IT Organizational planning isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a continual process that should be constantly updated.
Here a checklist of items to review on a yearly basis for your 2019 and 2020 IT Organizational planning.
- Meet with relevant stakeholders to identify critical IT projects for next year. Most of the other items will flow from those organizational goals.
- Planning for personnel needs: Understand your headcount needs, training needs, and certification needs:
- What head count will you need for legacy, Web, and mobile programming; IT Operations (IT Ops); and user department resources
- Budget for promotions, raises, and new hires
- Review and renewing IT certifications
- Update and renew contracts for outside resources
- Planning for server hardware upgrades and maintenance: Improve the physical hardware that your servers run on:
- Determining whether any of your Intel or IBM POWER servers need to be replaced or updated. Reasons for updates may include no-longer supported models or age of servers, cost and availability of hardware maintenance, or leases that are expiring.
- Increasing server capacity by adding more memory, disk, or processors
- Budgeting for current hardware maintenance or purchasing new maintenance for machines whose maintenance contracts are expiring
- New IBM partitions or Intel-based Virtual Machines (VMs)
- New project hardware for special projects approved for next year (ex., security equipment, camera system, video conferencing, other equipment)
- Software acquisition, upgrade, and licensing activities: Support and upgrade activities for software acquisition, development, and maintenance:
- Windows, IBM i, Linux, and AIX version operating system upgrades
- IBM i Operating system updates including applying fixes, PTFs, Technology refreshes
- Monthly Windows operating system updates (patches)
- Additional IBM, Microsoft, and Linux licenses for growth
- Programming estimates and sign-offs for new software capabilities
- Software acquisition and upgrades, including:
- ERP or order processing system
- Mobile/Web applications
- In-house email or moving your email system to the cloud
- Job scheduling software
- Anti-virus/anti-malware/ransomware
- Time keeping software
- Payroll
- System monitoring software
- Other third-party applications
- Programming, administration, and IT Ops tools acquisitions and upgrades
- Additional user licensing or Windows Client Access Licensing (CALs)
- Software licensing renewals
- Yearly software maintenance charges
- True up with software licensing
- Data Center items: Planning for changes and expansion to your Data Center
- Prepare for any possible Data Center downsizing or expansion due to business infrastructure changes or change in business (merger, company sold, etc.)
- Data Center cleaning contracts and scheduling
- Planning for moving your Data Center to the cloud or a managed service provider, if necessary
- Plant upgrades for in-house Data Centers, including:
- Electrical capacity updates: redundant power, Power Distribution Units (PDUs), additional capacity
- Buying a generator for Computer Room or adding extra generator capability
- Generator maintenance
- UPS system expansion or replacement
- Replacement for older UPS systems
- Converting old line interactive UPS systems to double conversion units
- Battery replacement, if batteries are 3-4 years old
- Replace other UPS items that wear out, such as capacitors
- Air conditioning upgrades
- Condition of AC systems? Do any systems need to be replaced?
- Maintenance, freon checks/replacement, and cleaning
- Data Center room upgrades
- Are you still using sprinklers that need to be replaced with a gas-based system?
- Remodeling/updating Data Center
- Infrastructure upgrades for in-house Data Center or Remote Locations
- Telecommunications line upgrades
- Any multi-year contracts that expire soon?
- Any new services coming on line that need increased Telcom speed?
- Firewall or Router upgrades
- Cisco firewall recalls (Cisco has recalled many firewalls this year that need to be replaced)
- Upgrading firewall and router firmware
- Age of firewalls and routers– Due for replacement?
- Switch upgrades
- New switches need to match network speed or capacity expansion
- How old are your switches? Due to be replaced?
- Wireless access point upgrades
- Age of units? Due for replacement?
- Firmware upgrades
- Dead spots in your warehouses/distribution centers that need additional wireless capacity?
- Telephone system upgrades
- Migrate from traditional phone system to VOIP?
- Do you need to start using SIPP lines for voice and fax instead of dedicated lines?
- Phone system maintenance
- Web filtering upgrades
- Web filtering solution updated with the latest firmware?
- Age of Web filtering software or hardware. Need to be updated or replaced?
- Telecommunications line upgrades
- Backup, disaster recovery, and high availability upgrades
- Recall magnetic tape that’s outside of the retention cycle and destroy
- Moving from tape backup to disk backup
- Moving from internal disk backup to off-site backup
- Adding or improving DR capabilities
- Initiating or renewing contract with DR providers?
- Remote site where DR can be performed
- Adding or improving HA capabilities
- Purchasing additional machinery for IBM i HA implementation
- Purchasing HA software
- Contracting for installing Telcom lines to connect your production site and your hot site
- Testing backup, DR, and HA
- Setting up testing on a regular schedule
- User equipment upgrades
- List of PCs/laptops that are ready to be replaced
- Leases running out?
- Order or lease replacement PCs and deployment configuration and scheduling
- List of tablets/cell phones that are eligible to be upgraded
- Contracts running out?
- Order or lease replacement tablets cell phones and deploy
- Printers, copiers, fax machines, and IBM line printers: need to replace due to age, condition, or leases running out
- Scanners: need to replace stationary, forklift, or handheld scanners due to age or condition?
- Regular maintenance for user equipment (printers, copiers, faxes, line printers, scanners, etc.)
- List of PCs/laptops that are ready to be replaced
- Communication & documentation
- Updating telephone, corporate contacts, and other published communications
- Business shredding and document destruction plans for year
