Does your software scale?
Your company’s success depends on many things, not the least of which is keeping your software and services functioning 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are all types of problems that can shut you down, but one of the most seemingly unfair ones is having your software fail you when your business is peaking. Whether it’s an infrequent occurrence, like a Black Friday sale, or your business is growing steadily, you don’t want to be crippled by your own success.
That’s why you need to ask yourself this question: Does your software scale?
What Can Go Wrong?
Does your software scale at all? That is, what will give out first—your hardware or your software—when you’re hit with peak demand? We often hear of businesses trying to solve scalability issues with more hardware. While hardware can be a problem, software’s capabilities can be limited by capacity as well. If that’s the case, another server isn’t going to help much. (And it’ll definitely be costly!)
Can it scale up quickly?
Speed is of the essence when you’re caught by surprise. Sure, sometimes you’ll be able to predict a peak, but not always. For example, what if your company is unexpectedly featured in an article that goes viral? Even virtual resources take time to deploy.
Do you know when it needs to scale?
What are the limits on your software and various platforms? Should you switch to cloud-based applications and servers? You’ll be better able to predict the need to scale if you understand what limits you’re working with.
Do you have the processing power to scale up?
Even if your software isn’t at capacity, it can fail you if you don’t have enough processing power behind it. Do you have the financial resources to increase processing power quickly and effectively?
Are there any bugs that affect the performance of your software? Sometimes a bug isn’t noticeable until your software is under strain from an unplanned peak.
Managed IT: A Seamless Solution
The absolute easiest way to address software scalability is by partnering with Managed IT Services. Your managed IT service provider can handle all of the issues above for your business without a significant interruption in your service.
How?
Knowledge, resources, and dedication. First, your managed IT service provider will know your software and networks inside and out. Second, they’ll have resources available to scale (and scale quickly), no matter the circumstance. And finally: Software and services are their dedicated purpose.
You probably don’t have the time or desire to know everything about every software solution your company uses, because you have other responsibilities. A managed IT service, on the other hand, does have both the time and the desire (and the motivation!) to know every software solution you use in great detail.
Scalability is critical to success in a market that places a heavy emphasis on agility. If your company doesn’t have the ability to scale, you should seek solutions for that today—before you’re faced with a crisis.
