Category Archives for : Technology

Today, businesses rely on technology more than ever. Information technology is essential to achieving business success. However, when technology is not utilized properly, it can actually slow your business growth. Make technology work for you by understanding common tech-related issues that might be hampering your business growth right now:

Information Overload

Technology advancements have opened the door to collecting and publishing more information than ever before. At the same time, the sheer volume of available information often interrupts business activities. Too much information can result in over-planning, paralyzing indecision and loss of focus that can destroy your business.

There has been much talk about information overload in the recent years. Along with excess information comes the issue of having too many choices. In addition, the information that businesses collect is often low-quality and unnecessary. To deal with the issue, organizations should change their culture and employ available solutions to manage the volume of unwanted, questionable or low-quality information.

Big Data Cluelessness

The world is now able to collect and store data from an unprecedented number of sources at a remarkable rate. Also, new types of data have become available including those derived from sensors and the IoT. Big Data aims to analyze available information and present it in ways that add value to businesses.

Many companies have access to relevant data, but they don’t know how to interpret and apply it to real-world activities. They also fail to focus on the quality and the context of the data collected. You can make Big Data work for you by using technology to select and analyze the data streams that have the most relevance to your firm.

Security and Backup Issues

IT security concerns continue to hamper business growth in practically every industry. Despite the development of advanced security tools, the greatest threats still come from employee carelessness including weak passwords and poor habits. Additionally, natural disasters, theft, malware and hacking attacks can cause data loss.

Many companies struggle to find the right balance between security and productivity, and abandon security strategies believing that security slows down their growth. You can deal with security and backup issues by finding a balance between optimal security practices and your need for growth.

Create and publish effective IT policies and schedule regular security training for everyone on your team.

Irregular Maintenance

Cost cutting and growth can cause businesses to fail to properly maintain their equipment. Also, some companies ignore maintenance issues because they don’t have any in-house IT experts. Regardless, the policy of only dealing with equipment when it fails paralyzes businesses, often at critical moments.

A routine maintenance program relies on manufacturer recommendations and established best practices to keep equipment running well. Preventative maintenance proactively addresses potential problems, such as incorrect wiring, before they cause downtime.

When you consider the devastating cost of unpredictable equipment failure, you will understand why successful businesses spend money on regular maintenance.

Insufficient Training and Lack of Technical Support

Despite a substantial IT investment, some companies experience negative productivity gains because workers don’t know how to use the features of business software and equipment. Such issues arise because some business owners and managers fail to understand the connection between employee training and productivity.

Business teams often want technology to automatically improve profitability without understanding the need for employee training and support. Meanwhile IT groups can have trouble implementing appropriate technology because they don’t understand the intricacies of the business.

Address training and support issues by improving communication between your internal units, and providing adequate IT training and support for all your workers.

Upgrades and Integration

Companies hurt themselves when they ignore the natural obsolescence of their IT assets. The desire to maintain business growth while keeping IT expenditures on a predictable cycle often addresses accounting concerns, but it can handicap workers. For example, failure to upgrade your software and equipment so it can interact with client systems might require redundant data entry and equipment.

Avoid choking business growth by planning your upgrades based on strategic integration rather than on budgetary cycles. Investing wisely in IT upgrades and integration can streamline your operation and provide you with substantial returns.

Emerging of Disruptive Technologies

Disruptive technologies tend to unexpectedly change the way people live and work and render entire companies obsolete. Some companies, become so fixed in their ways that they don’t even consider the possibility of disruptive technology merging, so they are completely unable to adapt when radical market changes occur. Other companies prematurely adopt potential emerging technology and find themselves unable to backtrack if consumers reject it.

Have your company stay in touch with technical developments that might affect the way customers live and work. The key here is to find the balance between focusing on the present and looking into the future.

Velocity and The Amount of Change

Technology changes faster than most people can realize. In addition to disruptive technologies, the already-existing and well-known technologies are constantly changing and improving.

Companies fail to grow when they don’t have the agility needed to quickly adapt to change. Technological change can either work for or against your business growth. The cost of adopting new technology can stretch your budget, so you must learn to exercise discretion. You don’t want to blow a good opportunity, but you also don’t want to waste your money on useless upgrades.

