2012 IT Trends
As 2012 continues to push forward, I’ve started to notice a trend in the types of projects that our existing and new client base is looking at for this year. It doesn’t matter the industry type or the size of the company, all organizations seem to have the same basic IT needs this year. The 3 major types of projects organizations are looking at are Unified Communications, Network Refresh and Disaster Recovery. While all three of these areas are rather broad, I wanted to describe how PEI is helping our clients with the above needs.
Unified Communication – The big interest I’ve seen this year is with organizations looking to either expand or implement some sort of Unified Communications plan. Already in the first 6 weeks, I’ve done countless Microsoft Lync demos, showing how Lync can help reduce the cost of phone charges, reduce the amount of “Instant Messaging” currently taking place over email within organizations, and help make companies more efficient. What has been nice about Lync is that all different business units can benefit from it. The finance team likes Lync because it helps reduce phone costs. IT loves it because support for the solution is rather simple. Sales likes it because of the ease of use for their remote workers who are out in the street selling.
Network Refresh – We saw a large surge in back room network (routers, switches, etc…) projects about 5-6 years ago. Many companies held off on doing the necessary refreshes in the late 2000s due to the struggles within the economy. Now that it seems like the economy has stopped bleeding, many organizations are looking to refresh some of the older gear. PEI has done a few “Network Assessments” to help organizations identify where their networking may be lacking. We can help identify older equipment, end of life equipment, and make recommendations on how to bring your network up to the latest technology.
Disaster Recovery – Tying in with the Network Refresh, many organizations are finding out that they are not as prepared as they think they are when it comes to having a solid Disaster Recovery plan in place. From single points of failure to improper backups, PEI can come help identify where a DR plan is lacking and make the appropriate recommendations. Disaster Recovery is one of those areas within IT that a manager must ensure is set before a situation should arise, as it may be too late at that point to come up with a plan.
I hope that this helps describe some of the work that we are doing and can help companies, small and big, help put forth in 2012.
Arash M Zadeh, PEI
