Companies must use technology efficiently to remain relevant in today’s competitive business landscape. Ignoring the benefits of existing and emerging solutions puts a company at a significant disadvantage compared to its competitors. Organizations typically invest a substantial portion of their operational budgets in developing and maintaining an effective IT environment.
Ideally, a company wants to implement a computing environment that successfully addresses its business requirements. Creating such an environment typically requires adopting innovative solutions that may require appreciable changes to the current infrastructure. Simply selecting generic solutions will usually result in less than optimal performance in relation to the organization’s business objectives. It’s like wearing a suit off the rack versus a custom-made garment created by a skilled tailor.
The availability of multiple cloud and on-premises computing options presents companies with the building blocks necessary to create a custom IT solution. Tailoring technology solutions to directly address business requirements can enhance productivity, optimize operations, and achieve a competitive edge over market rivals.
Taking a Methodical Approach to Developing Tailored Technology
Companies need to take several preliminary steps when searching for tailored technology solutions.
Defining business requirements
The first step is to define the business requirements driving the desire to implement new technology. The goal may be to streamline operations, meet customer expectations, reduce expenses, or address other specific business needs. This information will be essential when selecting the appropriate technology solutions.
Assess the existing IT environment
The next step is to assess the existing IT environment to determine which components need to be changed to meet the business objectives and which can be retained intact. In some cases, an organization may only need to make minor modifications affecting a limited portion of the infrastructure. Other situations may demand a major overhaul of the environment to implement new solutions that better align with business requirements.
Consult with third-party IT experts
It can be extremely beneficial to have a fresh and experienced set of eyes review a company’s existing environment to decide the best path forward. Engaging accomplished IT experts can save a lot of time in identifying the best solutions to address the organization’s business requirements. These experts can help companies avoid costly or time-wasting mistakes that don’t address the needs of the business.
VAST IT Services offers data center transformation services designed to find the most effective and efficient solutions for your business’s unique situation. VAST’s technical teams are skilled in optimizing on-premises data centers with solutions from industry-leading vendors. They are also experts at helping companies plan and execute cloud migrations as well as efficiently manage cloud environments to provide customers with the maximum value for their investments
Benefits of a Custom IT Solution
Let’s look at some of the advantages of a custom IT solution versus the results of being satisfied with more generic options.
Improved data protection
Every organization has unique data assets that need to be protected. Data protection involves multiple processes and procedures designed to safeguard a company’s valuable and sensitive information. These processes work together to ensure the security, integrity, and availability of an organization’s valuable data resources.
Backup and recovery solutions are an essential component of data protection. Companies need to be certain that their valuable information is efficiently backed up and can be promptly restored to address data loss or corruption issues. Many backup and recovery options are available for both on-premises and cloud infrastructures. Selecting a solution that aligns with your business needs rather than trying to get by with a more generic option has multiple benefits.
- Cost-effectiveness – Significant savings can be achieved by fine-tuning your backup strategy to address your unique data resources. Business-critical data typically requires more frequent backups than data used for testing and development. A customized backup solution can be designed to ensure that the right data is backed up consistently and is always available for recovery procedures.
- Regulatory compliance – Many companies have data resources that are subject to regulatory standards. Examples are credit card information regulated by PCI-DSS and patient health data safeguarded by HIPAA. Achieving regulatory compliance requires data elements to be backed up and retained for specific periods and readily available for restoration. A tailored backup strategy will effectively address these requirements.
Enhanced security
An IT environment tailored to your business needs can be architected to provide enhanced security for mission-critical data and applications. It may make sense to segment your network to provide additional protection for vital resources. Some organizations may find the best way to achieve the security they desire is with a hybrid approach that houses critical systems on-premises and other applications in the cloud.
Addressing evolving business needs
Modern businesses must be prepared for sudden shifts in market trends and customer expectations. Companies that expect to compete in today’s marketplace need to use scalable technology that can easily address evolving business needs. Tailored technology solutions aligned with your company’s long-term strategy can be built with an eye toward the scalability necessary to effectively meet a changing business landscape.
Creating better user experiences
Creating an engaging experience for internal users and customers is beneficial to a company in multiple ways. A better and more streamlined user experience often results in increased productivity for employees and contractors. Attracting and retaining customers is facilitated by offering them a smooth and effective user experience when interacting with your company’s website.
Achieving a competitive advantage
Tailored technology can give your company a competitive edge by focusing on the core competencies essential to your business. Your company can leverage technology to streamline business processes, enhance the customer experience, and provide better solutions for consumers than your competition.
Let VAST Help You Develop a Tailored IT Environment
VAST has the expertise and industry knowledge to help you tailor technology to effectively address your business needs. Our partnerships with industry leaders and our wide range of services enable us to work with you to determine the precise type of IT environment that best suits your business.
Call us today and start enjoying the benefits of technology solutions that directly address your business needs and let your company grow and thrive.
