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4 Types of IT Infrastructure Projects for Your Business

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Hardware, IT Infrastructure, IT Projects, Network, Software, Tips for Businesses, Web Development

What types of IT infrastructure projects are worth your valuable time? With implications for everything from processing efficiency to cybersecurity, IT infrastructure plays many essential roles in modern companies. After your initial setup, you need to think constantly about how to improve IT infrastructure. However, you also have to ensure that you allocate your time and resources carefully. This may leave you wondering, what types of IT infrastructure projects are the most critically needed for your business?  

There are 4 main types of IT infrastructure projects to consider:

  1. Web Development
  2. Hardware
  3. Software, including AI
  4. Network

From your website to your hardware, software, and network, your IT infrastructure covers a broad range of technologies. Each of these has its own endless range of possibilities for updates and upgrades. Determining which types to address, as well as your objectives and the specific projects that will help you achieve them, can quickly become overwhelming. This guide will help you decide what to prioritize.

What is an IT infrastructure project? 

An IT infrastructure project involves making changes to core technology systems and components that your organization relies on for its operations. Your technology infrastructure impacts hardware like your computers and servers, physical data centers, your software platforms and applications, your network, and cloud storage. Altering such critical systems may seem risky, but the goals are equally important: improving performance, strengthening security, increasing capabilities, and aligning technology infrastructure to a constantly changing environment.

To set your infrastructure project up for success, you need to make a detailed plan, obtain stakeholder buy-in, put in place effective project management, and provide training for effective implementation. You can start by assessing the current infrastructure to identify potential weaknesses or places where updates would be beneficial. Draft potential solutions and evaluate them based on business goals, budgets, and timelines. Devise a project roadmap that clearly defines roles, resources, milestones, and measures of success to guide the project. To get buy-in from stakeholders at all levels, communication and training are critical to ensure a smooth transition process, making clear that the ultimate objective is to ensure that the organization’s technology infrastructure can keep up with changing needs.

Are these types of IT projects a good use of time and resources?

Keeping your IT infrastructure up-to-date keeps businesses competitive and enhances operations. Improving your website with user experience in mind can help you to engage customers and drive sales. Upgrading your hardware can increase the speed of your operations. Updating your software frequently not only improves performance but also ensures you have the latest security patches, a necessity with the ever-changing nature of cyber threats. Network improvements, among other benefits, ensure fast, reliable connectivity, which is particularly important for remote or hybrid workforces. Although these types of IT projects can require adapting to new policies and procedures, outdated infrastructure can cause costly problems. Prioritizing strategic IT projects will pay off in improved productivity, better security, and furthering business goals. 

The recent explosion of the use of AI across industries has further accelerated the pace of technological change within and around organizations. With the rapid changes in the modern business environment, your investment in your technology infrastructure will have immediate benefits and help you succeed in the future.

Many IT infrastructure projects face challenges along the way, from keeping up with changing technologies to addressing shifting business priorities. Undertaking such projects can also be intimidating because of the proliferation of articles about how IT infrastructure projects fail on a regular basis.

Keep reading to learn how you can choose the right types of IT infrastructure projects for your business and help ensure their success.

4 TYPES OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

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Learn more about these projects below! You can share our infographic on social media or copy and paste the code below to embed it on your website:

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<p>4 Types of IT Infrastructure Projects for Your Business - An infographic by the team at <a href="https://sdi.ai/">Sentient Digital, Inc.</a></p>

Get your planning process started by considering in more detail the types of IT infrastructure projects that could best benefit your business.

1. WEB DEVELOPMENT

A developer at work on one of the main types of IT infrastructure projects: web development.

Before investing in an expensive purchase, 81% of consumers do research online. In addition, 90% of consumers search for local businesses online. If your website doesn’t measure up, your potential customers will move on. 

Your website’s interface, functionality, security, and design all factor into a customer deciding whether or not they should engage with your business. Your online presence helps customers form both initial and lasting impressions of your business, making it a high priority for most companies. Keeping your website from looking outdated is important for your brand image, and ensuring a seamless user experience is key to making your website useful. A website that is simple to use and has a modern design will encourage customers or clients to engage with it.

How do you determine what types of IT infrastructure projects your business might need for its website? This will depend on what kind of business you operate, as well as what your web development has accomplished so far.