Deal with the velocity and amount of change by staying attuned to the needs of your customers and understanding exactly what you wish to accomplish with new technologies.

Asking for Perfect Solutions

Businesses that look at technology as a source for perfect solutions are making a critical mistake. All technology has limitations and nothing guarantees success.

Companies will always depend on technology to compete in the modern marketplace. Still, no technology will perfectly suit a particular business model. Business owners and managers who demand perfection encourage internal conflict that can stifle growth.

Overcome perfectionism in your company by creating and communicating realistic expectations. Good communication between every employee, team and department in your business will help everyone understand the role of technology and create an atmosphere of constant and continuous improvement.

Cost and Business Growth

Companies want to control costs, so they may at times ignore their need for new technology. However, ill-equipped teams cannot efficiently produce goods and services or support their customers. Ultimately, cost-conscious companies that skimp on technology end up losing customers and fail. Don’t let that happen to your business.

The cost of technology affects all businesses, particularly small and mid-sized companies. Their limited budget means that they have a hard time competing against enterprises and large organizations. Still, every business needs to plan to spend money on technology. Make technology a high priority in your organization and cut costs in other areas of your business when money gets tight.

In conclusion, you should never underestimate the power of technology to fuel the growth of your business. Tech-related issues, however, illustrate the fact that technology alone cannot deliver success. Instead, depend on education, solid business practices and good communications to make your IT investment work for you.

When the Big Bang happened 14 billion years ago, suddenly a whole new set of rules, a whole new set of dimensions—the groundwork for creation—burst into existence. And so it is with revolutionary technology. They enable outward expansion. They push aside boundaries by the very nature of what they allow us to do.

As an entrepreneur, you know the importance of learning from everything. This is a journey to the breakthrough of your next innovation. These revolutionary technologies are setting the stage for what’s next. Will you be the one to take the stage?

NFC

On one hand, there’s NFC. What is NFC? Near Field Communication, a means of paying for anything, virtually anywhere, with a mobile phone. This technology uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), which is one of the primary technologies for the Internet of Things.

NFC revolutionizes payment by making it contactless and dynamic. Apple Pay, for one, uses a process called tokenization. Tokenization obliterates your static credit card number by replacing it with a constantly changing token number, which makes fraud extremely hard and nearly impossible.

Digital Currency

NFC allows merchants a lot of freedom to do business anywhere. It relies on the same banking system regular credit card transactions rely on. Digital currency, on the other hand, teaches us there’s an alternative to the centralized banking system.

Essentially, digital currencies such as Bitcoin are bits of code that stand for money, exchanged through a peer-to-peer network of “miners” who process the payments using Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC).

It eliminates fraud altogether, because transactions can’t be reversed. Buyers also remain anonymous. Essentially, this is crowdsourced security for payments, taking monetary power from the establishment and putting it in the hands of many.

Open Source Software

This is another move towards crowdsourced, peer-to-peer innovation. Open Source software, such as Drupal, is developed by a community of programmers who contribute code. The software industry has been growing exponentially since 2007 because of Open Source.

It’s constantly evolving as the community is evolving. This format allows innovation to accelerate at lightning speed, because it takes out the bureaucratic red tape involved in traditional product development, testing, and release.

Augmented Reality

What’s so revolutionary about Augmented Reality? It changes our view of the world, and its newest incarnation, Pokemon Go, has practically taken over the world. The game’s release saw Nintendo’s share price skyrocket, only to plummet when the gaming console company reminded us it doesn’t make Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go is free. Its concept is the ultimate in innovation. It takes a technology that now seems commonplace—GPS—combines it with augmented reality, and blows it up with the ever-popular Pokemon. None of these things are original inventions, but the combination is pure gold. And, the fact that you have to catch Pokemon characters out in the real world makes people get up and move.

Electric Vehicles (EVs)

The EV is revolutionary because it threatens to unseat the fossil fuel industry. Its biggest proponent, Elon Musk, is an innovator who stands out in a crowded field, working simultaneously on a project called SpaceX and on Tesla’s EVs. His approach with these vehicles is to continue making them better and less expensive, in an effort to bring the revolution to the masses.

