Is an IT Strategy key to business success?
Information Technology (IT) plays an important role in the day-to-day operation of today’s businesses, as businesses are starting to realise the importance of IT to keep things working and for overall business success.
The world in which businesses operate is shrinking daily. Customers are increasingly more tech-savvy and the instant gratification generation, intellectually fed by online and social media, demands change and innovation be delivered now. The upsurge in cloud solutions and distributed workforces all combine to make the importance of IT strategy progressively more important to many organisations.
But what is an IT Strategy?
IT Strategy (Information Technology Strategy) is a comprehensive plan that outlines how technology should be used to meet IT and business goals. An IT strategy is a written document that details the multiple factors that affect the organisation’s investment in and use of technology. Ideally, this strategy should support and shape an organisation’s overall business strategy.
But how can an IT Strategy achieve business success? Unless your IT strategy is focused on understanding and aligning to your business, customers, and strategy, and delivering benefits against that business strategy, you will become less and less able to compete. While this sounds simple, the reality of defining an effective IT strategy is more complex.
The key elements of an IT Strategy
A Roadmap: A high-level overview of the IT department that covers its mission, core values, objectives, and approaches to accomplishing its goals. An outline of current and future IT projects and initiatives with timelines and milestones.
IT Asset Inventory: An IT Asset Inventory defines your current infrastructure and management state. The inventory helps you understand what assets can be used or reused for your strategy, and what existing items need to be incorporated or replaced when fulfilling that strategy.
Interfaces and Applications: How will users, services, and IoT devices access data, content, and applications? There are many ways that users can access content – plan for them in your strategy.
IT Personnel and Management: Your IT strategy also needs an understanding of what IT and non-IT personnel will be needed to implement your IT vision. You cannot achieve digital transformation without reviewing and revising what your personnel structure looks like.
Cost and Budget: Your IT Strategy won’t be complete without knowing the budget your company has and the cost you would allocate to reach your business goals. Developing a financial assessment of IT systems and processes can give you control over the company’s performance.
Competitive Advantage: Ensure you always have the edge against competitors by conducting a competitive analysis and specify what advantages the company has with respect to its competitors.
Continuous Assessment and Monitoring: We are all aware of the changing rate this new era presents and the chances of going off the direction of your roadmap are high. Continuous assessment should be part of your IT strategy to help you evaluate your current position and what adjustments are needed to ensure you are going in the right direction.
Governance: It signifies the limitations your business can place on your IT strategy. Through effective governance, your company can execute the right actions or tackle issues that come with technology adoption.
The first step to implementing an IT Strategy
This first step should be followed by an assessment of how the organisation is meeting established objectives, milestones, benchmarks and relevant KPI’s. The assessment should identify the technology currently in use and the gaps that exist between these current IT operations and the objectives and strategic goals outlined in the ongoing strategic plans.
An IT strategy has become a critical element for organisational leadership in recent decades. Its growing importance mirrors the rise of technology as a critical element for business success. The importance of an IT strategy has been amplified as organisations focus on digital transformation.
Integrate innovation in your workplace through Information Technology (IT) and grow your business. Rito-Technologies is an IT business partner that maximises business output through technology. They enable their clients to be SMART with their IT Strategic Planning, which is guaranteed to increase your business performance and in return grow your business.
For more information about our IT Strategic Planning, please get in touch with us at info@rito-tech.co.za or call us on +27 (0)10 213 7016/7 and we will gladly assist you.