  • If you have an e-commerce business, or have considered opening an online store, it’s important to examine the functionality of your online shopping system. Is it easy for customers to browse through different products and manage their shopping cart? Is there adequate infrastructure in place to make sure you never sell more products than you have in your inventory?
  • If you run a service-based business, having a strong online presence and convenient website should boost your chances of attracting new customers. Does your website provide clear descriptions of your services? Do you have an online booking system that allows customers to easily make reservations or appointments? Is that booking system synced up efficiently to your internal system?
  • Keep your audience in mind. In addition to considering your industry, think about who your prospective clients are. For example, B2B companies may need to ensure that their websites lead with the kind of information that a procurement manager needs to review. 
  • Remember, effective customer service matters across all industries. Maybe you already have an attractive and intuitive website, but customers don’t seem to be engaging very deeply with it. Consider ways of making your website more approachable and tailored to their interests, such as AI-powered personalized recommendations or a chatbot. Depending on the level of personalization and responsiveness you are seeking, these solutions may be relatively simple to implement and add a lot of value.

2. HARDWARE

Employees working at desktops, demonstrating the importance of one of the main types of IT infrastructure projects: hardware.

When your hardware is working smoothly, it can be easy to overlook. But when it’s dysfunctional or doesn’t meet your needs, it can be hard to ignore and can negatively impact productivity or even cause business operations to grind to a halt. For this reason, regularly upgrading devices, servers, and network equipment is important for staying on track.The money you put into faster computers, expanded storage, and modern peripherals ensures that your team has the tools necessary to get their work done.

As with web development, the types of IT infrastructure projects your business needs for its hardware will vary based on your company size and line of work. Consider any issues or shortcomings stemming from your computer monitors, switches, ethernet cables, keyboards, or any other physical parts of your computer system. Remember the importance of efficiency and resilience in these critical tools of your work.

Some hardware upgrades or implementations wouldn’t necessarily require your IT department to design an infrastructure project. It is relatively simple, for example, to purchase new keyboards for all of your employees. But other hardware upgrades require more planning to be completed successfully.

  • If you choose to keep your business’ data in external servers, as opposed to a cloud-based service, the next step is to figure out the configuration. If your company needs a server mainly to share documents among team members, you might only need one server that could easily be kept in-house. However, some businesses may require more data storage space, such as for keeping lengthy and secure client records. Some businesses might also need their servers to run at a higher bandwidth than average if you need to transfer data quickly or offer streaming videos.
  • If everyone in your business requires their own computer, consider purchasing laptops and docking stations for everyone instead of desktop computers. Laptops make it easier for employees to bring all of their files with them to meetings or when working from home. The docking stations ensure that employees still receive the benefits of desktop computers without the mobility limitations.
  • Remember that when you make a change that impacts the way employees perform their work, getting the employees to buy into the project is critical. For example, if your business determines that employees need the flexibility to work remotely and transitions from using only desktops to using laptops with docking stations, employees need to understand the expectations that come with this change and may need training to ensure the laptops remain secure. 

3. SOFTWARE

Digital elements stemming from hardware as a concept for software, one of the main types of IT infrastructure projects.

When it comes to your company’s software, consider that it includes your operating system, user interface, apps, and any computer programs or processes your business uses. Your IT department in particular can provide invaluable insight on the biggest problems and opportunities associated with your software based on help desk records. Bear in mind that while updating software can seem annoying, it matters for security in addition to efficiency. Updates frequently serve a cybersecurity purpose, because new defensive measures are needed as new threats constantly develop. Switching to entirely new systems will require even more of an adjustment, but can streamline your workflows. Assessing your organization’s software needs and making changes where needed will serve your business goals and have a variety of benefits.

Of all the types of IT infrastructure projects, software upgrades are often the most visible to employees, as they most affect their day-to-day interactions with your technology. So, as with hardware infrastructure projects, significant changes to software will require employee buy-in and training, both to understand how to use the new software and the reason for the change.

Regarding getting employee buy-in, keep in mind that rolling out infrastructure changes can affect work routines. Leadership should communicate throughout the process, providing as much advance notice of changes as possible, as well as outlining how upgrades may actually make some aspects of work easier.  Inviting employees to give their input on potential pain points will help those on the ground feel included and also provide the benefit of their perspective, since it is difficult for leadership to know the day-to-day realities of the tasks affected. In addition to consulting employees at all levels that may be affected by the infrastructure project, it is important to ensure communication across departments and teams. This can help ensure that tools and workflows meet everyone’s needs and do not inhibit work. Above all, leadership must set the tone for these types of IT projects by embracing the benefits of change.

In addition to communication throughout infrastructure projects, comprehensive training is an essential ingredient of success. Without instruction on updated systems and processes, employees may feel frustrated, struggling to complete their tasks, and working inefficiently. The time invested in creating training programs and implementing them across the organization will be well spent as the transition goes more smoothly. 

The right software maintenance and upgrades can lead to huge increases in employee productivity as well as customer satisfaction, but they can also come with bigger risks.

Artificial Intelligence

More than a buzzword, AI is transforming the way business gets done. According to a survey by The Conference Board, 56% of employees are already using generative AI in their work, while only 26% of those who answered the survey reported that their company had a generative AI policy. Interestingly, 63% of the respondents noted at least some enhancement to their productivity with AI. 

