Information Technology (IT) tools and applications could be considered a prime example of too much of a good thing. There’s no shortage of technology suites and apps to solve whatever business issue you may have, which is great. The downside is the more tools you have at your disposal, the more you have to keep track of and juggle.
So, what’s the answer? Eliminate some of those tools? Of course not; you need them to perform your tasks after all. Rather than decide which solutions stay or go, put them all on the same platform. Doing so will likely save you time, effort and money in the long run.
Here are five reasons why you should consolidate your IT tools into a single platform.
Lower your IT costs
Application subscriptions might cost less than hosting apps onsite, but those subscriptions come with fees, according to Microsoft. A lot of business apps charge monthly subscription fees that vary depending on the number of users and how much storage is used. The monthly tab can get steep quickly if every app your team uses operates this way. Managing multiple subscriptions can also be time-consuming, especially if different departments are using different apps to perform the same function. Using one platform will paint a clearer picture of not only how much the company’s spending on these solutions, but if they’re worth the cost.
Improve team unity
Operations typically move too quickly in the tech and digital space for various teams to be communicating and working on different platforms. Imagine how much faster a company could make data-based decisions, implement content changes or launch a campaign if all employees were using the same toolbox. Consolidating IT tools also breaks down walls between various departments, makes collaborating easier and allows employees to make suggestions more efficiently.
“Silos make it hard for senior leadership to ensure that everyone in the organization is pulling in the same direction,” Lenore Gibson, UK and EMEA marketing director at Dunnhumby said during a MarketingWeek event. “The business operates less efficiently. Time is lost and projects delayed through a lack of communication and failure to engage key functions and stakeholders at the correct stage.”
Enhanced security
Chances are the separate software solutions your company uses are secure. Unfortunately, working with multiple vendors means you’re dealing with multiple security risks at all times. Your security team has to constantly keep an eye on every app the company uses and there’s always a chance it could miss one, leading to a data breach. Agile IT notes that the monitoring needed to ensure every IT tool is secure can be time-consuming and expensive.
Using a solo platform reduces the amount of necessary monitoring as well as potential security gaps and weak spots. There will also be just one set of IT security protocols for your team to follow, which would be a lot easier to manage.
Increased productivity
Multiple IT tool use leads to a lot of toggling back and forth between applications and logins throughout the workday. Employees’ time can be put to better use if they can get their work done with a system that has everything they need in one location. Additionally, every application used is another license that someone has to keep track of, leading to another time-wasting activity. Putting everything on one platform might take up time initially, but it will be worth the early effort when workers are spending more time on tasks than moving over to the next app they need.
Guaranteed tech compatibility
The best reason to consolidate your team’s IT tools onto a single platform might be to ensure there are no compatibility issues. There are no guarantees that single-use apps’ software will work together. What good is having any sort of software solution if it’s not going to always work? There might be no better argument for an all-in-one platform than peace of mind knowing that every solution on it will function without an issue.
The alternative is spending time picking an app, then finding another one that’s compatible and building the tech suite that way. That does not sound very efficient.
How Faronics can help
The Faronics Deploy solution offers more than 75 built-in applications that can be installed,
uninstalled and updated. You can perform any action on multiple computers as well as mass deploy apps with a single click. Deploy can be set up and implemented in moments, and every computer on your network will be ready to perform on-demand actions. Chrome, Slack and Evernote are just a few of the built-in apps you’ll find on Faronics Deploy.
Learn more about how you can set up, deploy and upgrade all of your devices from an intuitive, lightning-fast cloud platform today.
