In an industry that relies on technology as much as biotech, the strength or weakness of your IT infrastructure can play an important role in the success of your company. Well planned, quality systems and processes can make your business more efficient, profitable, and innovative. Conversely, hastily planned and implemented systems can lead to costly setbacks and potentially waste your valuable investment funding. Biotech startups must keep the following concerns in mind when they are setting up their first IT infrastructure.
1. Security
Threats to your data can come from many places. Whether it’s from hackers, viruses, or negligent employees, you need to protect your company against every possible contingency. If you do not have effective data security measures in place, there is no way to keep your business and laboratory data exclusive and safe.
Your small business IT support provider can help you identify areas of concern, the root of today's vulnerabilities, and create barriers which protect all of your company's information in any possible event. Relying on professionals that have specialized expertise in the area of data security protects you from the kind of sophisticated and inevitable attacks that biotech startups face.
2. Reliability
Every modern laboratory is dependent on the computers, servers, and processors that are required to run hi-tech experiments. Anytime one of these tools goes offline, your laboratory could slow down, or shut down entirely. Making sure that you have the IT systems you need all day, every day, is crucial for running an efficient lab.
When setting up your IT infrastructure, make sure that it has been carefully designed to resist failures. Having quality equipment that is properly installed is the first step. Having duplicated systems and contingencies in place is the second. Your IT service provider can help you set up IT systems that your lab and administrative staff can always rely on.
3. Scalability
The size and responsibilities of a small biotech company can change with remarkable speed. When your laboratory is suddenly dealing with huge new data sets, initiating complicated experimental trials, or installing new pieces of equipment, you will want to be able to scale your IT infrastructure to meet these new demands.
Scalability is important because it allows companies to responsively adapt to new opportunities, and to easily predict the cost of this growth. Biotech startups need to have the ability to grow their IT capacity at a moment's notice.
4. Support
The technology that your company depends on is complicated. That is why small business IT support is such a valuable thing to have. Being able to rely on a professional to set up new hardware, troubleshoot problems, and plan for your needs in the future ensures that all of your technology systems runs in sync with each other.
5. Accessibility
Remote data access presents both opportunities and challenges. Giving your staff access to important data from remote computers and mobile devices can increase productivity. At the same time, it can open you up to threats.
Your IT service provider can help you to find the right balance. Resist the urge to embrace accessibility wholeheartedly, and instead implement a thoughtful and measured plan that serves everyone's needs, based on advice from the small business IT support experts..
Successful biotech startups make their IT infrastructure a vital consideration in their initial planning stages. To learn more about each one of these issues, read our new white paper “After the Seed: Planning IT Investment for a Biotech Startup.”