The need for AI infrastructure becomes clear in light of these statistics. Companies need to adopt policies and procedures that support the responsible use of AI, and that starts with intentionally constructing your AI infrastructure. What does that look like?

In this case, choosing the right AI vendors will be critical. If your employees are already using generative AI, they may be choosing the applications themselves. This can pose a security risk since you haven’t vetted the software, and employees may enter confidential information in generative AI prompts. Instead of this ad hoc approach, it makes more sense for your IT team and leadership to research what platforms are appropriate for your organization, and then create policies around how to use them. This will pay off in the end as your employees responsibly use AI to benefit your organization.

Operating Systems

Deciding to upgrade operating systems is a big decision, but usually necessary every few years. While you don’t always have to rush out and buy everyone in your company the latest Windows or Apple operating system, letting your company fall several operating systems behind usually puts you at a variety of disadvantages. Older operating systems often stop receiving support after a few years. As more programs and applications roll out, they also tend to stop being compatible with older operating systems. With that said, upgrading operating systems can be a significant undertaking, as it could affect all aspects of your business for several days.

Customer Relationship Management

If you’re looking to boost your customer interactions, think about acquiring or creating your own customer relationship management (CRM) software. A CRM allows businesses to squander less time doing simplistic manual data entry of customer contact information and sales numbers. With more customer data, faster data collection, and built-in tools to analyze that data, your team can better focus their efforts on improving customer interactions and increasing sales.

The value of implementing a CRM platform lies in its ability to coordinate workflows between the sales, marketing, and customer service functions of your business. A CRM consolidation provides a unified interface to track customer interactions and insights across departments which improves communication, responsiveness to client inquiries, and overall efficiency between teams. CRMs provide visibility into up-to-date customer data and activity, allowing employees to serve customers or clients more effectively.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software also allows you and your employees to be more efficient with your time and resources. ERP software can automate numerous data entries and analyses for your business, reducing your operational overhead. Whereas a CRM’s main goal is to increase sales, an ERP’s primary function is to make your business run more effectively. Getting your business onto a single ERP system can bring access to inventory, finance, HR, and other operational tasks all into one place. 

Internal Communications Systems

Whether you work remotely, have a hybrid setup, or even if all of your employees work in the same building, a company-wide chat platform, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Chat for text, audio and video communication can keep everybody on the same page. When working in person, you can use the phone or walk to someone’s desk or office, but it makes for less disruptive communication to chat while staying at your workstations. The right chat solution can speed up communication and avoid overwhelming email inboxes.

Help Desk Automation and Ticketing

If your business has grown to the size that there are numerous help desk requests coming in every day, implementing a ticketing system can keep everything orderly and streamlined. A ticketing system can use rules to automate the process of assigning requests to a team member and prioritizing them. Keeping a record of how requests are resolved and how quickly can help you to track the performance of your IT team and help the team to learn from each other.

4. NETWORK

A phone with a security icon displayed on it as a network security concept, highlighting one of the main IT infrastructure projects: network.

Your business’ computer network refers to all of your IT components that communicate with one another. This covers a broad range of important operations for your business, from internet connectivity, to network enablement, to file sharing over the cloud, to security measures.

Having a communicative and secure network is of the utmost importance. Your various computing parts need to be able to communicate with one another efficiently to ensure that data is transferred safely and quickly from one device to another. Your network needs to stay updated to stay secure and operate with peak efficiency. Investments in network infrastructure are never a waste in an age where companies are unable to operate without their technologies working together in harmony.

With that in mind, there are various types of IT infrastructure projects you can undertake to improve your network operations.

  • Given the recent increase in ransomware attacks over the last few years, heightening network security is on a lot of business owners’ minds. Assuming that you have already implemented standard security measures, such as installing antivirus software and setting up firewalls, consider investing in more proactive cyber security methods. One such tactic that is not beyond the budget of most small businesses is network and endpoint monitoring. This monitoring helps ensure that criminals do not breach your network—or, if they do, that you can catch them before they wreak irreversible damage.
  • More and more businesses are shifting away from data centers and choosing instead to store their records via cloud computing. Using cloud software allows many small and medium-sized businesses to lower operational costs, as fewer pieces of hardware are needed. The cloud also makes it easier for teammates to collaborate on and share files with one another. If your business decides to switch its data storage partially or fully to the cloud, some of your security measures might need to be altered, too.
    • Migrating to the Cloud: Moving to a cloud system as opposed to on-premises servers can make it easier for your employees to access the data they need remotely. For a successful experience, ensure that employees conform to metadata tagging protocols, in order to maximize the discoverability of documents across the organization.
    • Productivity Enhancements from the Cloud: Transitioning from complete reliance on your physical office location to the cloud can give your employees more flexibility about where they work, whether from home, at a client’s site, or across multiple office locations. 
  • Bolstering the security of your network matters: Upgrading network security is a significant way to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, making this one of the most important types of IT projects. Some ways to do this include implementing state-of-the-art endpoint security across devices, upgrading firewalls and gateways, and considering conducting penetration testing.
  • For improved network security and efficiency, consider incorporating more segmentation into your network. Cyber criminals often move laterally through a network, continually gaining access to more and more files. By partitioning your network into smaller segments, it becomes more difficult for cyber criminals to gain access to your passwords and personal data. Segmentation also helps to ensure that network traffic doesn’t become congested and start lagging. There are multiple measures you can implement to segment your network, among them virtual local area networks (VLANs) and access control lists (ACLs).
  • In addition to the infrastructure itself, think about the architecture of your network. Remember that in addition to the team and departmental levels, your network has to serve the full organization with all parts working together in a coherent way. Consider the value of Future State Architecture or other approaches to enterprise architecture for your organization, which can include matching business objectives to the interconnected design of different aspects of your infrastructure. 

