You need comprehensive endpoint management solutions. Developing a TLM plan helps you get it done.
IT infrastructure environments — particularly for enterprise organizations — are complex. From contained in-house systems, legacy considerations and user licensing models to cloud applications, huge fleets of mobile devices and increasing security concerns, it takes exceptional planning and experience to bring it all together. Thankfully, a technology lifecycle management framework and the right tooling can add order to the chaos.
What is technology lifecycle management (TLM)? More than anything else, TLM constitutes a plan to deal with every endpoint associated with your technology across its entire life — from acquisition and deployment to operation and maintenance and finally replacement and retirement. The details of any TLM plan will vary for each organization but will include universal aspects common to each of them:
- A complete inventory of every component in your environment, including operating systems, hardware, software, middleware and applications
- A defined process and group assigned to each item in the inventory
- A schedule for future updates based on what is most critical
- Expiration dates to show when various components will no longer be supported, including vendor data or internal processes to handle them
Lifecycle management helps organizations avoid the negative impact of inadequate technology on their business and increase operationally efficiency. You have oversight of every endpoint and keep the individual pieces working well and cohesively. With TLM, you shift from using resources to address things that are ‘broken’ to using resources that actively help your organization function and grow.
With the right technology lifecycle management framework and partner, organizations gain flexibility and adaptability while saving time and money by avoiding unanticipated costs and problem remediation. It also eases the complexity of their IT environment, from simplifying billing to rolling services into a package with a single provider to contact.
But to cash in on those benefits you need to know what TLM covers and entails. That’s next.
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Outlining the Technology Lifecycle Management Framework
Assessment
The first step should include business and technical stakeholders and produces a comprehensive report that examines current business needs, as well as future growth plans. This stage is proactive, looking at both goals for how technology can support business objectives and expansion. You should audit what you have, what you need and what resources are available.
Acquisition
Next comes the acquisition phase, where you plot out how to procure the various technological components that were deemed necessary in the assessment step. This also includes all the needed logistics and financing required to execute acquiring the necessary technology.
Implementation
You’ve settled on all the individual components you need for your environment and have acquired them. Now it’s time to put them into the field. Deployment is more challenging than ever because of the rise of cloud solutions, mobile-first initiatives and remote work, but instituting asset tracking is critical. Part of implementation should include knowing the purpose for each component and who is responsible for it.
Support
Any TLM strategy needs to account for support services needed to keep all your technology running smoothly. This includes managing configurations, troubleshooting support, preventive maintenance, proactive incident tracking, determining when and how to tackle warranty extensions and judging system performance by using well-defined metrics.
Refresh
It’s a simple fact that at some point your IT assets will stop supporting business full and start hindering progress. With a technology lifecycle management framework in place, you’ll have a plan (and the resources needed) to determine if current components are outdated, need upgraded or fully replaced. For optimized and up to date technology, a refresh initiative should be planned for every two to five years.
Retirement
What do you do with old elements after they’ve been replaced or refreshed? Mapping out when and how to dispose of obsolete components eases their removal when the time comes. A managed services provider will aid in finding smart and economical methods for disposing of the old gear which will help your organization stay in an optimized performance groove.
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Frame Up Your TLM with TRG
TRG is a global, privately owned managed services provider that manages the full lifecycle of every enterprise endpoint. As a device agnostic leader, we don’t just sell you devices. We manage the full endpoint experience.
Our TLM solution offers a holistic view and full control over all your technology assets, cloud licenses, support services and more. TRG’s unified user platform gives you an on-demand view of the entire state of your technology program, across all sites, cost centers and service providers. Get improved and automated processes for invoice processing and expense allocation, abnormality alerts, expert deployment assistance, quote-to-order capabilities and more.
Connect with our team today to add some TLC to your TLM framework and streamline the way you handle tech — from start to finish.