Business Infrastructure Support Services: What Do They Look Like?

Technology plays a pivotal role in any business environment. It is used to automate processes, bolster efficiency, boost communication capacities, increase cost-effectiveness and provide a competitive advantage, along with an array of other tasks and initiatives.

The modern digital transformation began many years ago and moving forward, it will continue to evolve and bring our society to new heights – perhaps at a more rapid pace than ever before. The cloud and artificial intelligence are currently at the forefront, and integrating both into the modern business environment adds layers of complexities to the technological landscape that did not exist before.

Business infrastructure support services encompass the key components relating to the management and maintenance of an organization’s technology makeup, along with all of the elements that comprise it. In this article, we’ll further elaborate on the definition of business infrastructure support services and its role in maintaining IT and operational stability.

What is Infrastructure in Business?

Business infrastructure encompasses the basic physical systems of a business, linking its processes, operations, human resources and other areas of the organization to facilitate productivity and meet its objectives. The primary components it includes generally look like the following.

• Hardware
• Software
• Networks
• Data storage
• Monitoring system performance
• Troubleshooting issues
• Handling updates and patches
• Cybersecurity
• IT support to users
• Other components

Some liken business infrastructure to transportation infrastructure; it links everything together. The above components and others that might be included essentially “bind” your organization together so it can be functional.

Key Components of Infrastructure Support Services

Many businesses are not equipped to manage the integration of new technology into the workplace. As an increasingly popular solution, these companies will seek to obtain support through outsourcing certain processes or tasks to a third party.

What a business needs will vary from company to company, but the key components of infrastructure support services typically include the following.

IT Support & Helpdesk

This component of support services is focused on the troubleshooting of technical issues and finding a resolution. For instance, this component might give technical support to employees when they have trouble accessing systems, need password assistance, experience software glitches or their hardware stops functioning.

As the modern IT infrastructure becomes more complex, it is difficult for businesses of all sizes to keep up with the changes and attain the expertise necessary to troubleshoot and resolve problems.

Network & Server Management

Network and server management ensures an organization maintains uptime, along with having appropriate security levels and optimal performance. Support in this area of business infrastructure includes monitoring network performance, making certain proper network security protocols are in place, maintaining network infrastructure and troubleshooting issues with connectivity.

As an example, if an organization’s network goes down, those managing networks and servers will investigate the issue, identify the cause and resolve it as quickly as possible to avoid disruption and excessive downtime. When these tasks are kept in-house, organizations may potentially experience too much disruption or have an inability to resolve problems if employees do not have the right skills and knowledge – this is especially true with newer technologies.

Cloud & Data Management

The cloud plays a valuable role in today’s business as it continues to be integrated into the technological environment of most organizations. Data has proven itself to be an invaluable asset and needs to be carefully managed.

Cloud and data management refers to the backup, storage and disaster recovery solutions. This task is critical, especially with the overwhelming amount of data businesses amass these days. If a business loses access to its data, it will not be an insignificant event and can even lead to a company’s failure.

Data can be lost due to a technology failure, cyber-attack, natural disaster or a human-made disaster. Whatever the cause, it can be disastrous. Having reliable cloud and data management processes in place is essential.

Cybersecurity Services

In years past, many businesses didn’t prioritize cybersecurity because it cost too much money and did not generate revenue like other organizational divisions did (e.g. marketing and sales). It also wasn’t considered an essential process, like accounting, so less of an organization’s budget was dedicated to cybersecurity processes.

Today, cybersecurity is viewed very differently. Ignoring or deprioritizing it is no longer an option. A business of any size cannot leave cybersecurity on the back burner, lest it opens itself up to facing regulatory penalties, loss of reputation and even risk losing the business entirely. The bottom line is they must budget for cybersecurity and put preventative and protective measures in place.

Cybersecurity services involve protecting a business’s systems and data from threats, including but not limited to monitoring cyber threats, installing protective solutions (e.g., firewalls), intrusion detection and setting authorizations and access controls.

Maintaining proper cybersecurity levels in our modern environment is challenging because new threats emerge every day, and it can be difficult to run a business’s day-to-day tasks while trying to keep ahead of threat actors and their goals to exploit data. As a result, many enterprises turn to the experts to manage their cybersecurity needs.

