We cannot emphasise the importance of IT documentation. It’s more than just counting the number of workstations and printers etc.; a proper and thorough IT documentation records information on the various software and applications in each identified workstation (we give workstations weird names like MOMO or TOTO because we have a sense of humour).
And it goes much deeper than that – we document the versions of each software and applications, and record the lifespan of all the hardware from your printers to your monitors and CPUs.
It’s like a health booklet
Think of documentation as a health booklet. An IT infrastructure is similar to an organic structure with various parts and organs performing specific functions but ultimately, they work together towards the same goal – to support you so that you can work effectively.
It’s a lot of data but it beats working in the dark. We’re pretty sure you wouldn’t want a medical doctor to make a diagnosis without referring to your medical profile.
What’s working and what’s not?
With our handy health booklet, we will have a better understanding on the status of the various parts within the IT infrastructure. Is the network performing effectively? Why is Workstation MOMO lagging? Are all of the Workstations equipped with antivirus software? Why does the server keep crashing?
When we have all of those data, it helps us to identify high-risk and underperforming areas. Subsequently, we are able to act accordingly – and track the results for evaluation.
Monitor, monitor…& monitor
Most of the prospective clients we meet emphasised the need for proactive maintenance. Proactive maintenance is like arranging for regular health checks. We take a look at your current status and based on that, we provide a timeline for upgrades and updates.
E.g. Workstation A will be due for an upgrade in 2 weeks; We would need a new server A in a year; TOTO-The-Workstation has to be replaced in a month.
At the same time, other than making scheduled upgrades and updates, we’ll make sure everything is working, as it should be.
All of that gets documented. We can’t make informed decisions based on an outdated health booklet.
The bosses love it
The suits love it. Documentation provides accountability and makes it easier to carry out auditing and budgeting.
Unfortunately, documentation is a tedious task that gets overlooked as most SAs are still manually recording data. It’s very time-consuming to record and track the data to ensure it’s updated. Manpower becomes an issue.
That’s where we come in. We can take this task off your list.
