Active Directory, central inventory, IP Phone centralization. What is the big deal with centralized systems anyway?
Well, if saving time, money, and improving security are important to you, then you should pay attention.
In the world of IT, there are very few concepts sweeter to a system administrator’s ears than ‘Centralization’. Centralization is the streamlining of all IT activates through as few systems as possible. Centralization saves time, money, and stress by allowing your system administrators the ability to control and manipulate your organization’s system from a single place. No need to track down individual users or equipment for information. Just login to a single system and the information you need is right there.
The benefits for your system admins are obviously, but for the business as a whole why should you spend all this time, and yes…money…upfront for centralized solutions? Much like good maintenance of your car can prevent a costly repair later, so can being proactive about your centralized systems save you many headaches down the road. Centralization of systems may not be as sexy as a sleek new product or a brand new desktop system, but this is one of those times when spending on the back end, the type of systems that your employees and customers will never see, will be extremely beneficial to your company later. Centralization of e-mail, login names, and inventory can save hundreds of man-hours and thousands of dollars in IT costs.
This is what centralization can do for you. By having your administration resources in a shared central environment, you can potentially double your company’s efficiency while increasing collaboration among IT resources.
For example as your company grows and you take on more users, having an active directory system to manage their logins will become essential. It may not be as visible as some of your other systems, but it will be just as important.
This is not hyperbole. Every successful organization today has a centralized method of resources sharing which allows for company growth and resource allocation. These standardized resources could very well be the difference in keeping IT cost in line enough to finance your next big project.