What Are The Basic Components of IT When Setting Up A Business?

After you are done with creating a business plan, recruiting employees, and building a business structure, it’s time to set up an IT department. Whether you’re a new startup or decades-old small business, setting up a dedicated IT department is an integral part of any business in these modern times. Even if you’re running a small company with as little as 25 employees, your company will be solving problems using the latest technology to stay in the competition. This article includes some critical elements you cannot neglect due to security reasons and the protection of the business assets. Besides security, there are numerous other reasons to ensure some basic IT components. One of these is to perform day-to-day tasks and activities. So, let’s list down some essential IT components for your business:

1. Inventory and Network Review

When you don’t incorporate an IT service provider with your company, you end up needing to collect this information all alone. Understanding and integrating IT assets and network mapping are the first two components you need to consider. Get started with a network scanner, such as Nmap, or choose a commercial network mapping software. These tools help identify the devices on your network. Remember, some devices intermittently connect with the network. Your job will be to run scanning software and identify all devices on the network. After listing the devices, use an IT asset management tool to compile an inventory. While evaluating the devices, you need to make sure following information:

• Contract status
• Patching status
• Warranty status
• Replacement plans

2. Assess Facilities Needs

Other than inventorying devices, ensure the overall status of the IT facilities. Here are some features you need to review:

• Physical security
• Network bandwidth
• Energy supply
• HVAC needs
• IT equipment in Conference rooms

3. Software Management

After evaluating the state of the devices, evaluate your software management tools. Make sure you have these supports:

• Monitoring software
• Remote support
• Video conferencing

4. Deploy a Ticketing System

A ticketing system is essential to send issue requests and manage them. You can deploy a ticketing system from a wide array of commercial and open source options. Ensure that it’s user-friendly so that end-users don’t have trouble getting the hang of it. Choose effective channels for accessibility such as phone calls, email, in-person visits.

5. Backups

Check the company’s backup routine process. If your teams don’t back up data, your business is at risk of cyberattacks. Therefore, determine appropriate locations for data backups and make sure they are secure. Furthermore, schedule routine backups and define how much data your business will store in a single location. There are numerous channels to backup data, such as cloud storage, hard disks, and tape drivers. Your business can rely on methods as per your requirements.

6. Security

Evaluate the security status related to IT assets and processes. In addition, take appropriate measures to communicate security shortcomings with your team. Here are some areas you need to evaluate:

• Access control
• Directory service
• Security incident history
• Review networking configurations
• Plan security training

Conclusion

Starting an IT department from scratch is a lengthy and complex process. It can take weeks, months, or even years. That’s why, to help you get started, we shared the above-mentioned checklist to help you form a fully functioning IT system.