Do you remember the olden days, when an office would have a big monitor at each desk, under the desk everyone had their own chunky tower, a big noisy server sat in the back office, and a stream of cords connected everything together to make a ‘modern’ office? It’s almost crazy to try to imagine doing business that way now!
Of course, if you have an office (and you may not even need one of those anymore), you’ll still have some on-site equipment. But now you’ve also got cloud-based ‘equipment’—services that are accessed from anywhere and provide an essential link to co-workers, customers, projects, and data.
Hybrid IT management is the specialized approach of coordinating and managing both the physical and the virtual aspects of your technology.
Hybrid IT Management Saves Money
Not every cloud-based solution is right for your business. Not every hardware option is right for your business, either. Unfortunately, many businesses are functioning with limited IT knowledge and are paying for resources that aren’t the best for their unique needs.
Hybrid IT management combines the best of what’s available online and what you need on-site (or in each of your employee’s home offices) so you can access the essential technology for your business—and not waste money on things that are bulky, inefficient, or have too much of a learning curve for your team’s needs.
We’re often asked, ‘wouldn’t it be better to just switch everything to the cloud’? While it’s true that cloud-based operations are saving companies time and money, there are still circumstances where it’s better (for security, finances, or efficiency) to keep some things in-house.
The beauty of hybrid IT management is that we identify exactly when cloud-based solutions are better, and when they’re not. And then we make sure you’ve got everything set up to make the best of both options.
Hybrid IT Management Simplifies Processes
Once you’ve identified what you do (and don’t) need for IT solutions, hybrid IT management is responsible for setting everything up, and coordinating between devices and in the cloud so that your business can run simply and smoothly.
Even the best technology isn’t going to work if it’s not integrated into your workflow properly and used as it’s intended. At IT Horizons, we like to think of ourselves as ‘IT whisperers’, making everything slip into its best role so that your business barely even notices that technology working hard for you in the background.
Hybrid IT Management Makes Change Easier
Whether you’re experiencing a merger, acquisition, new owners, or new management, change can be hard for the new person/organization and everyone who’s been working for years under a specific ethos and with specific tools.
Hybrid IT management will work with what’s already in place, and what changes may be appropriate, so that changes and transitions go as smoothly as possible. Sometimes, technology is grandfathered in that’s been in place so long no one remembers who installed it, or why! We can get to the bottom of any equipment or cloud storage so that what’s working well can continue to work well, and what’s slowing things down can be addressed.
Hybrid IT Management is Essential for Security
One of the biggest security risks for businesses is their employees. That’s not to say you should get rid of them! Security breaches can happen when an employee is doing their best with the information and technology they’ve been given, trying to solve problems where the source looks innocent, but the intent is threatening.
Hybrid IT management identifies gaps in security between equipment and cloud activities, fixes those gaps, makes sure employees are trained in how to use the products and services they have access to, and gives them tools to safely solve problems.
Whether an IT management contractor/team is connecting with a business and its employees regularly or on a schedule, part of our job is to see those security threats and mitigate them.
Hybrid IT Management is Your Safe Place
Have you ever run into an IT problem that you know should be simple to fix… and you just can’t see how? And you know that the person working across the room could fix it in a second, but then they’ll bug you about it for the next three years?
Yeah… hybrid IT management includes discreet support when you need it, from people who are used to explaining and fixing problems every day, and totally understand that getting stuck is part of working with technology. No shame here, just getting things fixed so you can move on with your day.
Does Every Business Need a Hybrid IT Setup?
The short answer is yes. With rapid changes in technology, a huge increase in employees working from home, and the need for cost-effectiveness, almost every business needs a balance of physical systems and cloud solutions.
Most businesses that have yet to switch to a hybrid IT model are planning to do so very soon. But not every business is prepared for the challenges and intricacies involved in using hybrid IT and they risk being overwhelmed by these challenges—not exactly an efficient solution then!
Hybrid IT requires knowledgeable and experienced management so that the solutions are exactly that—solutions, not problems.
Challenges Facing Hybrid IT Management
Hybrid IT management continues to become more complex. One of the challenges we’re facing is the need for better intercloud solutions. There are different advantages to different cloud providers, but until now, those providers have been operating very independently of each other. This just isn’t effective.
Another challenge is to always take into account the people working behind the keyboards that are using these systems. At IT Horizons, we’ve made a commitment to always have a people-focused IT business. So, whatever that next, great IT solution is, we think it needs to work for the people who will be using it. This isn’t always the case, and we spend a lot of time weeding out the usable solutions from the shiny ones that actually suck for humans!
Hybrid IT management is here to stay. And we’d like to make the process as easy for you and your business as possible. Send us a note today *add link and let’s chat about how we can get your products and your clouds working for you!
