Do you ever have that uneasy feeling that you understand less and less about IT as time goes on? Well, technology is changing so rapidly and becoming so niche that it’s not surprising. So just as you think you’ve got a handle on some specifics of IT, they go and change, and boom, you’re lost again. Unfortunately, that may mean that you end up standing in a room with work colleagues who effectively talk a different language! (At this stage, you’re probably just nodding earnestly and slowly backing out of the room muttering about ‘IP conflicts’ or something you overheard earlier). Well, the good news is there are talented and competent firms that do know exactly what’s going on. In fact, they take care to remain at the sharp end of IT. So, what about your IT maintenance strategy? How can you ensure your system keeps running smoothly and avoids major downtime incidents? Read on to find out more about different strategies.
The 4 Main IT Maintenance Strategies
1. Reactive
Perhaps the simplest and most common approach to maintenance is reactive or breakdown maintenance. This means fix stuff when it breaks. Essentially, this is a good enough strategy for non-essential items but generally a bad idea for most IT systems. So, unless you’re running backups live for everything, this approach will inevitably create downtime.
2. Preventative
Preventative maintenance (PM), or proactive maintenance, means monitoring and periodically taking equipment offline for routine maintenance. PM benefits from pre-planning. Therefore spares and replacements are in place, ready for when they are needed. This is the preferred approach for most businesses and IT managed services contractors. Ultimately, the goal is to prevent system breakdowns and prolong the life of the equipment.
3. Predictive
Similar to Proactive, Predictive Maintenance aims to predict system failures before they happen. So, repairs can occur at just the right time rather than at a scheduled time. PdM uses data fed from smart technology to alert the maintenance team of imminent failure.
4. Reliability-Centred (RCM)
RCM is a complex strategy that analyses each piece of equipment and creates a customised maintenance strategy. As such, RCM acknowledges that system failures aren’t always linear. An RCM strategy is complex and not always appropriate for smaller systems.
