What Your Company Must Understand If You Are Considering IT Automation

We are living in an era of unprecedented change. Change brought on primarily by the advances of the technological age. Nowhere is this more evident than in the domain of business. Internet Technology (IT) has become a driving force behind successful business practices. As a result, there is an imminent need for an IT system that inherently adapts to rapid change. IT Automation presents a viable Solution.

Adaptability is a 21st century survival skill for all organizations. IT automation will make it possible for business organizations to adapt to constantly evolving technologies. Within this paradigm, shifts in the marketplace, emerging competitors and changes in customer behavior will be identified ahead of the curve, creating a razors edge advantage. This process will translate into all areas of business, including cascading mergers and acquisitions.

With quick reactions, the business processes shall become more profitable and bankable. Though an initial human effort shall be required, once the requisite data is collected, formulae and history can be quickly and constantly crunched when the systems are in place. Not wanting to, throw the baby out with the bathwater, IT automation must be capable of including existing information from a variety of platforms, including legacy applications, mainframes and metadata. It will also be expected to maintain a data flow of information pertaining to customers and suppliers. Keeping the old and adapting to the new is why IT automation is the wave of the future. Given what we have witnessed over the last decade, it would be impossible to argue that current systems will maintain the status quo for any length of time. Technology only lasts as long as a new technology is developed, which has pretty much been at warp speed. As our Grandparents could not conceive of the concept of airplane travel, so too, we cannot imagine the technological advances that will evolve in the future.

Web services have enabled most of us to collect new types of data from within and without an organization. Companies have significantly improved data collection methods, with RFID promising even higher levels of real time data transfers. This improvement, however, has generated a new set of challenges in integration, collections, filtering and deciphering. The possibility of current systems remaining static is a remote possibility for organizations that want to successfully compete in an ever changing marketplace. In response, IT Departments have been challenged to meet the agility demands of the present, as well as the unknown of the future. Shifting most of the burden to existing systems with only people offering direction is not the answer. Defining IT automation is not as simple as it may sound. Considerations include checking the prevailing conditions for their data center model in order to define and set the parameters, thereby ensuring expectations will be in line with achievable goals. The outcome? Automation must adapt to varying parameters in different organizations. There is no more cruise control when it comes to business in the new Millennium. Once the perfect automation approach is identified the only remaining function is to identify the components which are best suited for the process. That is, until the parameters change.

IT Managed Service Providers Can Be Highly Cost Effective Answers

IT managed service providers can be extremely beneficial to the client receiving the services as well as attractive to businesses providing the services. The most well known example of managed IT services is that of the managed dedicated server where all technical changes as well as the physical server are taken care of by the service provider. IT management as a service has begun to receive notice and acceptance well beyond the simple managed server from both providers and from clients.

With almost every business dependent upon computers in some degree IT staffing costs for the business or corporation can be substantial. Services that are managed, release the owner from the necessity of maintaining a staff dedicated only to IT and instead allow them to focus on the main purpose of their business which is making money. Managed services can be budgeted for as they are predictable costs for both the provider and the client.

Almost every company has a different focus and the focus of the IT department can shift to match the needs of the individual client. More and more providers are shifting to providing managed IT services, and though there are a few obvious issues to overcome, the end result is greater client satisfaction and a higher level of service where the provider can anticipate problems using the specialized software and their dedicated staff and prevent them rather than simply reacting.

Managed services for IT are not a new concept but some resistance may have to be overcome as many clients are used to considering IT an in house problem or in some cases calling for consultants only after the unthinkable has happened such as data loss or unauthorized access. There are particular areas that are simpler to transition to because the client base understands the potential losses or complications far outweigh the fixed monthly cost of a managed service. When considering a transition to fixed services a provider should also consider any government regulations which must be adhered to as well.

Security of data has always been a high priority for businesses and the potential market for managed services of this type is very large, particularly in small and medium sized businesses. Website hosting and data storage are also areas which tend to meet less sales resistance from the clients. Obviously these are not the only managed services which can be beneficial to both the customer and the provider but these areas have already gained wide acceptance.

The concept of managed website servers is well established and customers view these cost effective solutions as almost a necessity because they no longer need worry about maintaining server security or learning an entirely new field. The customer instead concerns themselves with sales and service. Outsourcing is becoming a very common practice for many types of services and the more widespread it becomes the less resistance the provider will usually encounter when offering these services.

Software as a service, desktop as a service and many other IT services have introduced a new market for the provider and cost effective solutions for the business which may be required to maintain many machines and deploy software over multiple branches as in the case of a corporation. While IT managed service are not yet the preferred solution for every company they are becoming increasingly more accepted by service providers as well as companies of all sizes.

With the right amount of marketing of the correct type it has been possible for service providers who formerly worked on an as needed basis to shift their focus to providing managed IT services. The benefits for both the service provider and the client are multiple. Once a client has been secured, those first months of service can cement customer loyalty.