Tesla Motors gets its name from Nikola Tesla, who invented electric motor technology in the late 1800s. EVs are highly efficient, pull a ton of torque, and don’t pollute. What’s needed is an equally efficient and clean mode of creating electricity. Musk is now making batteries that can store solar energy to power homes and any kind of EV. Once EVs and clean electricity become widespread, the clean-tech revolution will be here.

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So what, ultimately, can entrepreneurs learn from revolutionary technologies? That innovation can be crowd-sourced, that ideas come from combining and improving upon what’s already there, that the future is what you make it. This is a matter of vision, a matter of making things happen fast and making them accessible to as many people as possible. And, it doesn’t hurt if what you’re working on truly benefits people.

Bio: Daniel Matthew is a widely-published freelance writer who specializes in delivering insights for small business and entrepreneurs. You can find him on Twitter. 

Technology has advanced over the years, from the first invention of the computer that has spawned the imagination of generations to the invention of the drone, it is only understandable that in the coming few years too we can expect the human mind stretching itself to produce a gazillion more inventions.

Let us see some of the new advancements in technology that are expected year-by-year that will affect you and me in ways that are not humanly possible to conceive. Aah, see the irony.

Personal 3D printer

3D Printing is the process of making 3 dimensional solid objects from its digital form. It is created using additive processes where successive layers of material is put up until the entire object is created.

Remember that scene in James Bond’s Skyfall where the legendary Aston Martin DB5 was destroyed? Thank the 3D printer for this. Using a large scale 3D printer, three replica cars that were one-third of the size of the cars were made for this.

The 3D printed Aston Marting used in Jamed Bond

3D printing is a reality because layers can be done by fusing layers of materials made from durable plastics and metals based on a template. You can create a working gun, hand-made camera lens, 3d figurines from children’s drawings, 3D fetus, etc.

Self-charging holographic mobile phones

The clearer our physical world is, the less are we influenced by geographical boundaries.

Imagine you have an important meeting where you need to be present, now visualize that you are sitting in the meeting hall, this is possible with the help of self-charging holographic mobile phones. Your mobile phone projects your holographic video and the video of the person you are talking to.

Let your virtual self attend the meeting

You can be able to attend a meeting peacefully even if you are chilling away to glory. Scientists are working hard to improve video to chat to become holography chat, this is made possible using light beams scattered from objects and reconstructs a picture of the object, a similar technique that human eyes use to visualize the surroundings.

It is rumored that the electronics giant Apple and Amazon are working on this. IBM says that in five years’ time, the 3D interfaces will be so advanced such that it will let you interact with 3D holograms of your friends in real time.

Space Tourism

A number of space related startup companies have sprung in the recent years in the hope that there will be takers for sub-orbital space tourism industry.

Space tourism is a reality thanks to evolving technologies

With NASA’s collaboration with space aviation agencies for commercially designed space agencies, it can be soon expected there will be a more convenient form of space travel for non-space professionals. Researches in the inter-galactic space and space travel tests have made it possible for non-astronauts to dream about setting foot on the space.

This space has taken baby steps towards this direction, although it does require the traveler to sign an informed consent agreement. Real life Iron Man, Elon Musk’s space exploration venture Space X guarantees you a seat to travel to space at a whooping $20 million per seat. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic takes you to space at a comparatively lesser fee of USD $250,000. Are you willing to save up big time for a dream outer space travel?

Ozone Therapy

It is an alternative form of therapy that supposedly increases the oxygen intake into the body through the introduction of ozone into the body.

There are various methods in which the introduction of Ozone into the body is done and the benefits of this treatment are aplenty like treating Cancer, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, etc. In fact, Ozone was first used during World War I to disinfect wounds. This therapy is also used for slipped disks in the spine, diabetes, heart disease, macular degeneration which is an eye disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Ozone is a naturally occurring chemical that consists of three Oxygen atoms. Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent. In fact, high concentrations of this chemical can be toxic to living organisms and is considered as a huge source of pollution. However, measured doses of this chemical is known to increase naturally occurring antioxidants in the body.

