What is IT infrastructure management?

When you hear the word “infrastructure,” you’re probably thinking of road systems and buildings. These roads, buildings and other components ensure our society runs smoothly. Similarly, IT infrastructure includes computers, software applications, routers, servers, and other technological components that together make up the information technology (IT) systems of a company or business. IT infrastructure has six components, namely, hardware platforms, operating systems, enterprise software, data storage, networks and communications, and internet platforms.

These physical hardware and software, along with the systems and processes that manage them, support the information technology operations in the organization. Businesses can have their IT infrastructure set up on-site or on-premises (traditional infrastructure) for company use only, but they can also access the same via the internet (cloud infrastructure). The latter doesn’t require any installation but this type of infrastructure is often public (public cloud).

What is IT Infrastructure Management?

The main function of IT infrastructure management is to set up, maintain, and troubleshoot systems and other components of the company’s information technology (IT) infrastructure to avoid or address any significant problems. In other words, IT infrastructure management involves the administration and management of technology in order to ensure an organization’s IT infrastructure is running and that it’s running smoothly. The goal is to achieve the maximum uptime for devices and avoid any disruption in service which could result in losing significant amounts of money.

In practical terms, this means that IT infrastructure management will ensure that the necessary daily functions of various devices and software in an organization are interacting and functioning properly. That is, when you want to access the internet or send an email to a client, you can do so without any problems.

What are the Types of Infrastructure Management?

IT infrastructure management includes the completion of a long list of tasks, which can be divided into three categories, namely, system management, network management, and storage management. IT infrastructure management must ensure that all three critical areas work properly together. Just one of these breaking down or having issues means serious delays and potential significant losses in the operations of an organization.

System management handles servers and other computer systems. It includes tasks such as setting up accounts, managing accounts, installing updates, and monitoring system performance. Anything that improves productivity or efficiency in your organization and is not network-based nor deals with information storage fall under system management.

Meanwhile, network management handles the network infrastructure of a business or company, i.e., routers, firewalls, access points, software, etc. It includes tasks such as configuring network devices, making sure that network does not go down or troubleshooting connectivity issues, monitoring traffic, and installing firewalls. Network management is important because it deals with ensuring that you can communicate safely and connect easily to the internet.

And, storage management handles data storage devices, such as hard drives and cloud databases, where an organization’s data will be stored. It includes capacity planning, storage performance monitoring, and backup and recovery, with the end goal of protecting your company’s sensitive information from hackers and other malicious parties. Data protection involves both preventing attacks and dealing with attacks when they happen.

What are the Benefits of Infrastructure Management?

Implementing IT infrastructure management can be difficult and costly, but it provides many benefits you can take advantage of. The rewards your company or organization can reap from IT infrastructure management covers every aspect of business, so every department and everyone can gain from its implementation. These include increased productivity, reduction in downtime, improved customer experience, and increase in employee confidence.

  • Productivity in the organization will increase. When IT infrastructure management is in place, you won’t have to worry about any IT-related interruptions or data loss. You can also access information easily and communicate with colleagues effortlessly. As a result, you can focus on your task and accomplish more quality work.
  • Downtime will decrease. Downtime refers to the time you lose because of problems or issues with IT or other technology, for example, an office copier that isn’t online or other devices failing to function properly. These issues can hinder you from doing productive work, but with a well-implemented IT infrastructure management, problems such as these will be speedily fixed or non-existent. As a result, you’ll be able to complete your work without any interruptions, thus boosting productivity.
  • Customer experience will improve. With almost all businesses online, i.e., having a website, a smooth-running IT infrastructure ensures customer interaction with your website is easy. This means pages load quickly and website features work as you’d expect them to. It could also mean your website can handle a load of traffic. All of these contribute to a pleasant experience for your customers, which will encourage them to return.
  • Employee confidence will increase. When your IT infrastructure management is working well and efficiently, employees will be confident that the internet, devices, applications, programs, etc. will be reliable, i.e., they will continue to work when they need them to and how they were intended to work. Again, this improves productivity, but your IT infrastructure’s reliability will make your employees confident in doing their work and while interacting with customers.

Why is IT Infrastructure Management Important?

IT infrastructure is important for every business today, but its management is even more critical for ensuring smooth and reliable operations. While setting up and maintaining your company’s IT infrastructure can be both difficult and expensive, it’s worth it. The benefits are tremendous and affect not only your whole organization but it will also trickle down to your customers and other parties your company interacts with.

With a well-executed and smooth-running IT infrastructure management in place, you can take your business to the next level by boosting productivity, increasing efficiencies, and improving communication. Your IT infrastructure collects real-time data so you can make timely decisions. It can also help your company develop and launch products and services quickly to market. All of these help your business become not only reliable and secure but also flexible so that you can maintain a competitive edge in the market.