructure, goals and strategy?
- How will you ensure the smooth and efficient running of your IT?
Financials
You should have an up-to-date and detailed account of all your IT costs: from hardware, software, and data storage, to depreciation and outsourcing.
Equipment and capacity audit
Recording an inventory of your assets will include hardware, such as hubs, routers, servers, phones, but also software, licences, and any third-party applications or systems such as cloud storage providers.
In addition, collect details of equipment age, renewal dates, implemented updates, and suppliers you use.
Performance and workflows
Consider your systems and processes, and how they interact with one another.
- What is working well? What could work better?
- Are you consistently meeting your goals?
- Are there any recurring reported issues?
- Could certain processes benefit from automation?
- Are processes and procedures well documented?
Compliance
The compliance part of your IT checklist should cover relevant areas: from GDPR, privacy and data security, to regulatory requirements, compliance with licensing requirements, and your organisation’s quality management systems and policies.
Security
An effective approach to security should underpin all your planning and implementation. Your checklist should include details of:
- your disaster recovery plan (and when it was last tested and reviewed)
- how data is stored and backed up
- your anti-virus protection
- the personnel responsible for sys admin
Your IT infrastructure checklist in operation
With a checklist in place, you will be able to assess the overall state of your IT on a regular basis – ideally every six months to a year.
Other events outside of your initial planning may also trigger a need for an IT audit or assessment, such as:
- an organisation-wide shift, e.g. moving premises or entering new markets
- migrating to a new system
- managing an unforeseen data disaster scenario
Any IT assessment should include a review of previous assessments, with overall IT strategy and goals in mind.
Regular and in-depth reviews of your IT infrastructure will help maintain efficiency, avoid downtime and disasters, and aid budgeting and decision making.
At Micro Maintenance, our expertise and experience can help you create an actionable IT infrastructure checklist that reflects your situation and aims. We’ll ensure you are equipped with the managerial oversight to avoid reductions inefficiency and unrealised goals.
For an initial discussion about your IT outsourcing needs, and how our expertise can help compliment your business ambitions, get in touch with our team today.