Oculus Rift

What started as a Kickstarter campaign is now a part of the Facebook’s empire. The Rift is a virtual reality head mounted display developed by Oculus RV. During its crowdfunding campaign, it raised $2.5 million. 22-year old Palmer Luckey sold Oculus RV to Facebook for $2 billion.

Oculus isn’t the first VR headset to hit the market, but with only $1,500 for the device and the computer you need to run it, it is easily one of the most sophisticated and relatively inexpensive one. Oculus has stated that it was mainly made as a gaming device while it is also being used in Media, Social as well as Industrial and Professional uses.

Portable Laser Pen

Read this slowly, there are laser pens that can seal wounds. Hard to believe, right? Lasers can not only be made to create a wound, but it can also be used to seal them. It is used an alternative for traditional needle and thread surgeries.

Scientists have been working on this technology for decades now. Doctors used carbon-di-oxide lasers to seal wounds but it hit a roadblock since they could not control the temperature of the laser. This could be achieved by sealing the wound internally or externally by a process called ‘laser welding’.

Physicists at Tel Aviv University have devised a laser that can heat the body tissues in a precise manner thereby eliminating the previous problem. A pen was created with optic fiber to be able to pinpoint the wound correctly. An FDA approved laser called femtosecond laser is used during cataract surgeries.

Google Smart Cloth

Imagine being able to call and send messages using your clothes? Yes, you read it right. This is exactly what Google is doing in collaboration with Levi’s. You can use your clothes like a track pad. Any item like your jeans, jackets, carpets and even furniture could be used for this.

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) is in charge of this development. “We are enabling interactive textiles,” ATAP’s Emre Karagozler said while showing off the new smart textiles. “We do it by weaving conductive threads into fabric.”

The project is named after the founder of a type of loom, it is Project Jacquard. The type of thread used can be made into any size, shape, pattern and can even be made invisible. The material would even be able to gauge your actions like crossing your legs or twiddling your thumb. In fact, the fabric would even be able to notify if the wearer is gaining weight and suggest health related affairs.

Google Loon Project

Google Loon is a project which aims to provide inter-connectivity to rural and remote areas, this is a part of Google X, which is a company run by Google to make technological advancements.

The project makes use of high altitude balloons placed at an altitude of 32 km to create a wireless network where 3G like speeds is possible to get. The project got this name because the idea of providing internet to the entire World’s population seemed like an insane idea.

Users of the Loon’s service connect to the internet using an antenna attached to their building. This July 2015, Google signed an agreement with the Sri Lankan government to launch this technology on a large scale. Thus, Sri Lanka will be the first country to get full coverage of Internet using LTE.

Internet 3.0

Let us say you are in the mood to go for a horror movie and you also want to eat some pizza before watching the movie. This necessarily means that you have to search around a dozen websites before you finish with it.

Internet experts believe that the next generation of the web, which is Web 3.0 will understand a complex search, analyze your response, search the Internet for all possible answers and organize the results for you.

Your Web 3.0 browser will act like your personal assistant. The more you use your web, the browser learns more about you. Eventually it will understand your likes and dislikes and give a specific answer for any queries that you ask. Web 3.0 will happen due to the coming together of all these: Broadband adoption, Mobile Internet access, Open technologies and Mobile devices.

Crash Proof cars

Think of this situation. Your car would not let you make a mistake. Read it again. Does that even make sense?

Imagine the implications of that, the number of accidents that will reduce as a direct effect of this. This has not hit the market yet, but this is what the future holds for us. The advanced models can expect the cars to warn of obstacles, adjust the distance of the car to any other vehicle and activate the brakes.

Although technology helps us a lot in this front to protect us from accidents, it is the same technology that makes us go astray while on the wheels like texting on your smartphone, using the GPS system, etc. There is a new technological aid called active-safety systems that will increase the driver’s awareness to the existing traffic. It uses loud sounds, alerts that are passed visually and vibrations to deter the driver from being distracted.

Elevator into Space

A ribbon like cable is anchored to the surface and it is extended into space, of all the places. Also called a synchronous skyhook, this space elevator is designed to make vehicle transport to the space or orbit without the use of large rockets.

