What it is, and why business technology lifecycle management is so important
Technology lifecycle management is an essential process to ensuring your business resources work as they should, even as your IT environment grows and changes over time. Business technology lifecycle management also protects your network data and your business from cyberattacks. Here's what you need to know and why technology lifecycle management is so important to businesses of all sizes and in all industries.
Understanding technology lifecycle management
Before putting a business technology lifecycle management strategy in place, it's vital to first understand what it entails. So, what exactly is technology lifecycle management?
By adopting a lifecycle management approach to your organization's IT environment, you take a holistic approach to your business technologies. That includes taking an inventory of your operating systems, applications, hardware, and more. It also means you assign stakeholders to every resource, as well as a business process, and you plan out updates and assessments for each resource based on their importance to the business. When done, you should have a fully plotted timeline for your business technology management, including when each resource will reach its end of life. This plan, when completed, should plot out predicted needs and scheduled upgrades.
Why is technology lifecycle management so important?
Technology lifecycle management gives your business added protection and resilience so that your organization can roll with the changes all of us encounter in our IT environments. Operating system out of date? No problem—you've planned for that. Vulnerabilities are caught early and often, addressed, and patched as needed so that your work can continue without delay. Change is unstoppable in the IT environment; remaining responsive and addressing system issues before they slow your workflows ensures you continue to deliver for your customers and clients, and you remain agile and able to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
The flip side of that is, of course, failing to plan for inevitable issues—and that can lead to lost opportunities, eroding revenue, unanticipated expenses, and even damage to your organization's reputation. Technology that fails due to lack of planning can become a very expensive problem, very quickly. But by identifying liabilities for your IT environment early, managing changes that are necessary, and limiting downtime, you can stay ahead of problems that might otherwise damage your business in multiple ways.
Are you ready to consider technology lifecycle management for your business?
The benefits of business technology and technology lifecycle management are clear for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. When it's time to start implementing technology lifecycle management for your organization, the experts at Locknet® Managed IT can help. Contact us to learn more about how we can support your ever-changing IT environment and business technology needs.
