What does IT have in common with urban design?

Australia has some of the most beautiful, liveable cities in the world, but it wasn't by chance that they ended up like this.

Why? Because we're a relatively modern civilisation where urban planning is a prerequisite.

We utilised the knowledge from the creation of other cities and as a result our cities flow well and are visually attractive.

They're not without problems of course but Australian cities compared to the sprawling shanty towns of South America or India provide comfortable living with good sanitation and transport options.

It's because we have good policies and strict guidelines (I can hear developers crying) on future development that Australia continues to build structured urban environments.

We have review boards that apply those principles to proposed developments and hold the construction industry accountable to the standards in place.

So how does that relate to IT systems?

Too often we see small businesses letting their IT systems grow without forethought or design and they expect them to compete with systems designed by experts in large organisations.

Today there are technologies that scale to suit SME environments where good design of the IT landscape can make a huge difference as the business grows.

It is best to unwind shoddily-built IT systems early in the business's growth cycle in order to reduce the impediments that bad design will create.

Ultimately the benefits of well designed IT systems are reduced total cost of ownership and better productivity of your computer-using staff.

So what are the elements of design that should go into this work?

1. Understand which systems will be required to be in place for all elements of your business – from finance to marketing.
2. Once you know which systems will be required match your IT to them, allowing for planned direction and growth.
3. Identify risks to your data, such as security breaches causing exposure or loss.
4. Design the protection, redundancy and recovery systems your business needs.
5. Design the networks to be robust.
6. Design the end points of PCs and mobile devices.
7. Design the maintenance plan to ensure the environment is monitored and managed proactively to avoid down time.

Do you want to run the risk of letting your IT systems grow into a shambles? Make no mistake, companies that invest at the beginning of growth and get their systems right are competitively placed to communicate, share information, start new ventures and expand without restrictions.

It's the small decisions we make along the way that determine the outcome.

You can decide to cost cut or invest in a planned strategic approach to build a better future. So are your IT decisions aligned to your business vision?

David Markus is the founder of Combo – the IT service company that ensures IT is never an impediment to growth. We win awards for the service we offer, so If your IT environment is slowing you down, contact Combo on 1300 726 626 to organise a complimentary consultation with David.