Reliable IT infrastructure is an indispensable part of a modern business. However, what’s sufficient today may not be tomorrow, and far too many startups fail to plan appropriately for that scenario. As you start to piece together your company, you must ensure your IT infrastructure is scalable.
Why your startup needs scalable IT
It’s important to foster scalability from the beginning because scaling up without prior planning is often harder than leaders expect. Tech quickly becomes outdated in today’s environment, but IT hardware and software licenses are expensive. As a result, 50 per cent of thought leaders in Southeast Asia say high infrastructure costs and legacy technology are a digital future’s most significant obstacles.
Your business must be able to capitalise on the latest technological solutions. Failing to keep up with fast-moving developments like artificial intelligence (AI) will limit your ability to remain competitive. Competition aside, you’ll need higher capacity as your company and its customer base grow.
Modernisation is essential, but replacing legacy systems every few years without extensive planning isn’t financially or operationally viable. The only way to manage these seemingly competing interests is to build a scalable solution from the start.
How to build a scalable IT infrastructure
Scalable IT can be challenging, but it’s easier when you implement some best practices while your business is still young. Here are five steps to follow to ensure long-term scalability.
- Embrace the cloud
The most crucial aspect of scalable IT infrastructure is moving to the cloud. On-premise hardware — especially servers and storage — is too expensive and time-consuming to install and maintain to be scalable. Cloud-native services, by contrast, naturally grow with you, and their costs typically reflect what you actually use.
Bear in mind that not all clouds are created equal. All vendors must have a strong record of upkeep and robust security. Look for the option to choose where your data centres are located, too, for regulatory purposes. Remember to use cloud-native software solutions once you switch to such environments.
Also Read: The future of education is AI: Here’s how it will look
Organisations with data of varying sensitivity or disparate use cases may consider a hybrid cloud. These setups offer a balance between on-premise privacy and cloud scalability, and data breach costs are significantly lower in hybrid clouds.
- Capitalise on modularity
The cloud provides the baseline for scalable IT, but your business must be able to take advantage of its flexible nature. Modularity is the key here. Breaking things down into smaller pieces you can work on independently without disrupting the whole will make it easier to expand as necessary in the future.
Containerisation and micro-services architecture are helpful ways to make any in-house software modular. Splitting departments into smaller, focused groups — while maintaining communication between separate teams — will bring similar characteristics to your workflow itself. Across all IT considerations, look to remove dependencies so you can expand in one area without needing changes in another.
- Automate routine tasks
Scalable IT infrastructure requires quick reactions to necessary changes. While modular technology is part of this, your workforce must also be able to adapt. IT professionals will also need to take on additional work as your company grows, and new hires aren’t always an option. Automation is the solution.
Automating routine tasks increases uptime and reliability by minimising human error while freeing workers to focus on other work. Anything particularly monotonous or data-heavy is a good candidate for automation. Common use cases include data entry, reporting, backup management and network monitoring.
Modern AI can even streamline basic coding and manage load balancing to prevent service interruptions as you grow. You must keep an eye on such technologies to ensure they work properly and you can fix any errors, but ignoring them entirely will limit your scalability.
- Maximise visibility
As you adjust and expand your IT infrastructure, keep thorough records of everything. Future growth will be difficult if you don’t have the whole picture of your current IT environment. By contrast, vendor lock-in, incompatibility and similar challenges are less likely with full visibility.
Far too many IT setups lack transparency. A worrying 47 per cent of cloud adopters say poor visibility over where their data is presents a key management challenge. You can avoid similar situations by keeping a running inventory of all data locations, assets and devices. Use automated discovery and network mapping tools to maintain real-time transparency in your environment.
Also Read: 5 essential organisational steps for your startup’s tech infrastructure
- Ensure scalable security
Scalability must not come at the expense of cybersecurity, either. Cybercrime is rising, and fast-growing systems are prime targets. Consequently, 47 per cent of tech executives expect cloud-based pathways to pose their biggest risks, and 46 per cent say the same about web-based applications.
The key to a secure cloud is cloud-native security. When your cybersecurity solution is designed specifically for cloud environments, it will do a better job of scaling up as your IT infrastructure does.
Access restrictions and workflow considerations also demand attention. Implement the principle of least privilege and regularly re-train employees in best security practices as new threats emerge to keep your systems hardened against cybercrime.
Scalable IT enables better long-term growth
A scalable IT setup is indispensable in today’s business environment. You cannot grow and compete alongside the rest of the industry without rapid, safe and cost-effective expansion of your technology infrastructure.
While this need may seem challenging, it’s more than achievable if you begin now. Follow these steps today to ensure scalability and success tomorrow.
—
Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.
Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.
Image credit: Canva Pro
The post How to build a scalable IT infrastructure for your startup appeared first on e27.