An Earth-based space elevator would consist of a cable with one end attached to the surface near the equator while the other end beyond the geostationary orbit. The cable is held up under tension using the competing forces of gravity which is stronger at the lower end while the centrifuge force is stronger at the upper hand. The climbers can climb using the tether by mechanical means.

The concept of a space elevator was published a century ago by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895. A Canadian space company called Thoth Technology Inc has patented a free-standing space elevator that could one day take astronauts into space.

Evolving Technologies will define the future

The word ‘technology’ is defined as “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes” and it stands true in many ways. Today, people are living healthier and better lives thanks to the advent and advancement of technology.

If someone asked you “Has technology made your life better”, we know the answer would be unanimous. When you need something the first thing you head for is your smartphone as most things are available here itself. Technology has covered all aspects of a layman’s life including health, relationships, environment, education, government, etc.

We are at the threshold of many more evolving technologies that will take us by storm in the coming years. It is an exciting journey ahead for all of us.

Author Bio:

Misha holds a Master degree in Marketing and bachelor in computer application. She works as a content & marketing Manager at SoftwareSuggest. She likes travelling to hill stations and reading novels. Follow her on twitter. https://twitter.com/uppalmisha

At VPNPICK we’re always excited to see just what the world of enterprise tech is promising for the upcoming 12 months and, as we look ahead it seems that this year could well be enterprise tech’s most innovative year yet. So here we talk about just what’s hot within the realm of enterprise tech right now, and which enterprise technology trends we’ll certainly be keeping an eye upon.

Productivity will Continue to be Boosted as Enterprise Tech Takes Away Some Heavy Burdens

Last September we wrote about the ways in which enterprise tech had been boosting efficiency within both the large and small workplace, and it seems that this advancement of productivity is looking set only to continue.

Most specifically we should see that IT departments become smaller and more efficient, as the ‘cloud’ takes on the pressure that was once reserved for in-house systems. Experts also argue that we’ll see increasing companies who move over and away from Microsoft Exchange server, as the cloud delivers cheaper alternatives that require less in-business management.

It must be said however that this is at odds with the market study from the technology market research firm – Radicati Group, which predicted consistent market share growth to build upon Microsoft’s already impressive in-house server business over the next four years (The Radicati Group 2014).

Workforces are Set to Get Savvier as Millennials Get to Work

There’s a fresh-faced employee about to arrive: the Millennial. This generation of workers will be savvier and more ready to harness all that comprehensive enterprise tech can deliver. They will be far more open to changes to the IT that a company utilizes than the relatively old-school worker. All of which will serve businesses well in their move from old, in-house legacy systems onto cloud-based enterprise tech: whether this be the collaborative working app, or something considerably more complex.

That said it may not be all good news, at least for employers, as such users are equally going to be far savvier at covering up their misuse of computers. In particular, this may well present a challenge for employers who seek to harness their new legal powers to monitor their employee’s chat logs during working hours.

Machine Learning May Just Become a Whole Lot More Accessible (as Well as Significantly Cheaper)

Machine learning has been around for what seems like an age, employed within websites that have recommended related products, for example. However the more sophisticated of examples, such as face recognition and fraud detection, are looking set to become ever more affordable as developers are empowered by a wealth of data that can now be easily powered by cloud computing.

Amazon Web Services is about to Become an Enterprise Tech Hot Potato

The cloud-based Amazon Web Service provides for everything from online storage right through to dedicated Enterprise Cloud computing packages, and over the next twelve months, the predicted growth in companies embracing these services is being forecast to see Amazon out do their staggering 80% growth of 2015 (Fortune 2015).

There May Well Be a Data Revolution

Whilst enterprise level SaaS systems provide for solid APIs to open up access to a world of vital data until now enterprise-level companies have lacked the powerful tools to best harness them.

Over the next twelve months, we may then see plenty of innovation, as developers focus on providing the enterprise with the forward-thinking tools to manage, process and analyze the masses of data that goes along with this size of the company.

