When I was child I was really into Lego. Space lego. City lego. Train lego. The stuff still captures me even now as an adult. These days, there are thousands of different lego bricks to build with. Different shapes and colours. As a child, I loved to build miniature worlds on my bedroom floor. My brothers and I would then play with it, and if something broke, I would fix it. Now, years later, I find myself wondering, “Are IT services like Lego?”.
After all there are many similarities. Lego has many simple pieces which can be combined to create something wonderful. A Lego model can be small, or large. Very simple or very complex. The model is built carefully with an underlying supporting framework. As more pieces are added, the shape of the final model takes place.
IT as Lego
We can actually look at this is in a coupe of ways.
- By comparing each element of your IT environment as the Lego bricks which make up the full ‘model’ of Business IT in your organisation.
- By looking at the way that different platforms can integrated together to share data between themselves.
1. Business IT as a Lego model
A full Business IT service offering is made of many interconnected parts. A number of connected services and process all functioning together to support the business. An IT service offering could look like file and printer sharing, authentication systems, security tools and processes. Hardware lifecycle management. There are more items you could add to this list.
Each ‘Lego brick” can be fairly simple. One brick provides centralised authentication services, another brick holds files, yes another handles controlling access to the network. Each doing their own thing. All interconnected in harmony. When all these individual components are combined together, it creates an IT environment which should be a joy to behold and to work in.
One of my biggest joys was overseeing the IT side of an office move. Giving specifications for the physical network, configuration of the new devices to provide seamless coverage over the whole site. It was a real joy. I still remember the feeling when I heard the first print job go through. I knew exactly which WiFi access point the user was connected to, how the network devices had directed the traffic, which cables the 0s and 1s had flown down to find their way to printer. It still makes me smile to this day.
2. Platform integration and automation
Even more so these days with the easy integration of different platforms with tools such Zapier, Make .. you name it.. there are loads to choose from. Each one with it own ways of working. Some will be good for one use case, and another for something else. “Horses for courses” as we say back home.
Integration Platforms and automation to make life easier for my clients and myself. These time-saving tools connect different and entirely independent platforms together. Basically plumbing them together over the internet, allowing data to flow freely between them. There’s a good list here.
The beauty of these systems, is that just like I would build lego cities as a child with their houses and shops connected by roads and railways, these days I can help you connect your educational platforms, payment providers, spreadsheets all together.
Imagine a scenario where you want use the number crunching capabilities of say, Google Sheets, or Excel to create a spreadsheet of your sales from selling online courses.
An automation platform will ‘listen’ for the purchase to go through at your payment provider, tell your coaching platform to give the customer access to the product, and add the sales amount to your spreadsheet.
Why Nörtti paikalle?
Entrepreneurs and small businesses often don’t have the budget to afford a comprehensive in-house IT presence. This is where Nörtti paikalle comes in. I provide you an IT support package which is crafted just for you. It could simply be providing occasional fixes and hardware support, an integrated consultancy service, or a combination of the both.
I was inspired to write this blog after a visit to Verkkokauppa. In their street level window they have an amazing Winter Wonderland made from Lego. The model is incredible large with goodness know how many pieces. If this was to be an IT service offering, then it would be for a global enterprise. My offering will be smaller, and tailored more for an entrepreneur level to small / medium size business.
This is Verkkokauppa.com’s Winter 2022 Lego display. An intricate sprawling Lego landscape. Each small brick doing its part to create something stunning. That’s kinda what I would want to bring to your business.
