Whether you’re an MSP or IT department pro, you’ll often struggle to understand the full scope of the all the work that needs to addressed. An IT assessment offers a straightforward and cost-effective way to gain a deeper understanding and know which services are critical.
An assessment enables you to better understand any IT operation and provides details that allow you to inform the “powers that be” of weak points that need to be corrected for the security and the health of the business.
Still not convinced this is something you should be doing? Here are the top ways IT assessments create benefits for you.
Take Inventory
In general, SMB resources are stretched too thin to track every IT asset, let alone those brought in via BYOD policies or shadow IT. Not knowing what devices are accessing the network makes it nearly impossible to know what is out there. Ongoing IT assessments create a full inventory of everything that touches the network so devices and software can be secured, monitored, and managed.
Know What Needs Replacing
Regularly scheduled, comprehensive inventories enable you to analyze what should stay and what should go. Legacy systems often have substandard performance, more maintenance woes, and security vulnerabilities.
Measure Risk to Improve System Health
Regular IT assessments that also measure risks are the basis of a continuous IT management plan. By measuring risk, you can prioritize and explain what issues to address first.
Understand (and Reduce) Costs
An IT assessment captures not only what assets are in-house, but also the cost of ownership of all this gear – pointing to ways to reduce it. This enables you to know which less-efficient systems should be replaced and what burdensome processes to revise.
Move from Reactive to Proactive
Less mature MSPs and IT shops tend to be reactive, fighting fires rather than thinking strategically. Ongoing IT assessments make IT service strategic…delivering business value and competitive advantage, creating a fully proactive IT environment.
Prepare for the Cloud
The great migration to the cloud continues across the corporate landscape. Regular IT assessments identify security risks, compliance with policies, and overall health of the MS Cloud environment.
Identify New Services to Sell
A thorough understanding of an IT system, along with an analysis of business drivers, helps you create a roadmap for IT investment and strategic decision making. This prioritized roadmap can be a living document that guides the IT budget and implementation plans.
Identify Changes to the Network
IT never stands still. Regular IT assessments identify changes to users, permissions, shares, hardware and software configurations, and more.
Show Management and Clients Where They Stand
Regular IT Assessments provide a conduit for conversations to help justify the value (or budget) of the services you deliver. System-generated progress reports help highlight all the things that you are doing “behind the scenes” to help keep networks safe and running smoothly.
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