Kenyan business essentials: how to build a high-performance IT Infrastructure (a step-by-step guide)

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, a robust IT infrastructure cannot be overstated. A stable IT infrastructure is necessary to enhance efficiency, sustain a competitive edge, and boost business productivity.

According to a ‘Vision for IT Infrastructure in 2030 study’ conducted by Telehouse, more than 90% of IT decision-makers are planning considerable changes to their IT infrastructure, especially after the pandemic. These changes include transitioning more workloads to the cloud, expanding data centre capacities, increasing bandwidth, and shifting from on-premise setups to colocation solutions.

In Kenya, businesses of all sizes recognise technology’s transformative potential to propel them toward growth and productivity. However, developing an effective IT infrastructure tailored to the unique demands of Kenyan businesses is a considerable undertaking. It’s a journey that demands meticulous planning, a well-defined roadmap, and Kenyan ingenuity.

This blog post explores considerations and strategies available to Kenyan companies seeking to build an effective IT infrastructure, ultimately positioning themselves for global competitiveness.

Step1: Understand the Economics of IT Infrastructure

Building a high-performing IT infrastructure tailored to your Kenyan business begins with thoroughly understanding the cost dynamics. It means evaluating the operating expenses of acquiring the essential hardware components required to establish an IT infrastructure that addresses both current and future needs.

For instance, it’s essential to consider whether to procure or lease the necessary server infrastructure. Moreover, you must remember that the server setup requires additional components and accessories. To illustrate, you must consider expenses for software licenses.

Additionally, you must factor in other operating expenses such as computing power, system cooling, redundancy measures, systems downtime mitigation, employee training, and backup solutions — all contributing to your IT infrastructure setup’s overall reliability and efficiency.

Furthermore, it’s critical to anticipate the need for hardware and software upgrades or routine maintenance over intervals like 3, 5, or 7 years, which is vital for long-term sustainability.

Grasping these cost elements empowers you to make strategic decisions about your IT infrastructure, ensuring that it aligns with your business objectives and positions you for growth and success within the Kenyan market.

Step 2: Evaluate your Current IT Landscape

The pivotal second step on your IT infrastructure journey involves squarely assessing your existing IT environment. This crucial step empowers you to gain profound insights into your current IT landscape, positioning you to pinpoint areas ripe for improvement in alignment with your business objectives.

Here’s how to approach it effectively:

• Conduct a Comprehensive Audit: Embark on a comprehensive audit of your current IT infrastructure. This phase involves documenting hardware and software assets, analyzing requirements, scrutinizing network configurations, evaluating current infrastructure workloads, and reviewing your data storage components.

By meticulously documenting your existing IT ecosystem, you’ll identify its strengths, pinpoint weaknesses, and uncover growth opportunities.

• Seek Expert Consultation: Whether you’re in the planning stages or have an established IT infrastructure, consider enlisting the expertise of IT professionals or specialized consultants well-versed in infrastructure assessments.

The truth is that — IT infrastructure experts offer invaluable insights and recommendations regarding cutting-edge IT infrastructure solutions. Such guidance proves vital for optimizing your IT landscape to meet contemporary demands and emerging trends.

Step 3: Wisely Choose your Technology Partner

Selecting a dependable IT infrastructure provider is another crucial step that holds the key to the swift and effective execution of your IT infrastructure initiative.

Here’s a comprehensive guide outlining essential criteria for a reliable provider that companies often overlook:

1. Service Level Agreement (SLA): Prioritize a comprehensive SLA provider. The SLA should clearly define the provider’s commitments concerning uptime, available support and issue resolution. Confirm that the provided SLA seamlessly aligns with your business objectives and expectations.
2. Certifications: Inspect the provider’s certifications about vendor endorsements, tier-level distinctions, and adherence to data protection laws and regulations such as GDPR/KDP and data security standards like PCI DSS.
3. Technical Expertise and Industry Experience: Evaluate the provider’s expertise and track record within IT infrastructure and your industry. Check client testimonials, case studies, and request references to gauge provider capabilities.
4. Technical Support: Evaluate the level of provided technical support. Consider critical factors such as whether the support is free or a paid service and the speed of response for issue resolution.
5. Communication: Check the responsiveness and efficiency of the provider’s communication channels’ including ticketing systems, email support, and engagement through social media platforms.
6. Available Solutions: Ensure the provider’s infrastructure solutions align seamlessly with your business requirements. Evaluate API accessibility, control panel access, familiarity with technology, flexibility, scalability, and more.
7. Value for Money: Ascertain the overall value for money offered by the provider by thoroughly comparing pricing structures, available features, and the quality of services to determine their alignment with your budget and objectives.

The selection of the right technology partner is a paramount decision capable of exerting a profound impact on the outcome of your IT infrastructure endeavour.

It’s essential to dedicate the necessary time to research and evaluate potential IT providers, using these critical criteria as your compass, to make an informed and advantageous choice.

Want to learn more about building your IT infrastructure? Watch our recent webinar on Choosing and Preparing for IT Infrastructure for 2024 here.

About Servercore

Servercore is a global infrastructure provider, and we’re closely connected to Kenya through our solid partnership with iColo, a top-tier Tier III data center situated in Nairobi.

Our engineers, developers, and business specialists collaborate to help digital services thrive by delivering modern IT infrastructure solutions aligning with international standards and compliance measures. Our mission is to assist companies in delivering their services to users in tech-forward countries.

This means we support your business at all stages of cloud infrastructure service — from designing IT systems and selecting servers to managing, scaling, and generating reports, all in one interface of our control panel.