Just as a second opinion is wise for major medical decisions to ensure the best outcome, the same principle applies to your technology choices.
At LuminFire, we frequently collaborate with clients who depend on other vendors for their daily IT, hardware support, and networking requirements. We’ve personally witnessed how misinterpreting or underestimating technology goals can result in suboptimal outcomes. Many costly errors could have been prevented had our additional perspective and specialized expertise been brought in earlier.
A notable experience with one of our clients perfectly illustrates this. Their existing IT vendor suggested a very expensive on-premise replacement for an aging onsite Windows server. This server was managing file services, mail/calendar, and the FileMaker application for a small team within the organization. This investment would also need to be repeated in the future as the new server aged.
This ended up being a pretty short-sighted investment. The vendor was so focused on just replacing the server that they didn’t really think about the client’s long-term needs or the bigger picture. They missed the chance to see if migrating each service to the cloud would have been a better strategy, leading to lower overall costs.
Unfortunately, LuminFire wasn’t called in until it was too late, so we couldn’t help them avoid this unnecessary spending or offer advice on best practices.
The LuminFire Difference: A Comprehensive Approach to Technology
At LuminFire, we believe in taking a holistic view of your information technology ecosystem. We do more than just solve issues; we assist you in discovering the ideal technology solutions that brilliantly match your current requirements and future goals.
When looking at this client’s situation, a few critical questions immediately came to mind:
- Should one server perform all three of these functions?
- Do these servers need to be on-premise to facilitate access to other servers and processes?
- Does the client have an “in-office” work culture?
- Was the server more secure on-premise?
The consistent answer to these questions was “no.” Our advice would have included the following…
- Best practices are “one server per use case.” While they may ultimately share the same hardware in some cases, using virtualization to avoid “mixing concerns” ensures better performance, stability, and maintainability over the long term. Moving to managed cloud services further reduces the ongoing costs of operating these services.
- The on-premise setup actually made relying on multiple services behind an unpredictable VPN connection problematic, leading to difficult and slow access for key stakeholders.
- Their small team was mostly remote, seldom working in the office.
- A migration to managed cloud-based solutions would significantly improve both accessibility and performance, while eliminating the maintenance burden and make costs more predictable year after year.
A Better Approach
Imagine the potential if their IT investment had been handled differently. Instead of pouring funds into a short-sighted solution, they could have financed a cloud migration, enhancing accessibility and security, with funds left over for additional technology improvements. This shift would also have introduced stable, predictable costs and freed up capital to modernize their custom software or their website. Such a strategic allocation would not only boost productivity significantly but also deliver a clear return on their investment.
The Takeaway: It Never Hurts to Ask!
In today’s fast-paced tech world, making smart choices about large IT investments is more important than ever. The decisions you make now will shape how efficient your organization becomes, how much it grows, and its long-term success.
Businesses often struggle with technology investment decisions due to the complex tech landscape and vendor biases. LuminFire offers a free BrilliantInsight consultation, providing objective, expert third-party advice. This service helps businesses gain confidence in their technology choices by offering a second opinion, fresh perspectives, and practical advice that can save time, money, and headaches.
Ready to discuss your technology strategy and ensure you’re making the smartest choices for your organization? Let’s Talk!
Tim Cimbura – CEO, CFO and Software Engineer
Tim is an expert in creating custom business solutions that make businesses more effective, productive, and profitable. He specializes in rapid application development with Claris FileMaker, Laravel, and WordPress. He also knows Apple macOS technology inside and out.