Who Needs Infrastructure Assessment? – How to Satisfy All Your Stakeholders

Okay, you’ve completed the infrastructure assessment, produced your report and put together your recommendations. What do you do with the report? Who needs to know about your findings, and how will it benefit them?

You’ve now got essential data on your infrastructure that can help your team monitor, control and optimize your IT assets. It will also support anyone planning upgrades, investment, migration or problem resolution. That makes it important to recognize the needs of your team members and stakeholders, and provide the information they need.

 

CIOs

CIOs want a high-level view of infrastructure performance. They don’t need the detailed information a comprehensive assessment can provide. An executive summary report should provide essential information they can use to review current performance, identify any critical issues and plan future developments.

If the assessment indicates problems or areas of poor performance, CIOs can allocate resources or request funds to invest in upgrades, migrations or other changes. An effective assessment highlights underperforming assets, and that helps the CIO focus budgets and resources on changes that will deliver greatest value.

CIOs also need to be aware of any performance issues that can affect users. IT is now seen as a key resource for driving innovation and competitiveness in the business, so the CIO needs to be confident that the IT department is meeting its service level requirements.

 

Business Executives

Senior executives and departmental managers want to know that IT is meeting their specific requirements. The assessment may identify changing usage patterns in different parts of the business.

By sharing information on usage and any user issues, you can get a more accurate indication of departmental requirements or problems as a basis for planning or resource allocation.

 

Maintenance Team

An infrastructure assessment helps the maintenance team identify problems and prioritize scheduled and proactive maintenance. A detailed copy of the assessment indicates assets that may be under-performing, reaching service milestones or proving unreliable.

The team can then plan a program of upgrades or replacements to maintain service levels and minimize downtime. By carrying out frequent infrastructure assessments, you can provide the maintenance team with up-to-date information that helps them deal with potential problems proactively before they lead to downtime.

 

Supervisors

Supervisors can use information on recurring problems, poor performance or underutilized assets to improve workforce planning and resource allocation. They can identify areas where team members may be firefighting or carrying out regular repairs.

They can then make informed decisions about longer-term remedial actions that would allow them to make better use of their resources.

 

Vendors and Suppliers

It’s important to keep vendors and suppliers informed on the performance of their equipment in the infrastructure. Their technical specialists may be able to suggest improvements or adjustments to improve performance or remedy problems. Vendors may also identify opportunities to offer upgrades or newer versions that are suitable for your infrastructure.

 

Provide Accurate, Up-to-Date Information

Your team members and stakeholders may need different versions of the assessment, but most of all they need accurate, up-to-date information. Manual infrastructure assessments are time-consuming and subject to human error.

If you need support to improve your reporting, VTG can provide a professional infrastructure assessment service, using its patented tool, ZENfraTM which automates and speeds up the assessment process.

More information

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