Build for Today, Plan for Tomorrow: 5 IT Moves Growing Practices Shouldn’t Delay

In the early days of running a veterinary practice, it’s easy to make IT decisions based on what’s quick, convenient, or affordable at the time. But as your practice grows, those “good enough for now” solutions can quietly become your biggest roadblocks – costing you in time, stress, and efficiency when you can least afford the disruption.

Here are five foundational IT moves that set your practice up for smoother growth, smarter workflows, and fewer surprises down the line.

1. Stop Settling for Home-Grade Wi-Fi

Why it matters: Poor internet infrastructure is one of the biggest bottlenecks for growing clinics. Consumer routers, patchy signal, and overloaded networks lead to slow PMS access, dropped printers, and frustrated teams.

What to do: Invest in business-grade access points and switches, and have a scalable network designed around coverage and reliability. Wireless is the direction of travel – make sure your infrastructure can keep up.

2. Standardise Device Setup from Day One

Why it matters: As more people join, inconsistency creeps in – different antivirus software, file storage habits, and app access across machines. It gets messy fast.

What to do: Standardise how new devices are set up, configured, and secured. Define who gets access to what, and make it easy to replicate across locations or team members.

3. Choose Tools That Talk to Each Other

Why it matters: Practices often end up with a mishmash of tools that don’t integrate – wasting time, duplicating effort, and creating blind spots.

What to do: Prioritise tools that integrate with your PMS, cloud storage, and communication systems. Think ecosystem, not one-off solutions.

4. Put Cybersecurity Front and Centre

Why it matters: Growth increases exposure. More users, more devices, more data – more risk. And cybercrime doesn’t care if you’re a small, independent clinic.

What to do: Multi-factor authentication, regular patching, offsite backups, and ongoing staff awareness training are non-negotiable. Don’t leave it until something goes wrong.

5. Get Clear on Who Owns What

Why it matters: As your practice expands, so does the complexity of your data, systems, and user access. Without clear ownership and visibility, things slip through the cracks.

What to do: Map out where your data lives, who has access, and how systems are monitored. A centralised IT strategy – even if it’s outsourced – ensures growth doesn’t come at the cost of control.

Final Thought:
Scaling a veterinary practice is exciting – but it exposes the cracks in your systems faster than you think. Laying the groundwork today means you won’t be paying for rushed fixes tomorrow.

Want help assessing how growth-ready your tech is? That’s where we come in.