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Critical Tech Choices for a Safe IT Infrastructure Management

Digital Fire • September 14, 2021

The safety of your data should always be one of your top priorities when setting up your IT infrastructure. You don't want a system that's easy for hackers to target, because dealing with cyber attacks can be extremely expensive and damaging to your company's reputation. To avoid this, you'll need to manage your IT infrastructure just as carefully as you would any other kind of infrastructure.

If you're new to setting things up, IT infrastructure management can seem particularly complex. Because most companies need an online presence or depend entirely on online systems, having a secure IT system is extremely important for your business. If you want to get started managing your IT infrastructure effectively, these few tips and terms should be enough to get you going.

What is IT Infrastructure?

IT Infrastructure can seem like a broad concept, but it actually refers to the technological toolsets your business uses, including its hardware (computers and servers), the software you choose to run your business through (like Microsoft Office) and access data (such as email), and the networks (websites and communications programs) that your customers, partners and employees use to do their business.

What is IT infrastructure management?

Managing your IT infrastructure basically means having someone keep an ear out for any potential vulnerabilities at every point where your system could be accessed by outsiders. Managing IT infrastructure involves finding out where a technical issue might be occurring, whether it's an individual device or something wrong with a particular program you're using.

Most importantly, IT security also includes looking out for potential areas where hackers might attempt to attack your network to improve its security. They'll be checking for potential security issues and suggesting improvements to keep the system safe from outside interference.

Categories of IT infrastructure management

There are so many different aspects to what constitutes an IT infrastructure, such as network operations, security devices, etc. Managing and monitoring them can usually be broken down into a few different categories. These three categories are the main components of your IT infrastructure that require active management.

Systems management

Systems Management is the largest category among them, as almost any part of your IT Infrastructure can be traced back to it. It refers to identifying potential safety risks and technical issues, and what other areas they may affect. By identifying which parts of your business are most at risk for a given problem, you can identify smaller problems that may not be noticed until they become bigger ones.

If you're having trouble with the customer service section of your website, then it could be due to a problem with the overall site not communicating properly to the team. Another alternative would be for something on the customer's side of the website to be unclear or buggy, meaning there are some small issues that could be easily fixed. Systems Management ensures that an exact description of the issue exists and its severity.

Network management

Network Management involves looking at the connections between different parts of your IT Infrastructure, including your work devices and company accounts.

Network management includes any network device connected, including personal computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. If you don't provide a secure way for employees to access company data from home, they could be at risk of having their computer systems hacked, which would result in your IT system being compromised. Network management will aim to find ways to prevent passwords from being stolen by hackers.

Storage management

The final aspect of your IT infrastructure is how and where you keep your data, which can be done physically via hard drives, USB flash disks, and work computers, or it can be done more commonly using cloud storage, or a private cloud.

Storage management includes looking into how to best store your data safely, including evaluating how difficult it is for hackers to locate and access your information and making sure it's easy enough for you to access your own records without too much trouble. Safety is important, so don't sacrifice your business' efficiency for it.

Which collaboration platform is best for IT infrastructure?

When setting up a new IT infrastructure, you'll typically be dealing with multiple different technology infrastructures and services from different vendors, each with its own type. You may be choosing between Apple, PC, Android, and iOS apps, and Google and Microsoft services. It's important to discuss and consider each IT infrastructure platform, but each IT infrastructure platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. None of them is completely better than the others.

These brands are popular because they take safety seriously and provide products that are easy to use. You need to choose what works best for your business. As long as you're comfortable and supported by a particular brand's infrastructure security services and tools for managing your IT infrastructure, you've chosen the right one.

Where do you keep your files?

woman with laptop

If you want an easy way to store your business files and data safely and securely, then using cloud storage is one of your best options. Using cloud computing technology means storing your files online so that they're available to anyone who has access to them through your private account information and password.

Cloud storage still requires some sort of auction that IT infrastructure managers must manage. Each device that employees use to access the cloud service becomes a potential target for hackers and thieves, so they need to be protected. However, because this information is not immediately lost if a physical resource or device is damaged or stolen, it's easier to recover from disasters and damage is significantly more preventative.

How to safely store and exchange data with customers

With cloud storage, you're safe from losing your files, but you need to take extra precautions when handling customer data. Many business owners share customer information, including their passwords, personal information, credit card details, and so on. Many storage systems can be used by hackers to steal your customers' personal information. Therefore, you should always avoid sending sensitive information via email.

IT infrastructure managers often improve the security of this information, which means they encrypt certain passwords and use different protective measures so that those who access your information must put in extra effort to gain access to specific pieces of data. You should always use as many extra precautions as possible when storing customer data and ensuring that they can trust you with their information.

How to properly manage IT infrastructure

Besides working with an Infrastructure Management Service like Digital Fire to help ensure that your IT network is running smoothly, proper management often includes having team members available 24/7 to assist when issues arise. System and network administrators monitor systems and networks for any issues and fix them when they arise. They also predict future problems and take steps to prevent them from happening.

They usually have specific routines and checks to make sure every part of their system, network, and hard drives is safe and working properly. As long as they feel comfortable suggesting improvements to your system, then you should have reasonable IT Infrastructure Management that performs exactly how you need it.

What are the benefits of IT infrastructure management?

Strong IT Infrastructure Management has the greatest strength in ensuring safety. Cybercrime is becoming increasingly common, and one of the easiest ways for your company to be victimized by cybercriminals is through an uneducated or unaware staff. If you hire someone to look after your business, someone with applicable administration skills, they will help keep your business safe and prevent hackers from looking at it as a target.

As important as it is for your business to keep its systems secure, it’s even more important to ensure that your business is running smoothly. Setting up an IT system or network can be extremely difficult, but having good IT infrastructure management practices in place will help you avoid technical issues on every front.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is an IT infrastructure architect?

    An IT infrastructure architect designs your IT system from the ground up, handling every aspect of your infrastructure to make sure it is safe from hacking and fits your needs. They ensure it's easy to maintain and fix if problems come up or changes need to happen.

  • What does an infrastructure manager do?

    This is essentially the person who manages your IT team and oversees your hardware, system, and network infrastructures. They won't necessarily be digging into your systems often if they have a team working for them, but they usually will delegate tasks to their team and work with the business owner to make sure the business's IT infrastructure is safe and effective.

  • Is cloud storage safe?

    Cloud storage is definitely less vulnerable to physical damage, as the data centers that this type of storage is held in are generally consistent and won't fail often. That said, the devices that access cloud storage are all risks to hackers if they're stolen or accessed, so those who access cloud infrastructure components off of company computers should ideally have secure passwords that aren't saved on their devices to ensure safety.

  • What is encryption key management?

    Encryption key management means you have a specific program that allows you to set up encryption keys, primarily for client data and credit card details. Having this kind of system is vital to protecting information in case of an attempted hack.

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