As technology rapidly evolves, businesses must stay ahead of the curve to remain competitive. Investing in future-proof IT systems for business is scalable and efficient and can cope with new and emerging trends. Gartner predicts that 70% of organisations in 2024 or 2025 will prioritise upgrading IT infrastructure for scalability. This shows the level of urgency of highly proactive IT investments.
Below, we explore the top seven IT infrastructure upgrades to help your business meet future demands.
1. Network Modernisation
The first step in future-proofing your IT systems is updating your network infrastructure. Solid and scalable networks are necessary for businesses to manage expanding data volumes due to their increasing reliance on cloud services, IoT devices, and remote work.
Key Benefits:
- More bandwidth: Make sure everything runs smoothly even when consumption is at its highest.
- Enhanced security: Protect against cyber threats with advanced firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
- Increased efficiency: Boost data transfer rates and lower latency.
2. Cloud Integration and Optimisation
To create future-ready IT systems, cloud services must be adopted and optimised. Scalability, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to allocate resources as needed are all provided by cloud infrastructure.
Key trends in cloud systems include hybrid setups combining public cloud and on-premises resources, along with growing AI adoption to boost performance and reduce costs. Moving critical applications to the cloud can provide organisations with higher availability while giving real-time performance metrics through cloud monitoring tools.
Notably, Gartner predicts that 85% of businesses will use a “cloud-first” strategy by 2025, highlighting how urgent it is to embrace these changes.
3. Cybersecurity Enhancements
Increasing the security of your IT infrastructure is essential as cyber threats become more complex. Putting money into cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions guarantees that your systems are reliable and comply with legal security requirements.
Upgrades to Consider:
- Zero Trust Architecture: Users or devices must verify their identity before accessing resources in an architecture of zero trust. There is no inherent trust at any point. This minimises the chances of unauthenticated access by continuously validating those who use the network, even those within it.
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Enable endpoint monitoring to recognise potentially suspicious behaviours and facilitate speedy and effective responses to perceived threats. These measures proactively avert security breaches that would otherwise lead to severe damage.
- Encryption Standards: These are the latest ways to protect sensitive information, ensuring it stays secure and unreadable by anyone without proper authorization, whether it’s being shared or stored. As a result, malicious agents cannot read or access private information, even when intercepted or procured.
4. AI-Driven IT Operations (AIOps)
AI-driven solutions are revolutionising IT operations by automating repetitive processes and offering valuable insights. IT infrastructure trends for 2024 and 2025 show that AIOps is emerging as a critical component of contemporary IT management.
Modern IT solutions have also enabled an automated incident detection and resolution process, which hurries the response to potential problems, minimising downtime compared to traditional methods. Businesses implement machine learning models to anticipate and prevent outages before they happen. Apart from that, these solutions also dynamically optimise the allocation of resources such that computing power and storage are distributed efficiently in terms of demand.
5. Edge Computing Implementation
Edge computing involves processing data closer to where it is generated—such as on local devices or nearby servers—rather than relying solely on distant centralized data centers. This approach reduces latency, enabling faster response times and improving the performance of real-time applications like IoT devices, autonomous vehicles, and smart systems. For real-time applications and IoT-heavy contexts, this technology is essential.
By improving latency, edge computing enhances performance for time-sensitive tasks, reduces bandwidth usage by lowering data transfer costs to central servers, and boosts reliability by enabling operations to continue efficiently even during connectivity disruptions.
6. Upgraded Data Storage Solutions
Because data volumes are increasing exponentially, storage infrastructure must be upgraded for performance and scalability. Businesses require the speed and capacity that modern storage solutions like solid-state drives (SSDs), non-volatile memory express (NVMe), and hyper-converged systems offer.
Adopting software-defined storage (SDS) for flexibility has become one of the key trends. Another trend is using multilevel storage systems for cost optimisation. Companies should do a storage audit to identify neglected resources, which can then be moved to scalable and high-performing storage systems. Some projections from IDC indicate that there may be an increase in the digital amount generated from 33 ZB in 2018 to 175 ZB by 2025, signalling the urgency of the upgrade process.
7. Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)
Collaboration requires effective communication technologies, particularly in hybrid work settings. Voice, video, messaging, and additional communication channels are all combined into one system by UCaaS platforms.
Key Features:
- Scalability: As your company expands, adding users or features is simple.
- Cost-effectiveness: Eliminate the requirement to maintain communication systems on-site.
- Enhanced collaboration: Encourage cooperation with integrated resources.
Why Future-Proof IT Systems Are Essential
Upgrading your IT systems is not just about staying current; it’s a strategic move that offers significant advantages:
- Scalability: Modern IT infrastructures, such as cloud computing, provide scalable solutions that can adapt to changing business requirements, enabling organizations to scale resources up or down based on demand.
- Cost Efficiency: Investing in future-proofed software can lead to long-term cost savings by reducing the need for frequent updates, modifications, and redevelopments.
- Adoption of Emerging Technologies: Modernizing IT environments enables the adoption of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT), which can improve business processes and provide a competitive edge.
A Deloitte survey revealed that 57% of all CEOs say that they want to make new technologies part of their organisation’s business model, demonstrating the importance of IT upgrades in future growth.
The IT landscape is developing more quickly than before. Companies that adjust now will be at the forefront tomorrow. By giving these IT upgrades for 2024/5, you can promote resilience, growth, and long-term success.
Take Action with Synapse IT Consultants
Don’t take any chances with your IT future. Evaluate your current infrastructure today. Contact Synapse IT Consultants now! Let’s help your business thrive in an increasingly digitised and competitive marketplace.
