In today's business environment, employee productivity plays a central role in determining whether enterprises thrive or stagnate. Yet a deeper look into the area of workforce effectiveness quickly reveals that what is usually behind sagging efficiency has a lot more to do with how well critical computer applications are functioning than individual, or cumulative workforce competency.
Targeting application performance is rapidly becoming the central focus of many IT support efforts, and the overall capability to ensure consistent functionality of core processes is proving to be a key component in providing companies of every description with the competitive edge that separates top performers from the rest of the herd.
If apps don't work – neither does business
When most people think of issues requiring the help of IT services in the business world, they tend to picture some sort of sophisticated process involving unimaginably complex computer circuitry, or some type of similarly arcane technical endeavor understood by only a few highly trained specialists. But the fact is that the vast majority of computer problems that slow down employee productivity on a daily basis involve business critical applications – not the functionality of the machines and networks themselves.
Not only are poorly functioning applications a problem, though, but so is the impact of such issues on employee satisfaction in trying to perform their jobs. The fact is that most employees approach their work conscientiously, and become distracted and inefficient only when confronted with tools that don't operate as intended during the work day. It's frustrating for both them and management, as well as a barrier to achieving and maintaining optimal business operations.
The end result of chronic issues with application functionality leads to:
What research into such issues has begun to clearly demonstrate is that one of the core elements in resolving such issues, and restoring application consistency and dependability, rests with the ability of IT services to establish viability into network application processes. This capacity is critical to identifying problems before they impact users and affect productivity.
IT support means virtualization
What leading IT services providers have learned through years of experience and research is that the key to delivering consistency and integrity in business productivity rests on focusing specifically on end users so as to make sure that their experience with whatever application they are using is right. Doing this in a comprehensive manner that spans an enterprise's entire workforce ensures effective targeting of ROI, and a company's bottom line.
This, of course, makes complete sense from a business point of view since the end users – the employees that drive business operations – are the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of any IT support system. Their ability to perform their business critical tasks is the end goal of any company's entire technology infrastructure.
What this boils down to in concrete IT service operations is an ability to address issues critical to profitability, such as:
Seeing the big picture
Virtualization has emerged in recent years as the key to maximizing the value of the investment in IT infrastructure that is at the heart of nearly every businesses' ability to survive in the modern commercial environment. By having the ability to put a company's computer infrastructure into a virtual environment, advanced IT service providers are now able to optimize where they operate, when they operate, and how they operate.
This means that when an operation encounters a failure situation, the IT support personnel are quickly able to bring their operation back up and keep them running. In other words, by incorporating advanced virtualization capability into a business structure, modern IT services providers are able to use technology to remove obstacles from the path of reliable, predictable business operations.
By focusing on end user experience and working to maintain application integrity and functionality, IT support personnel ensure that the day-to-day operations of any business operates smoothly, and that those using these tools are able to sustain their engagement and efficiency. This means that an enterprise can deliver dependable, consistent operations – and provide customers with what they expect.
And that is the essence of doing business better.