HOW TO PLAN SUCCESSFUL IT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

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Now that you know how to improve IT infrastructure through these four types of projects, you want to set your projects up for success. Why is it that so many types of IT infrastructure projects fail? Most often, these projects fall short or fall apart because of how quickly technology changes, how interconnected IT infrastructure is with all other facets of your business, and how difficult it is to predict the project’s costs and duration.

Fortunately, we have some advice for ensuring that your IT project does not become just another statistic. No matter your goal, from supporting business intelligence to reducing cyber security risks, it is critical to systematically weigh the benefits, risks, and costs of any prospective IT project before committing to it.

BENEFITS AND RISKS of All Types of IT Projects

Consider the benefits and risks of your proposed IT infrastructure project for each department, for the business as a whole, and for the clients you serve. Who would this project help, how much, and in what ways? Who or what might you put at risk by undertaking the project (or not undertaking the project)? In what ways could it affect other departments or other areas of IT?

In order to best anticipate all possible benefits and risks, discuss them among your IT team, any other departments that may be involved or affected, and company leaders and decision–makers. Including stakeholders outside of the IT department in the planning phase of the process will also help get them on board with the project, which will make the implementation phase smoother. 

When evaluating risks and benefits, your first thoughts are likely to be about the outcomes of completing this potential project. Take the time to thoroughly consider these outcomes, as well as the outcomes associated with not doing the project, as outlined by EDUCAUSE Review. Will the current system, technology, or infrastructure you have in place hold up? What do you risk by not updating or maintaining it?

COSTS

A major determining factor for the success or failure of any type of IT infrastructure project is its cost. If management has to sign off on the project, the decision-makers will want to know about the likely return on investment, necessitating a prediction of its cost. To make a comprehensive prediction of a project’s potential cost, your cost model should factor in the project’s initial costs, its implementation costs, and its maintenance costs.

For instance, how long would the project take? Which members of your staff would need to be involved, and would they need additional training to complete the project? How would this project affect the workload capacity of those employees? Would you need outside contractors? How much would maintenance cost, and how often would you need to perform maintenance? In terms of maintenance, would it be more expensive to keep your current infrastructure in place or to upgrade? Due to the constantly changing nature of technology, how long do you project the results of this project will last before a new upgrade is required? 

As before, discuss these questions with as many relevant employees, departments, and stakeholders as possible to avoid overlooking potential costs. Use your analysis of the benefits, risks, and costs to help evaluate and prioritize potential projects, anticipate problems, and make sure you have the resources you need to succeed. The more data you collect in advance, the more accurately data-supported predictions you can make, allowing you to make a realistic assessment of the value of a given IT infrastructure project.

CONTACT SENTIENT DIGITAL FOR SUPPORT WITH ALL TYPES OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

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Even when you are well-informed about the types of IT infrastructure projects you could undertake, as well as their benefits, risks, and costs, you may still feel daunted by all these possibilities. Or you may recognize that your IT team needs additional support or custom technology solutions to complete the projects most beneficial to your business.

When you are planning to make major changes to your infrastructure, having the assistance of an external consultant can prove very valuable. Consultants offer a fresh perspective on your infrastructure as well as filling in gaps in your team’s experience. Having the guidance of an external consultant through vendor selection, contract negotiations, and solution rollouts can ensure you get the best setup for your needs and goals. With the assistance of seasoned IT consultants, businesses can make sure that infrastructure projects are worth the investment of resources and will serve them well in the future.

The experts at Sentient Digital know how to build initial infrastructure as well as how to improve IT infrastructure. We can help you plan and implement the right IT infrastructure projects to ensure that your business operates as smoothly and securely as possible. Contact us today to learn more.