Software & Hardware Maintenance

Much like many products in the technology market, software and hardware continue to progress, quickly relegating products to legacy status. Keeping up to date often proves to be challenging for many organizations.

Services associated with software and hardware maintenance include regular updates and patches, hardware management (e.g., installation, configuration and maintenance) and software management (e.g. installation, updating, patching and licenses).

Organizations often turn to a third-party expert who is well-versed and up to date to provide services in one or more of the above processes. This way, they can rest assured of ensuring smooth operations, no disruptions and an efficient way to improve their overall cybersecurity posture.

Benefits of Effective Infrastructure Support

Businesses pursuing infrastructure support find they receive a number of tangible benefits. The top advantages businesses enjoy include:

• Cost-effective. Companies do not have to worry about maintaining a full in-house IT team that needs consistent training to stay up to date in managing infrastructure.
• Reduced downtime. Knowing they can rely upon the experts, businesses can focus on their core competencies with confidence they won’t have to worry about interruptions since their technology will be consistently monitored, minimizing downtime.
• Improved productivity. Deploying automated tools into your processes empowers your organization to enjoy heightened productivity in an efficient manner since it relieves them from mundane or repetitive tasks, further increasing cost-effectiveness.
• Improved efficiency. Proactive maintenance and monitoring help your organization’s technology run smoothly, minimizing downtime and/or other disruptions.
• Enhanced security. Working with an expert partner enables you to have excellent access to employing best security practices to protect your sensitive and proprietary data from threats.
• Better compliance rates. Manual processes leave room for human error; working with an experienced and knowledgeable third party can better help ensure your tools are current and able to help your organization maintain compliance.
• Scalable solutions. Business infrastructure support services enable you to adjust technology up or down as necessary for business growth or changes. Furthermore, your partner can help your company to quickly adapt to meet changing demands as they emerge.

Working with an experienced managed service provider is advantageous to businesses of all sizes, but enterprises can attain a true competitive advantage when they partner with an expert who can offer consistent support. Large-scale companies can remain on the cutting edge with the latest technology without the regular need to update all their equipment.

Reasons Why You Should Consider Infrastructure Support Services

Investing in technology is essential to competing in today’s business landscape. Relying upon antiquated systems and processes will make it hard to maintain or even attain a competitive advantage. Operating on old technology and manual processes will not provide the level of quality or service that today’s B2B or B2C customers have come to expect.

While few would argue the point about the importance and value of having reliable technology, the dilemma of how to acquire and manage it is another story. Many organizations simply are not equipped to handle the rapid changes associated with technology. Furthermore, many do not have the budgets to continuously have to upgrade or invest in new hardware and software in order to remain current and relevant.

An experienced business infrastructure support services provider can bring you cost-effective solutions, along with their:

• Expertise. It is difficult to remain current in today’s rapidly changing technology landscape, which means in-house teams will continuously need training and possibly upskilling. A partner can bring their expertise in the latest trends and maturing technologies.
• Reliability. An expert partner will not only know the ins and outs of the technology they manage for you, they will do so dependably and consistently, so you’ll never face substantial amounts of downtime and other technical problems.
• Experience. Working with a partner means you’ll have someone by your side who specializes in infrastructure support services; no other tasks will take priority, since offering services is their primary objective.
• Availability. Technology issues do not wait until regular business hours to emerge, which means keeping support services in-house will have to be planned for around the clock, which can be both challenging and expensive; an agreement with a reliable partner will establish availability when you need it.

Investing in expert business infrastructure support services can have an overall positive impact on your business, its budget and long-term success. However, there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to leveraging technology. Working with a partner who is able to take inventory, evaluate, analyze and offer solutions is a great first step to take.

Ready to Explore Business Infrastructure Support Services? Contact Red River Today!

Red River has significant experience with cutting-edge technology. Providing technology and related services is all we do. If you select us for support services to help you manage your business infrastructure, know you will have a team who is reliable, knowledgeable, has experience and can bring relevant and current expertise to your organization.

Red River specializes in providing comprehensive cloud and managed services and is ready to assist organizations in configuring, installing, optimizing and maintaining IT infrastructure. We are fully prepared and equipped to help your organization navigate the ever-growing complexities found in today’s technology landscape.

To learn more about how Red River can assist your company, contact us today, and we’ll get the conversation started.