When you flip the electrical switch in your home, you take for granted that the lights will come on. You probably don’t think about how much power you have used in your house that day – nor about how much power you have left to use. You assume that power will always be there for you when you need it.
But with electricity being the utility that powers your house, it is prudent to plan ahead when you are considering remodeling your home or building an addition. You should be thinking about, and talking to your electrical contractor about, your current consumption, your capacity, and your future consumption by discussing these questions:
- How much electricity do I use? (Consumption)
- How much electricity can I bring into my house? (Capacity)
- How much more electricity will I use once construction is complete? (Future consumption)
Planning for future consumption is key to understanding what electrical upgrades need to be made to supply enough electricity to power your new, expanded home. Future consumption planning is also a good time to review your supplier options.
Other questions you should be asking include:
- Should you upgrade your electric panel?
- Should you add a second, distributed electric panel?
- Should you replace your wiring?
- Do you need battery backup?
- Should you add a generator?
Your Technology Infrastructure Works the Same Way
Why am I talking about electricity? Because as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the infrastructure of your home is not unlike your business’ technology infrastructure: Your plumbing is akin to your network, for example, regulating water flow just as your network regulates data flow. Likewise, just as electricity powers your home, technology powers your business.
In fact, technology is key to the growth of your business. I see too many businesses allowing technology limitations (either consumption or capacity) to hinder the progress of their businesses.
Finding the limits of your technology infrastructure after you implement a significant application upgrade – whether it be SaaS or a new enterprise application – is not uncommon, and will typically bring your new application to its knees. Planning ahead to understand what infrastructure capacity you can have in place, how much of your technology infrastructure your new application will consume, and how much future capacity you will have left after the implementation are critical questions you should discuss with your technology partner.
As the pace of technology innovation continues to accelerate, you should be conducting regular business reviews with an eye toward the consumption of technology in your business today, and what capacity your technology should be able to support as your business grows. The goal should be to ride the wave of technology innovation, and not allow that wave to wash over your business.
To manage the growth of your infrastructure – before your business outgrows it – you should have a technology partner that you trust to keep their eyes on the future consumption of your technology infrastructure. Your partner should not only review your network, servers, storage, and applications, it should also focus on helping you achieve your business goals, both today and in the future.
Carefully planning your technology infrastructure with an eye on today’s consumption, the required capacity, and your future consumption – with the right technology partner – should be the priority in your business planning. Having an IT infrastructure in place capable of handling your needs now and in the future should be the result.
We’d be happy to discuss an assessment of your existing technology infrastructure. Just reach out.