Most specifically this will allow for the asking of important business questions for truly data-driven insightful answers. Such as which target customer segments are the most profitable; which products or services provide for the least support (and therefore the least soft costs) and which members of the workforce hit their goals consistently.

Any More Enterprise Technology Trends?

The enterprise technology trends listed above are sure to make a big impact with some of them already making a big impact to business across the world. The bigger question is are you ready to take advantage of these technology trends?

And if you can think of any other trend that is going to make an impact in do let us know in the comments.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Businesses, both big and small, are becoming increasingly dependent on enterprise platforms in ensuring productivity and continuity. According to Liberty Technology Advisors, such solutions will be essential in ensuring workflow efficiency in the business setting.

In addition, ERP solutions are no longer exclusive to larger corporations. Scalable and accessible cloud-based solutions enable big companies to streamline operations, while these also provide a means for smaller companies to optimize their business for growth.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions help improve productivity by optimizing supply chains, human resources, and even improving interactions with customers.

While it has been mostly viewed as a “big business” product, ERP solutions are now making a foray into the small business market with products that ensure a scalable solution that fits virtually any business size.

How Can ERP Software Improve Workflow

Driving Smart Decision-Making

ERP solutions enable a seamless and systematic collection of data across multiple business verticals. This allows access to an abundance of information that could be used for decision making. Instead of conducting ad-hoc research only when the need arises, businesses have access to a stream of data that can be shared across different departments. This allows organizations to be better equipped when conducting market and business analyses.

Improve Productivity and Collaboration Between Employees

As mentioned above, the continuous flow of information on different business verticals and operations allows employees to identify areas of improvement and collaborate better to achieve business growth. It also helps them be better informed and aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives.

By default, ERP solutions are designed to provide effective solutions to streamline and speed-up business processes. It automates tedious manual functions which otherwise would have been time consuming. This helps minimize frustrations among employees. When employees no longer need to concern themselves with manual tasks, they can concentrate on other areas of operations and figure out ways of improvement.

Minimize Wastage and Unnecessary Costs

Customized ERP solutions provide a holistic view into business processes by documenting their workflow. This practice enables businesses to identify where the bottlenecks are and accordingly implement plans to improve efficiency. It undoubtedly has a positive impact on the business as it drives the optimal use of business resources.

A direct benefit of improving business processes is reducing operational expenses. ERP software allows organizations to achieve better enterprise resource planning.

Improving Data Security

ERP software developed by highly skilled IT professionals or reputed ERP solution providers offer reliability and security. It will ensure that the business information is safeguarded, while allowing senior management teams to control which teams have access to what information. This eliminates the threat of sensitive information falling into wrong hands.

ERP solutions maintain log reports of who accessed what data and enable managers to allow employees access only those data that are needed for their job function.

Challenges Ahead

Despite all the benefits brought through with ERP systems, there are still many challenges for IT managers and consultants to overcome, particularly when it comes to maintenance. According to Gartner, this can be due to businesses taking a purely tactical approach in deploying an ERP rather than adopting a longer-term strategy.

In particular, ERP systems that consist of heavy customization’s can present a very large obstacle for IT managers when it comes to mapping out and testing infrastructures whenever an update or enhancement is released.

The challenges come in the form of maintenance and enhancement operations. These can become a large project, often requiring months to accomplish. It can be convenient to implement a workflow chart or diagram that clearly delineates enterprise resources, as well as the team’s tasks, accomplishments and strategies to ensure proper implementation, to ensure adequate visibility.

The chief benefit of charting during ERP maintenance is the ability to quickly spot bottlenecks and trouble areas during implementation.

Trends in ERP Deployments and Maintenance

ERP workflow management automation is expected to be a big theme for businesses in 2015. Experts believe that ERP managers and users will look to ERP tools to eliminate any manual or human touches, as well as streamline their workflow.

Automation and Big Data. Charting is still half the story, though. ERP maintenance requires a lot of testing, code cleansing and tracking for dependencies and compatibilities. This can be further streamlined by adopting a means to automate tedious testing, deployment and maintenance processes.

Panaya, a cloud-based platform that leverages big data to automate the testing process, believes that businesses can gain a significant cost and time advantage in deploying upgrades, updates and patches when conducting ERP implementation.

