Having to scale up your IT infrastructure is a good sign. It means your organization is growing! With that growth comes considerations for making the process run as smoothly as possible.
1. Financing Your Growth
Even if your organization is experiencing strong growth necessitating scaling up, you will still have to ensure that your finances are in order to make the matching infrastructure growth happen. Talk to your CFO or budget director to find out how you can meet your organization’s growth needs.
According to a 2015 survey, 38 percent of organizations surveyed said their growth was being hampered by insufficient access to funds. While those funds in most instances are available, effective communication of those needs will have to be a high priority.
There are many ways to finance your scaling up but one of the best methods is to start saving in advance. Budgeting money for a scale-up keeps financing on your own terms without needing investors or lenders. Of course, a thorough analysis of growth will determine if financing is a viable option.
Whatever way you finance, make sure your budget is strong and every department in your organization sticks to it.
2. Purchasing New Equipment
Ideally, your existing equipment will be easily scalable, but that is not always the case. When you must purchase new equipment as part of scaling up ensure it is as future proof as possible. Make sure there is room for growth for continued scaling.
3. Buying into New Tech
You can buy into new tech as part of scaling up infrastructure. This can be an especially good idea if you choose to align with technology that allows for scalability, both for growth and downsizing
Consider cloud-based computing services or web-based platforms which can grow with your organization without additional equipment costs.
4. Hiring Additional Staff
A bigger organization might mean a bigger workforce, and/or hiring more IT staff to support the new infrastructure. Ensuring you have adequate human resources in place will save you from overworked, stressed employees during a scale-up. Always keep an eye out for talent, collect resumes from interested individuals even when you are not in the hiring mode. These can be your best source for talent when you get the green light.
Focus on hiring the right people for your organization, in advance of any time crunch you may find yourself in when your organization is suddenly growing.
By having an active recruiting process in place, you’ll be able to jump into sourcing quality staff and hiring them as soon as you find you need to fill additional positions.
5. Keeping Up with Business as Usual
Growing your organization and its infrastructure shouldn’t negatively impact your existing work. Do not make the mistake of scaling up without ensuring you have the right staff, services, products, and other operations in place to meet the needs of your current customers.
This can look like checking over your service levels to be certain you can meet orders for your regular clients as well as new orders as you scale up. It can mean anticipating enrollment or planned talent acquisition. It can also mean implementing a strong help desk system to deal with support requests quickly and efficiently, keeping your customer service strong.
Conclusion
All of these considerations — appropriate financing, new equipment and technology, and hiring additional staff, ensuring robust support — maintain your brand reputation and customer service promises. If you can do this, you will keep the strong base that will allow you to grow.