Thanks for visiting the AMK blog. This is where we like to talk about best practices in the I.T. industry. We are an I.T. Company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. AMK designs and builds next generation secure, scalable, survivable networks: providing our customers with the building blocks necessary to ensure secure access to their information.
The need for best practices in any group, department, or organization is mandatory to ensure consistent operation of the group, department, or organization. There are several lines of thought on the means to achieve the best practices; some common approaches are Six Sigma, International Organization for Standarization (ISO), Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), and Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). Each of these have common set of ideals and requires, in some cases, a significant financial and resource investment by an organization to achieve certification or accreditation. Unless mandated by a regulatory body it may not be necessary to achieve certification or accreditation; howbeit it is still very beneficial for an organization to develop a framework for best practices.
The key to best practices is two things: consistency and control. If tasks are executed in a consistent manner then the outcomes can be predicted and the numbers of unknowns are reduced; in other words – control. The results are a continuously operational organization; information down time or loss is reduced, risks are managed, and efficiencies are realized.
When we discuss this with clients we sometimes hear, “we don’t have time for Best Practices”, ” We cannot afford Best Practices”, or “Best Practices are too complicated for us”. Yes, we are all busy and if you review some of the practices from above it can be expensive and a level of complexity that does not match the outcome for a business. BUT, you know what? If your business is operating today, you do follow a practice of some sort. What may be missing is the documentation and training aspect; and of course the most important part is the commitment to the practice. The alternative to this is what we call Social Practice, or Practice by Hanging Around. So a new employee starts and learns from the person already doing the job. What are they really learning? All the bad habits of the person already doing the job. The veteran may know how to do their job, but they may not know how to teach someone how to do the job. Documentation, training, and dedication to the practice are the first steps to a well developed IT best practice. We have one client that when asked about the success rate of their IT projects the response was, “We are at about 25% successful”. Read that again and let that sink in! Why were they only 25% successful? They hired expensive Project Managers, and top rate consultants. They had not defined any processes nor could they measure success upon completion of an IT project. They did not want to invest in an expensive process model. So what did they do? We helped them document how they did things and trained people of the entire process. Projects are better run and they have a higher success rate. Now it is up to them to continue the commitment to ensure continued success.
So do you need to invest in an industry standard practice? Maybe if it is right for you. If not then develop your own that makes sense for your business. Then when the time is right, investing in one of those models will be easier and not as costly.
I hope you have enjoyed our first post. If you have suggestions, questions, comments, or challenges please send a note at blog AT amknetworking DOT com. If you think we can assist your company or organization, please Request A Consultation with us.
Next month we plan to discuss how to avoid VoIP disasters.
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Tags: Computer networks Ottawa, Ottawa I.T., Ottawa I.T. services, Ottawa I.T. Solutions, Ottawa Information Technology, Ottawa Network Technology
Love your new website! And this first post was a great way to introduce AMK to new clients. Personally, I have been a witness to AMK’s commitment to excellence for over ten years now, and I can atest without reservation that BEST PRACTICES is AMK’s defining quality. Even when clients have decided they need to cut corners at first, at least they will know the pros and cons and what their best options are for the present, as well as moving forward.