For the past 18 months or so, the focus of most IT conversations with business owners and executives has been around phasing Windows XP out of their organization.
As many of you know, Microsoft discontinued support for Windows XP in early April. This means that any machines running XP will not receive the latest security updates, leaving businesses in a vulnerable position.
It also means that as new versions of other applications are released, they will eventually become incompatible with the outdated operating system and businesses will be forced to make a change at that point.
Most companies have made the transition to Windows 7 or 8, but there are still many that have not yet wrapped up that project. Were you able to get it completed? If not, this transition should be a high priority initiative for your IT team.
Since upgrading XP machines has been on the forefront of most IT task lists, some of the real IT management responsibilities may have taken a backseat. For organizations that utilize internal IT teams or small outsourced IT firms, it may be difficult to complete projects on time and on budget while continuing to do all of the things that they should be doing.
Some of these responsibilities include implementing IT best practices to mitigate risk and improve performance, supporting users in a timely fashion, applying the latest security updates and checking backups daily, looking for trends to uncover the root causes of issues, high-level technology planning and budgeting for the future, etc.
When proactive processes and IT best practices are implemented, organizations are more stable, overall technology costs and risks are reduced, systems are more reliable, and users can be more productive.
Now is a great time to take a step back and look at the results that you’re getting from your IT. Are they what you expect? Are they as good as they can be, or just good enough? Are you able to achieve your business objectives with your current IT situation?
Looking at your business plan and IT road map should help you see if you’re going in the right direction, or if a course adjustment is needed. If you need help figuring out where IT is going in your business and how you can get the best possible IT results, give a trusted IT consultant a call.
