IT Managers:

IT Managers, CTOs, CIOs and COOs for any mid- to large-sized manufacturer, face numerous challenges when dealing with multiple ICT providers.

Their mandate is to ensure that there is crystal clear communication and secure transfer of data within the organisation. Whether it’s employees conversing with one another, or with the stakeholders or clients, two-way communication is a must for good business, at a cost that does not raise the CFO’s eyebrow.

The role of CTOs, CIOs and/or COOs in the ever-changing world of ICT, has become an increasingly important and demanding one. All hardware, from desk cabling to server room designs, and engagement with ICT providers, fall under their jurisdiction. A huge amount of an organisation’s resources is technology-based, and as we all know, rapidly advancing technology has its own complexities and challenges.

In the manufacturing industry, significant resources are allocated to streamline production for optimal output. Why should the ICT requirements complicate an already fragile and complex process? Simply put, it does not have to. Here are the main areas of how choosing the right ICT provider can be a game-changer, specifically in production facilities.

1. Choosing an ICT Supplier that Meets the Business' Requirements

There are many ICT providers that offer a variety of solutions, from connectivity to voice and data solutions.

Other services include: network and email security, disaster recovery, online backup, visual communications, hardware, software, data centres, visitor management systems, IOT, collaboration services, managed services – the list goes on and on. All these requirements can be managed by different ICT providers, taking up valuable time from streamlining processes to increase the production rate of a product.

It’s essential for IT Managers to ensure that all the various ICT providers meet their obligations. Undoubtably, anything can go wrong with any of the providers and things can get extremely confusing trying to figure out which ICT provider to contact when a problem arises. Getting hold of various support desks is another obstacle to overcome.

When choosing a service provider, IT Managers need to consider their offerings with regards to support, pricing and the positioning of the respective products in the market.

Manufacturers should always consider how many ICT providers they need to deal with, and how difficult it would be to contact them in a short space of time, should anything go wrong. The number of internal resources needed to manage them all is also an important point to consider. It would be wise to partner with a service provider that offers a wide range of solutions and expertise, and one that fully understands your business’ requirements.

2. A Business' Voice

Often, there are people scattered right across a large organization, all requiring access to voice services, which can pose a real challenge. Manufacturers usually have a large warehouse to accommodate all their equipment, which can mean that the production facilities could be separate from the head office.

There is an increased chance of a break-down in communication when staff are spread so far apart. Unclear communication as a result of poor planning, or lack thereof, can result in an incorrect product being manufactured, or excess quantity being produced, potentially costing the factory millions.

Naturally, the two business entities would still need to communicate with one another. IT Managers can easily find themselves struggling to overcome this communication barrier. The tried, tested and trusted copper-based technology is quickly becoming outdated. It can’t scale and falls victim to theft too often in South Africa, resulting in down time and loss of productivity, which all costs money.

IT Managers now choose service providers that offer crystal clear voice solutions over a reliable connection, such as Fibre. Voice solutions such as uncapped voice provide great quality calls, come with solid service level agreements and guaranteed response times. Don’t settle for anything less than that.

3. Connectivity is Everything.

Without super-fast, reliable, carrier grade connectivity, a manufacturing facility can quickly be left behind by its competitors. The onus is on the IT Manager to ensure that global standards are met, and uptime is consistent and guaranteed.

Fibre to the Business (FTTB) is a global standard for reliable connectivity. It provides options that scale all the way up to a 100% uptime guarantee. When choosing a connectivity solution, such as fibre, many variables can influence the overall experience, for example: always consider their Shaping Policies and Service Level Agreements. What is the services provider’s commitment to you? After all, no organisation can afford to pay for something that cannot be delivered, much like a manufacturer, if there is no output, there is no profit.

There is also a need to rely on established national and international networks and expertise to ensure maximum leverage so that the manufacturer can benefit from those who already know what they are doing.

ICT providers such as Vox, allow IT Managers to build their own dedicated 1:1 service or FTTB package to suit their business needs by adding data, voice, video conferencing, cloud services, mobile data, and/or IP-based products, enabling a single bill for all their ICT requirements.

4. Security – Protect your Data!

Security is a concern for all organisations and is one of the main responsibilities of an IT Manager. Most, if not all manufacturers, have trade secrets that give them that competitive edge. Imagine if sensitive data, such as intellectual property, were to fall in to the hands of a competitor?

Or an unsuspecting employee opens an unknown email and suddenly the company is threatened with a financially crippling ransomware attack? There is a constant need to be protected from malware, intrusions and even internal data leakage.

Some employees may be required to securely access authorized systems to complete their tasks, even when working remotely. ICT providers that can install and support powerful systems that combine security, continuity and archiving functions, target malware, spam, phishing, data leaks, outages and social engineering attacks should be the number one choice for high-performing organisations.

5. Microsoft Office 365

Many ICT Providers don’t always provide access to a comprehensive, established and easy to use subscription service like Microsoft Office 365.

Applications such as Office, OneDrive, SharePoint, Exchange and Skype for Business, makes internal and external communication in an organisation far more convenient and seamless.

These applications, when managed efficiently, can provide immeasurable value to manufacturers that rely on constant output or zero downtime to conduct their business.

Microsoft Office 365 has significant cost savings – you can do more with less – less complexity, more self-help, better and more flexible pricing plans that scale, as well as reduced support and training costs.

IT Managers are choosing ICT Providers that can support their collaboration, communications and business intelligence needs in a fully managed environment, tailor-made to their business requirements.

6. Cloud Services

As an IT Manager, you’re responsible for safeguarding your organisation’s important and sensitive data. You may have opted for a high-availability virtual machines that are stable, secure and robust with redundancy and disaster recovery built in. This means you have immediate access to scalable memory, processing and storage.

It’s imperative that Cloud services you choose are reliable, secure, accessible, affordable and easy to manage. ICT Providers such as Vox help you create and realise your cloud strategy, providing a hosting environment that enables Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

So, whether you need to put an end to high voice costs; improve your business efficiency and effectiveness with more robust connectivity solutions; protect your business from cyberattacks; find the perfect hosting environment for your business; try Hardware-as-a-Service; or to review your current IT strategy and plan your journey to the cloud, there are integrated ICT providers out there who can do all this and provide you with one dedicated point of contact to action all these. Vox Telecom is one of them.