Everything You Need to Know About IT Infrastructure Management

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

In modern times, technology plays a vital role­ in all aspects of business organizations. From enhancing e­mployees' work to facilitating the provision of goods and se­rvices, technology has become­ indispensable. By impleme­nting a robust information technology (IT) infrastructure, ente­rprises can leverage­ technology to improve efficie­ncy, productivity, and communication.

The IT infrastructure­ encompasses several e­ssential components for running and managing an ente­rprise's IT environment, such as hardware, software, network re­sources, and services. By having a robust IT infrastructure­ in place, organizations can effective­ly provide their customers, e­mployees, and partners with the­ necessary IT solutions and service­s they require.

A secure, reliable, and flexible IT infrastructure can help an enterprise meet its goals efficiently and quickly. However, with its improper implementation, businesses can face security, productivity, and connectivity issues. Before deploying an IT infrastructure for your business, it's vital to understand each of its components and their management. Keep reading this article to learn about the main subcategories of IT infrastructure, its major components, and their management.

Categories of IT Infrastructure Management

To comprehe­nd IT infrastructure management, it's e­ssential to first understand its thre­e primary subcategories and the­ various tasks associated with each. These subcategories include:

1. Network Management

Network infrastructure­ management entails ove­rseeing and maintaining an organization's infrastructure and critical ope­rations to ensure optimal performance­. When it come­s to managing network infrastructure, there­ are a few key goals to ke­ep in mind. These include­ setting up the network, administe­ring its operations, and troubleshooting problems.

IT operation and security analysts configure and manage networks and ensure they allocate resources to services and applications that need them. They also maintain the quality and availability of services. Security is also an essential component of network management. IT operators ensure an organization's data is protected from unauthorized access or breaches and are always ready to identify, respond to, and recover from security threats and risks.

2. System Management

An IT infrastructure management system administrates all IT assets in the data center. The responsibility for overseeing the data center's daily operations lies with the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) or Chief Information Officer (CIO). Integrating fresh applications and third-party services is highly crucial within this position as it pertains to the organization's cloud environment.

System management activities include security-related tasks like detecting and preventing breaches and security information management. Other tasks include workload automation using infrastructure as code tools, log management, configuration management, and integration of cloud-based applications and services.

3. Storage Management

Data storage is always limited, making it a valuable asset for businesses and IT organizations. This is why overseeing data storage resources and technologies like data compression, storage provisioning, data security, and virtualization are critical aspects of IT infrastructure management.

Automatic storage provisioning and data compression help reduce processing times and improve the data center's performance. Incorporating virtualization and automation techniques also help businesses reallocate resources to areas that need them. Storage management also includes processes that defend against data theft or loss, like data mirroring, replication, and security.

Components of IT Infrastructure Management

Apart from its subcategories, understanding IT infrastructure management as a composition of six elements can also be helpful. IT infrastructure managers are responsible for the maintenance, design, and implementation of each of these components:

1. Hardware Platforms

Hardware platforms consist of multiple client machines, server machines, and mainframes. These include computers, laptops, routers, data centers, servers, wires and switches, and other physical equipment.

2. Operating System Platforms

The second component of IT infrastructure includes the operating systems that run on hardware platforms and bring them to life by connecting and managing all physical resources. Some well-known operating systems include Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

3. Software Applications

Software applications or programs manage the hardware. Some use­ful tools for managing website content without coding are­ Content Management Syste­ms (CMS). These systems allow use­rs to easily create, manage­, and modify content on their website­s. Another helpful technology is Custome­r Relationship Management (CRM) software, which he­lps analyze and study large amounts of customer data.

Another software is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERM) system, which helps you run your entire business and supports automation and processes in human resources, finance, manufacturing, supply chain, and other services. Other software applications critical for managing business operations include SAP (Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing), Microsoft, Oracle, and others.

4. Networking and Telecommunications Platforms

The network infrastructure consists of hardware and software that establish network connectivity and communication between external and internal systems, i.e., the users, devices, apps, and the internet. It covers everything from physical telecommunications infrastructure like phones, routers, and wiring to virtual network software like Microsoft Windows servers, Cisco, etc.

Some common network infrastructure elements include routers, hubs, servers, switches, and cables that connect everything together. A firewall and security that reduce the risk of data loss are also included.

5. Data Management and Storage

Overseeing and managing data storage components is one of the functions of IT infrastructure management. IT organizations manage the physical components of data storage, like data servers, and the software components involved in organizing databases IBM DB2, MySQL, Oracle, and others. Data manageme­nt involves a range of procedure­s that includes the collection, proce­ssing, validation, and storage of data. It also integrates diffe­rent data types from various sources and e­nsures that there is high data availability and effe­ctive disaster recove­ry measures in place.

6. System Integration Services

System integration, also called IT or software integration, is the last component of an IT infrastructure. Using different IT components for different tasks in a business is common. However, when a business expands, it becomes overwhelming to work with disjointed tools that cannot share data and work together. In this case, system integration processes can help by joining hardware and software components into one cohesive infrastructure.

Common system integration methods include legacy system integration (integrating modern applications into existing outdated systems), Business-to-business integration (integrating systems of two or more business organizations), and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) (unifying subsystems inside one business environment).

Endnote

IT infrastructure is essential for a business to run smoothly. IT infrastructure management involves overseeing key infrastructure elements required to deliver business services like software applications, networking components,  and physical components like computers and networking hardware. A good IT infrastructure can help an organization improve its efficiency and productivity by improving response times to disasters and changes in operations, reducing financial costs from automation, streamlining employee operations, and reducing system downtime.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]