Common Obstacles
We tackle these common IT obstacles:
Knowledge Gaps
Problem:
Gaps in knowledge come about when your existing IT staff or partner doesn’t have the necessary skill sets to properly implement elements of your technology infrastructure. For example, your company implemented Microsoft 365, but end users are using only a small fraction of its capabilities, resulting in lost opportunities to greatly increase productivity and improve your customers’ experience.
Solution:
LightChange Quick Response Teams have a diverse set of skill sets and experience across a wide spectrum of technology solutions. Our lifestyle is work, train, work, train; and our goal is to stay ahead of the curve, so you don’t have to.
Evolving Technology
Problem:
The only thing that remains constant in IT is change, and nothing could be further from the truth. With so many choices and new players in the field, it’s hard to keep up with vendors and their unique offerings. For example, are you familiar with the new Microsoft 365 features and apps? Did you know that Dell offers a hybrid cloud solution that removes complexity from your existing cloud environments? Did you know there are easy-to-deploy and cost-effective solutions for protecting your data no matter where it resides?
Solution:
LightChange Quick Response Teams maintain tight relationships with our long list of trusted vendors to include Dell, Microsoft, Cisco, Meraki, Juniper, Sophos, Amazon Web Services, Adtran, Calix, HAProxy, Nagios, RedHat, 3CX, Snom, Synology, Veeam, VWware, Zix, and many others. Not only do we learn and understand underlying technologies, we also learn how key vendors provide solutions that best implement these technologies.
Complexity
Problem:
IT systems are inherently complex. Advanced hardware and chipsets coupled with programming languages and programming code all working together over elaborate networks produce one of two outcomes: improvements or disasters. Sometimes you may even find yourself in between. How you fare the storms of IT complexity may determine the success or failure of your objective.
Solution:
You need to decomplex. If you said to yourself, “That’s not a word,” you’d be right. It’s not. But to the founder of LightChange, Michael O’Coners, it should be. Decomplex is the process of taking complexity out of IT whenever and wherever possible. The fewer moving parts the better, and LightChange always strives to keep things simple. But it doesn’t stop there. Our customers love being able to bounce ideas about complex problems off their LightChange team.
Limited Time
Problem:
There’s not a lot of time in life to do a lot of things we’d like to do. It’s such a huge problem that there are entire professions based on time management and balance. Aside from budget constraints, most people managing IT suffer from either limited staff or limited time. Either one of these feeds off the other to create a perpetual time management problem that can erode productivity and your quality of life.
Solution:
When you don’t have the time: delegate to LightChange. LightChange operates in numerous capacities to help you conquer the elusive concept of time. Single, small project? No problem. Large, complex project? Let’s get it done. Please manage this entire system before I throw it out the window? Help is on the way. No matter the task, we do the work, the documentation, and the knowledge transfer, so you can put more time on your plate.
Limited Staff
Problem:
Finding the right IT talent is hard, but sometimes getting the budget to hire one is even harder. Many businesses simply can’t justify the overhead of more staff. In some cases, they may even have the staff, but they don’t have the skill sets to rapidly achieve IT objectives. Aside from budget constraints, most people managing IT suffer from either limited staff or limited time. Either one of these feeds off the other to create a perpetual time management problem that can erode productivity and your quality of life.
Solution:
When you don’t have the staff: delegate to LightChange. LightChange operates in numerous capacities to help you conquer the elusive concept of time. Single, small project? No problem. Large, complex project? Let’s get it done. Please manage this entire system before I throw it out the window? Help is on the way. No matter the task, we do the work, the documentation, and the knowledge transfer, so you can get the job done.
Tight Budgets
Problem:
Tight waistlines, tight schedules, and tight budgets are three obstacles all of us will face at some point, but let’s focus on budgets for a moment. A common trend in the IT industry is having to do more with less and to compare capital expenditures versus operational expenditures. How can your company accommodate seasonal surges in computing needs without building an infrastructure that goes unused ten months out of the year? This is just one example of many that require considerable expertise and experience to analyze.
Solution:
Through twenty years of helping customers build budgets, LightChange understands the importance of building realistic budgets, and then staying on budget. With the birth of cloud computing, businesses now have far more options when it comes to budgetary spending. Capital expenditures can, at times, be eliminated entirely in favor of the operational expenses of a cloud solution. Computing power can be dynamically scaled out, in, up, or down with mouse clicks. Our key vendor relationships also allow us to go to bat for our customers and always get them the best pricing.
Staying Ahead of Security & Regulations
Problem:
Security and regulations constantly change. One day you might be reasonably secure, the next day you might find a major system or process vulnerable. Auditors might define a new regulatory requirement you need resolved in a short period of time. Whatever industry you’re in, you have a responsibility to protect your intellectual property, customer data, personally identifiable information, health information, etc. Not only do you need to protect data, you also need to protect the services that keep employees productive and a business running. On top of everything else on your plate, maintaining a reasonable level of security can be daunting.
Solution:
LightChange offers a full suite of security services to include vulnerability assessments, security posture assessments, endpoint security, and managed security services, just to name a few. What makes us different than most other IT strategic partners is that our roots are in security. Our founder, a former Red Team Leader for nearly three years after 9/11, understands security beyond single software or hardware solutions. From understanding core information assets to known technology assets, LightChange can design security solutions that protect your most critical assets in the most efficient way possible.
Keeping Up with Outdated Hardware & Software
Problem:
If only we could replace aching joints as easily as computer hardware. Of all the common IT obstacles this is easily one of the most mundane. It’s also higher on the budget scale and higher on the administrative overhead to deploy and manage. But don’t let that deter you from seeing the beauty in a well-organized hardware and/or software refresh. How often should you replace workstations and laptops? How can you lock in workstation pricing over time while keeping a consistent build? Are there easier ways to manage Windows 10 deployments? How about getting the latest Microsoft Office applications? These are all very common questions that also apply to servers and other infrastructure components.
Solution:
LightChange offers many solutions to keep your systems updated and running at peak performance. To start, we offer a procurement plan in which we do the initial setup of all workstations and servers at no charge when you buy through us. We work with hardware vendors to lock in pricing, if, for example, you want to refresh desktops over a one-year period. In addition, we also offer free warranty monitoring along with hardware and software lifecycle management for workstations, servers, routers, firewalls, switches, access points and more.