Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, most corporations scrambled to make working with a dispersed workforce extra manageable. From Zoom to Skype to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, companies adopted options that made working from dwelling extra seamless. For a lot of corporations, nonetheless, this fast adoption created a patchwork of options, which might trigger IT departments and finish customers complications and setbacks.

After all, patchwork IT has been round lengthy earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic. We usually see patchwork options throughout mergers and acquisitions when one firm makes use of a set of functions and productiveness suites and the opposite firm makes use of one other. Collectively, they need to make this mismatched group of options work.

Resolving patchwork IT is just not a straightforward feat. It requires cautious planning, thought and execution. Nevertheless, by following these subsequent steps, MSPs and IT professionals can seamlessly resolve patchwork methods for corporations.

Take a look at patchwork IT holistically 

Each IT scenario has benefits and downsides. For patchwork IT, the cons usually outweigh the professionals. One of many benefits of a patchwork of options is that you may select the “better of the most effective” to handle your operational wants. Nevertheless, this tactic often results in a state of affairs the place options can’t talk with others.

For instance, you can have Cisco firewalls, routers and VPNs whereas additionally utilizing VMware. This may not be such a foul factor, however the options don’t essentially discuss to one another. And each has totally different administration consoles.

Consolidating options provides performance and makes them simpler to handle. By optimizing patchwork methods, corporations can clean out operations, keep away from end-user confusion and get monetary savings on redundancies.

Consolidation is essential 

Resolving patchwork IT usually means consolidation. To consolidate correctly, MSPs and IT departments ought to think about these steps:

• Assess: First, corporations ought to assess their inner and exterior wants to find out which platforms and functions they want. For instance, if cloud-based doc collaboration is crucial, corporations might think about using Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Assessing your operational necessities permits you to determine which options you want and which you’ll dwell with out.
• Establish: Pinpoint which options aren’t serving operations or have grow to be redundant. For instance, an organization might have adopted Skype through the pandemic, then realized inner groups solely use Zoom and Microsoft Groups for video calls. Eliminating Skype frees up area for different important functions.
• Execute: When it’s time to consolidate, you want the proper instruments to make sure options are correctly eradicated, migrated and saved to keep away from complications and misplaced information. Utilizing the proper migration software can make sure you transfer your information safely and successfully.

Migrating to resolve patchwork IT 

Earlier than a migration, it’s best to think about a number of components. Do you’ve got a full image of what information and options have to be moved? What quantity of information must be migrated? The place does it have to be moved? Do you’ve got a migration software that may successfully deal with this mission?

Stakeholder suggestions can be important. You wish to guarantee everyone seems to be on board with the adjustments following a migration. For instance, if corporations concerned in an M&A necessity to decide on between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, get enter from staff to find out which resolution works finest for them.

Finishing a migration with out consulting stakeholders dangers confusion and operational setbacks. Staff might should discover ways to use new methods, which might result in frustration and disruption in productiveness. This is the reason corporations ought to at all times deploy change administration and guarantee finish customers have the mandatory assets and coaching to make use of the brand new options as soon as the patchwork setting is resolved.

Lastly, with any migration, you at all times wish to mitigate dangers. A method to do that is to make use of the proper migration software. To make sure all of your information and knowledge are moved correctly, deploy a migration software constructed to fulfill the scale, timeline and specifics of the migration. This prevents setbacks and permits for a seamless migration. In consequence, corporations received’t have to fret about misplaced information or the migration failing, permitting finish customers to entry their mail and paperwork of their new places.

Avoiding patchwork IT sooner or later 

As soon as a patchwork of options is resolved, it’s vital to forestall it from reoccurring. To do that, MSPs and IT professionals ought to think about what we name the 5 Pillars of Office Maturity:

• • Content material Companies: Disorganized recordsdata are a standard ache level for finish customers of patchwork methods. By digitizing recordsdata and operations, corporations can cut back bodily paperwork and worker frustration as they seek for important paperwork. With content material providers, staff can entry paperwork from anyplace, saving time, cash and assets.

• Hyperautomation: Leverage instruments that assist hyperautomation so staff can reallocate time to extra crucial duties. Hyperautomation can optimize worker processes and create area for extra partaking work, lowering danger and rising productiveness.
• Unified Communication and Collaboration: One of many fundamental causes of patchwork IT is having totally different instruments that do the identical factor. Deciding between a number of instruments could make groups much less productive. If staff are experiencing these ache factors, you want communication, collaboration and convention instruments to make sure staff are productive, engaged and communicative in actual time.
• Rising Functions and Know-how: New expertise may help you allow legacy infrastructure and modernize your utility stack. With rising functions and expertise, you’ll be able to guarantee your group and staff are agile within the face of disruptions and totally ready for the way forward for work.

Dealing with patchwork IT head-on

Almost half of IT leaders (48%) mentioned their firm deliberate to do a big IT improve to streamline patchwork methods throughout the subsequent yr. Nearly a 3rd (29%) have been already within the midst of a migration.

Now’s the time to handle your patchwork IT issues. By following the steps outlined above, you’ll be able to resolve your patchwork system and stop it from reoccurring sooner or later, creating smoother operations and end-user productiveness to maintain your online business thriving.

By Stacey Farrar, product advertising supervisor at BitTitan, and Christopher Chesley, North American digital office development chief at SoftwareOne