Cars are something most Americans currently own or will own during their life at some point. Most of you used your car to get to work this morning, or to go on that last big family getaway. We drive our cars so much that in 2016 we put 3.22 trillion (yes, trillion with a T) miles on them!
The other day as I was driving home from the office, my car’s oil change indicator light came on. I hate it when that light comes on! It’s never a convenient time for me to take the car into the shop. Nonetheless I got home, called the dealership, made an appointment, and a few days later took it in for the oil change and normal maintenance.
I want to be clear: I am by no means a mechanic, but I still understand the value of taking my car in for regular service. I know that for my car to run properly, there needs to be gas in the tank, air in the tires, the oil needs to be changed, etc. We all know and understand that, and we all regularly take the time to properly care for or vehicles.
Your network is just like your car. You use it almost every day, it takes care of critical areas of your business, and like your car, it needs regular maintenance.
One of the reasons you take your car into the shop is because despite it being inconvenient, it is cheaper, faster, and doesn’t leave you unexpectedly stranded if you schedule and plan when you work on it. If you did not take the time to care for your car, there is a good chance you would break down on the side of the road. Your network is the same; it’s easier, faster, and way cheaper to schedule and plan to take things offline for patches and fixes rather than waiting for a problem to take everyone down unexpectedly in the middle of the day.
When we think of network maintenance, oftentimes we think of taking the servers down for patches. There is more to your network than just the servers! Your firewall needs regular updates, the wireless system needs patching, the switches in the closet and your IoT devices have firmware upgrades that need handled. Your corporate network is a “parking lot” full of systems and devices that need their turn in the shop every now and again.
So next time your IT guy mentions scheduling downtime, remember he is looking out for your business’s bottom line. He doesn’t want you stranded in the middle of the business day with unexpected downtime!
Need help with some IT maintenance? Contact the IT experts at Sikich. We’ve journeyed millions of miles with other organizations just like you!
