In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, most firms scrambled to make working with a dispersed workforce extra manageable. From Zoom to Skype to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, companies adopted options that made working from residence extra seamless. For a lot of firms, nonetheless, this fast adoption created a patchwork of options, which may trigger IT departments and finish customers complications and setbacks.
After all, patchwork IT has been round lengthy earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. We sometimes see patchwork options throughout mergers and acquisitions when one firm makes use of a set of functions and productiveness suites and the opposite firm makes use of one other. Collectively, they have to make this mismatched group of options work.
Resolving patchwork IT isn’t a straightforward feat. It requires cautious planning, thought and execution. Nonetheless, by following these subsequent steps, MSPs and IT professionals can seamlessly resolve patchwork techniques for firms.
Have a look at patchwork IT holistically
Each IT state of affairs has benefits and drawbacks. For patchwork IT, the cons typically outweigh the professionals. One of many benefits of a patchwork of options is that you may select the “better of one of the best” to deal with your operational wants. Nonetheless, this tactic normally results in a state of affairs the place options can’t talk with others.
For instance, you would have Cisco firewalls, routers and VPNs whereas additionally utilizing VMware. This won’t be such a nasty factor, however the options don’t essentially discuss to one another. And every one has totally different administration consoles.
Consolidating options provides performance and makes them simpler to handle. By optimizing patchwork techniques, firms can clean out operations, keep away from end-user confusion and lower your expenses on redundancies.
Consolidation is essential
Resolving patchwork IT typically means consolidation. To consolidate correctly, MSPs and IT departments ought to contemplate these steps:
- Assess: First, firms ought to assess their inside and exterior wants to find out which platforms and functions they want. For instance, if cloud-based doc collaboration is crucial, firms could think about using Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Assessing your operational necessities allows you to establish which options you want and which you’ll be able to dwell with out.
- Determine: Pinpoint which options aren’t serving operations or have turn out to be redundant. For instance, an organization could have adopted Skype throughout the pandemic, then realized inside groups solely use Zoom and Microsoft Groups for video calls. Eliminating Skype frees up house for different important functions.
- Execute: When it’s time to consolidate, you want the appropriate instruments to make sure options are correctly eradicated, migrated and saved to keep away from complications and misplaced knowledge. Utilizing the appropriate migration device can make sure you transfer your knowledge safely and successfully.
Migrating to resolve patchwork IT
Earlier than a migration, it’s best to contemplate a number of elements. Do you’ve got a full image of what knowledge and options have to be moved? What quantity of information must be migrated? The place does it have to be moved? Do you’ve got a migration device that may successfully deal with this mission?
Stakeholder suggestions can be important. You wish to guarantee everyone seems to be on board with the adjustments following a migration. For instance, if firms concerned in an M&A necessity to decide on between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, get enter from workers to find out which answer works finest for them.
Finishing a migration with out consulting stakeholders dangers confusion and operational setbacks. Workers could should discover ways to use new techniques, which may result in frustration and disruption in productiveness. That is why firms ought to at all times deploy change administration and guarantee finish customers have the required assets and coaching to make use of the brand new options as soon as the patchwork atmosphere is resolved.
Lastly, with any migration, you at all times wish to mitigate dangers. A technique to do that is to make use of the appropriate migration device. To make sure all of your knowledge and data are moved correctly, deploy a migration device constructed to satisfy the scale, timeline and specifics of the migration. This prevents setbacks and permits for a seamless migration. In consequence, firms received’t have to fret about misplaced knowledge or the migration failing, permitting finish customers to entry their mail and paperwork of their new areas.
Avoiding patchwork IT sooner or later
As soon as a patchwork of options is resolved, it’s essential to stop it from reoccurring. To do that, MSPs and IT professionals ought to contemplate what we name the 5 Pillars of Office Maturity:
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- Content material Companies: Disorganized information are a standard ache level for finish customers of patchwork techniques. By digitizing information and operations, firms can scale back bodily paperwork and worker frustration as they seek for important paperwork. With content material companies, workers can entry paperwork from anyplace, saving time, cash and assets.
- Hyperautomation: Leverage instruments that help hyperautomation so workers can reallocate time to extra important duties. Hyperautomation can optimize worker processes and create house for extra participating work, decreasing threat and rising productiveness.
- Unified Communication and Collaboration: One of many fundamental causes of patchwork IT is having totally different instruments that do the identical factor. Deciding between a number of instruments could make groups much less productive. If workers are experiencing these ache factors, you want communication, collaboration and convention instruments to make sure workers are productive, engaged and communicative in actual time.
- Rising Functions and Know-how: New know-how may help you allow legacy infrastructure and modernize your software stack. With rising functions and know-how, you possibly can guarantee your group and workers are agile within the face of disruptions and absolutely ready for the way forward for work.
Going through patchwork IT head-on
Practically half of IT leaders (48%) mentioned their firm deliberate to do a big IT improve to streamline patchwork techniques throughout the subsequent 12 months. Nearly a 3rd (29%) had been already within the midst of a migration.
Now’s the time to deal with your patchwork IT issues. By following the steps outlined above, you possibly can resolve your patchwork system and forestall it from reoccurring sooner or later, creating smoother operations and end-user productiveness to maintain what you are promoting thriving.
By Stacey Farrar, product advertising supervisor at BitTitan, and Christopher Chesley, North American digital office development chief at SoftwareOne
