3 Ways Homeownership and Your IT Infrastructure are Similar

Your company's technology infrastructure is made up of several complex systems that all work together in order to keep your business running smoothly. Your IT infrastructure functions much in the same way as another type of infrastructure, your house. It's surprising how much you can learn about computer networking by looking at "This Old House."

One Infrastructure, Many Systems
If just one system of your house is out, then your day is ruined. For example, a building is made up of different systems like plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, and more; if one of these systems were to go down, like plumbing, then you would technically be able to live in your house, but you would be highly inconvenienced having to use a chamber pot until the plumbing issue is resolved.

Your company's network is also made up of several different systems. The Internet gives your business a window to the world, and then you have the intranet that provides internal communications. Your network may also include other great systems like a fax and print server, a security solution, VoIP, and more, and while your business would be able to get by if one piece of your network were to go down, you would be highly inconvenienced and operations would be hindered--just like having to empty a chamber pot every morning.

The Different Systems are Interconnected
Your business might be able to limp along if one of your IT infrastructure's systems went down, but like the infrastructure of a house, the worst problems are the ones that take out the hubs where different systems interconnect. These problems can disable operations. In a house, this can be an essential piece of equipment like a boiler unit because it uses a home's different systems like water, electrical, and heating fuel, and if a home loses heating capabilities, then living in the home would be unbearable and you would risk having the pipes freeze and burst.

With an IT infrastructure, a central piece of equipment that keeps the entire network operational is your server unit. A server is like the brains of a network because so many different systems depend on it. If a server went down, your profits would become as cold as a frozen water pipe. This is why it's important to take care of your server units with preventive maintenance because maintenance will stop an issue from developing into a major problem that can freeze business operations. Preventive server maintenance is a remote service that Preferred can provide for your company with our managed IT services.

The Need to Expand
A third way that a home and IT infrastructure are similar is when it comes to expansion. With houses, most people will buy a home that's within their means and move to a larger house as their family grows. An IT infrastructure works the same way. You will want to provide your business with a network that's both economical, meets your needs, and gives you room to grow, while keeping in mind that one day you will outgrow your technology.

Like buying a new house, upgrading your entire IT infrastructure is a major expense. You will want to invest the same time and care into upgrading your network as you would when shopping for a new home; and because expanding your IT network is such a major project, Preferred is here to help you plan your network with our IT roadmapping service. This is a service where we assess your technology needs, and then create for you an affordable IT plan providing your business with the latest solutions. An IT roadmap is a gradual plan that will update your entire IT infrastructure piece-by-piece. This way, you won't be hit with a giant bill when upgrading becomes a necessity; and the best part about our IT consulting service is that it's much easier to sign up for than it is to get approved for a home loan.

Owning an IT infrastructure and a home can be a very enjoyable, or an extremely frustrating and expensive experience. The key to making your home and your technology work for you is to properly maintain all of its systems. This requires technical knowledge and can eat up a lot of your time (which is one reason why so many people choose to rent). On the IT network side of things, you can have Preferred manage and maintain your network with our remote IT services in order to keep your network running smoothly (we can also recommend a good plumber if you need one). Call us at 708-781-7110 to learn more about how we can maintain your IT infrastructure and make your technology work for you!