The Write State of Mind

Documentation.  Nobody likes it, but the alternative of not having it is a potential disaster when it comes to an IT environment.  Have you ever stepped back and thought to yourself, what if something happened and I did not know how to seamlessly move forward?  Am I truly prepared?  Sure, you can roll the dice, hope for the best and see what happens.  Or, you can be proactive and ensure you have the resources and tools lined up ahead of time to face danger head on!  

The Benefits of Documentation

Documentation serves so many beneficial purposes, and I can speak from personal experience that the pros far outweigh the cons.  Additionally, knowing you are serving best interests and holding true to accountability makes for all the difference.  The end results?  Success.   

What are some of these mentioned benefits of documentation?  Check these out below.  You may notice that these can apply not only for your IT environment, but in other important areas too! 

• Form of disaster recovery. Documentation can help serve as a way to recover items or processes that might be lost in a disaster. Documentation can also help get things up and running in a quicker manner when an incident happens.
• Ask yourself, what is the intended goal of the document?  Documentation can serve wonderfully as a customer and team runbook, as it promotes a better understanding of the challenges being faced.   
• Change Control.  Documentation is an opportunity to point out areas of improvement.  What works well could be looked at as, what might work even better?
• Repeatability and reinforcement. Documentation can serve as a cross-functional guide for consistency and also as a way to reinforce your company’s goals and processes.
• Documentation doesn’t necessarily mean something has to be set in stone.  However, it provides the underlying fundamentals to understand why you are doing something, how to do it, and assist with reaching a desired result.   
• In a seemingly perfect world, everything would work fine and there would be no head scratching.  This of course isn’t the case.  Instead of just hoping you won’t encounter an undesirable scenario, be prepared and be confident with your action plan. 
• Promotes better communication and establishes unity.
• Provides the opportunity to be ahead of the game and peace of mind!

Customizing Documentation

Documentation is an easy win in that it can be tailored to YOU.  No two IT environments are exactly the same.  It is important to customize documentation to your needs, to ensure even the smallest of details are covered, which in turn could save hours of troubleshooting for your business if in the event something were to take a wrong turn.  Additionally, doing so can decrease or potentially eliminate performance hits.  Time is of the essence after all.  Picture your customized environment and ask yourself what might apply. 

How to Start Documenting

Documentation that is not concise and leaves a lot of room for interpretation can result in a finished product or outcome that is less than ideal. Not sure where to start?  Focus on the key components.  This is what will allow you to form a solid foundation on which to build from.  Some questions to pose might include, what are the specific goals of the document?  What is the time frame involved?  This is essential as often times, there are other moving wheels.  Who is your intended audience?  Does it address the current needs of the user?  Importantly, these items should be reflected on throughout the documentation process.  While the author is a key component of documentation, documentation itself should be an ongoing effort, ultimately composed of content updates and end user and team experience and feedback! 

I have always been an avid documenter and with any scenario, I have found that well thought out and maintained documentation serves as an excellent reference point.  As an added bonus, with it comes a confidence that can be applied to the bigger picture.   

What are your needs?  Do you want to further explore or implement this awesome software that everyone is excited about?  Time for spring cleaning and organizing?  Do you want to ensure that the proper security procedures are implemented and being followed so as to remain compliant?  Do you want to make sure that you are armed with a team of iuvonauts to set that foundation right?  iuvo Technologies has the in-depth knowledge of the steps needed to help you reach your goals. 

We at iuvo Technologies have a core belief that technology should elevate your business results, not hinder them.  What better a way to ensure that you feel confident in your infrastructure and day to day operations then to have a solid foundation. If you would like to talk more about documentation, please contact us!