Enhanced Collaboration. During the working phase of maintenance, it will also be important to implement a collaboration solution so the team can check up on progress through multiple channels. This ensures proper accountability, so managers and team members know their responsibilities.

Running a proper collaboration platform can help maintain efficiency, while enabling the team to adequately audit the processes to determine how the project could further be improved. According to studies, a proper knowledge repository system can help reduce costs, improve quality and lower the risks of implementing ERPs.

Post-Modern Approach to ERP. Another trend prevalent starting this year is the so-called post-modern approach to ERP deployments, in contrast to a legacy approach to ERPs, which consists mainly of running bulky on-premises applications with heavy customization.

According to Gartner, CIOs need to take action in order to take advantage of the lower costs, better functional fit and flexibility offered by ERP solutions that blend cloud applications and an on-premises approach.

There might not be a perfect solution to ERP deployments and maintenance. One thing is for sure. As both small and big businesses increase adoption of enterprise platforms, there will be a need to become more agile, competitive and responsive in one’s approach to deploying ERPs.

IT infrastructure is continuously evolving. While businesses traditionally went for on-premises infrastructures that involved having servers, storage and other facilities in-house, enterprises today enjoy a wider variety of options, which all have their own pros and cons.

Modern enterprise IT will include a mix of distributed infrastructure, virtualization, and on-premises setups, among others.

One clear trend today: commoditized infrastructure is enabling better access to both small and large scale enterprises. Businesses are engaging in various cloud delivery models, including SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, as well as a combination of public and private clouds, as well as other high availability infrastructure setups.

Hybrid clouds, for example, have advantages in enjoying the ease-of-management from the public cloud infrastructure, alongside the privacy and security of an on-premises deployment.

It’s no longer as simple as mapping out a server infrastructure stored in your office building. Gone are the days when your infrastructure map involves only a few elements that require a simple diagram. With distributed infrastructures, there will be more elements and connections to consider.

But Why Diagram?

Diagramming your IT infrastructure would allow you to take an inventory of the resources that you have, and the relationships among these network components. It should show the clients, the remote servers, including both on-premises and cloud-based.

Think of your network diagram as a condensed roadmap that gives you comprehensive information of your entire network. It should include downstream and upstream connectivity, components and dependencies. You can use your network diagram with deviations, alarms, and exceptions to further cut the time required in finding the problem, or at least which part of your network you should look into.

Visualizing your IT infrastructure will help you make better decision

It isn’t necessarily easy, particularly if you have a deployment that involves two or more types of infrastructure, and especially considering a geographically distributed setup managed with load balancing and failover mechanisms.

However, mapping out your infrastructure will come in handy should you have some problems and issues in your network. Because a good network diagram map would help you visualize your network topology, you can easily spot potential chokepoints or bottlenecks, enabling your IT team to resolve issues more easily.

Visual Troubleshooting

For instance, if you are grappling with availability issues, you can use your exceptions, baseline deviations, and other data to determine whether or not the problem stems in-house, or it is because of an outside service provider.

If you find out that it is in-house, then you can start looking at your own systems to find the root cause of the slowdown. If a third-party service provider is an issue, then this can be resolved through stronger service-level agreements or SLAs.

The easiest way for you to create a network diagram is by using a vector graphics tool that allows you to create icons and shapes in just one click, then allowing you to drag and drop these elements anywhere you want. And because you are working with different elements of a network, you need a tool that would allow you to easily add context to these icons.

Conclusion

Your network maps are only useful if they are accurate. You might need to collaborate with your end users, your system administrator, as well as IT personnel of outside providers in order to better map out your infrastructure.

For instance, if you are trying to map how load balancing works with your network, it might help to understand just how the traffic is distributed among your different storage, computers, clusters and other elements.

What if the person who knows how this works is half a world away? You will need to have remote collaboration capabilities in order to work on the network map.

In short, mapping your network resources will help you gain more visibility over your network infrastructure, its processes and the various assets you have. This, in turn, helps you gain more control, be more productive and allow you to proactively solve issues before they become major problems.