There’s a secret formula that helps thousands of businesses to outsource their IT Infrastructure Solutions, and that also saves millions of dollars in the process.
The secret is simple. Everything starts by understanding your business through the implementation of a business assessment.
Then the critical first step in the process of outsourcing your IT infrastructure is to assess your company’s initiatives, goals, and growth plans.
The following questions are indispensable when understanding your business and applications at an internal and external level. After completing them, you will have a clear idea of what you need and what type of IT outsourcing services you might need.
An in-depth business assessment is the secret to outsource your IT infrastructure.
1. What are the company-wide initiatives over the next 1-5 years?
Having a comprehensive view of your company’s business initiatives is particularly important as the infrastructure you source needs to support the achievement of these goals.
If your company is looking to improve its market position, it is your infrastructure will need to be updated and deployed accordingly.
2. What are the departmental goals?
The IT department needs to support other departments’ goals, it’s important to be aware of their initiatives and technology requirements.
More than ever, the IT department should be a solution center for all other departments and help them to improve their business results.
Make sure to set expectations upfront and be realistic with your own departmental goal setting.
3. Expanding into new markets or business segments?
If your company has plans for growth into new markets or business segments, you will need scalable, geo-capable, rapidly deployable, infrastructure services.
Consider what technology changes will need to happen to meet your business goals. Does this financially make sense for your company?
Take into consideration any tax benefits of doing business in certain states or countries when deciding where to set up offices or deploy data center space.
Network connectivity in certain areas of the world (and the US) can be awfully expensive, be aware of low benchmark pricing in that area before signing a long-term lease.
4. Are there any acquisitions planned over the next 2-3 years?
When acquiring other companies, you can end up with legacy equipment, antiquated systems, and ineffective IT services – do your due diligence when researching acquisition targets.
Take their systems into consideration when purchasing new IT services to ensure you are using the most effective technology for each aspect of the business.
5. Will there be new products introduced over the next 2-3 years?
New products often lead to the need for an infrastructure upgrade.
Make sure you work with all involved departments to fully understand their product roadmaps. This will help you to determine the best solutions to support their goals, at the most cost-effective prices to maximize added revenue.
6. What purchasing model is better for your company at this point in time—CapEx or OpEx?
Traditionally, technology investments were sourced capital expenses to take advantage of amortization and depreciation of those investments over time.
There’s a growing argument that operating expenses have distinct advantages over the traditional way of purchasing, especially when you take into consideration the rapid advances in technology, less predictable IT needs, and the pay-per-use model.
Depending on the cycle of your company, the OpEx model may or may not make sense at this time.
The bottom line is always the focal point of any company; weigh your options and do what makes sense for your company’s financial focus.
Ready to outsource your IT Infrastructure without wasting money and time?
StrataCore is a trusted adviser that has vast experience and resources.
As a world-class tech advisor, we have in-house legal, work with the largest clients, and over half of our projects are international. We’ve saved our clients millions, and we can do the same for you. We can help you with your business, application, and IT infrastructure assessments, to provide an unbiased perspective of your company.
Contact us to get the different solutions that we have for your IT infrastructure Outsourcing project.
