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Our Methodology
One of the cornerstones of our methodology is forming long term relationships with our clients. We generally do not perform one-off projects nor do we engage in break-fix type support. Rather, we have found that proactive support and maintenance is the only course for success, regardless of the size of business.
Equally important to server and services uptime is end-user satisfaction. Our solution focuses on providing qualified and friendly engineers in providing the day-to-day support. This allows us to form a professional working relationship with the end-users as well as learning the subtle nuances of how your company leverages IT. With this approach, we can provide consistency, ownership and peace of mind.
Our internal processes are setup to keep projects on track and to resolve end-user requests in a timely manner. Our call tree provides direct access to a team of qualified engineers who know your environment and can provide the support you need at any time. Our sophisticated monitoring systems alert us of IT related issues 24/7 and in most cases problems are resolved with minimal amount of downtime.
We start all new engagements with a deep look into the existing technology infrastructure and core services. With this analysis, we identify current processes or services which work well and areas that require attention. For areas that are already well established, we focus on having proper redundancy for maximum uptime as well as developing contingency plans in case of a disaster. For areas where the risk of disruption to the core business is evident, we work with you to develop a remediation plan. Our philosophy is to leverage existing equipment and software whenever possible, while providing expert, unbiased advice that's within budget and in line with business objectives.
Over time, as we establish a close relationship with our clients and understand how they operate, we look for ways to further improve both their business processes and the security and performance of their IT infrastructure. Our experience in managing clients across many verticals provides us with a unique opportunity to see industry trends and how they can benefit our network of clients.
Infracore Technology Council
Prior to adopting a new technology standard, it is mandatory for our team to present and get feedback from the Infracore Technology Council (ITC). The ITC is responsible for making sure all implementations are reviewed by a team of seasoned IT professionals and all changes meet or exceed current standards and best practices. This maintains our high-standards and provides the checks-and-balances needed to provide maximum uptime.
Specifically, Infracore's methodology is broken into five functional phases:
- Phase I: Detailed Analysis
- Phase II: Implementation
- Phase III: Documentation
- Phase IV: Maintenance
- Phase V: Review and Improvement
Phase I: Detailed Analysis
Understanding your IT needs and challenges
In Phase I, we work with our clients to understand their IT needs and existing challenges. In most environments, we put together a State of the Network report. This report quickly identifies the areas that are in good shape (green status), areas that require attention but are not time sensitive or business critical (yellow status) and areas that require immediate attention (red status).
For areas with a yellow or red status, we provide good, better, best recommendations. This is an important process, as we work with our clients to provide the appropriate solution for their timeline and budget. The most important requirements are prioritized in the project plan so the solution can be delivered on time and within budget.
Phase II: Implementation
Making the Necessary Changes
In Phase II, we implement the solution while minimizing end-user disruption. We mitigate end-user impact by performing IT deployments or changes during non-working hours. Successful IT deployments always require plenty of open communication with the end-user followed by direct training where appropriate.
Key goals of the Implementation Phase include:
- Minimize disruption to end-users.
- Deliver a complete solution that has been approved by the client and meets all the requirements.
- Where possible, test changes in our fully equipped lab environment to avoid surprises.
- Plan and implement backup or secondary systems to mitigate downtime.
- Provide status updates and user training when appropriate.
Phase III: Documentation
Retain and Share Know-How
IT departments are only as good as their documentation. During Phase III, we take the notes developed during the Implementation Phase and convert them into a comprehensive documentation repository. This process helps prevent any individual from being the only source of knowledge for any specific system.
The complete set of documentation for each environment is always shared with our clients as part of our commitment to practice what we preach. We also provide how-to documents geared for end-users in an effort to reduce disruptions and maximize productivity.
Phase IV: Maintenance
Proactively Maintain the Environment
Network and systems stability is a key metric for any IT department. Infracore goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure critical technology components are fully operational when they are needed. Our methodology is comprised of:
- Proactively apply patches and perform routine system maintenance.
- Deploy monitoring systems with appropriate alerting levels for business critical components. Our job is to discover and resolve IT challenges as quickly as possible.
- Implement a comprehensive backup plan of all business critical data.
- Perform test restores and validate secondary systems on a regular basis. This ensures any downtime is kept to an absolute minimum.
- Schedule maintenance related tasks for off-hours and provide end-users with plenty of warning regarding planned outages.
Phase V: Review and Improve
Plan for Next Week, Next Month, Next Year
We maintain the highest standards via:
- Continuous end-user training.
- Regular review of all documentation, policies and procedures.
- Frequent meetings with management team to ensure expectations are being meet.
- Regular review of systems and plan for upgrades where appropriate.
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Methodology
Core Benefits
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