An IT strategy is a document that will outline how technology can be used within your business to help drive business growth. It should outline your business goals over the next few years and how you are going to use technology to facilitate this growth.
Your IT strategy should also outline any costs involved, timeframes expected and how the technology is going to help you reach your business goals.
When you talk about having an IT strategy it makes sense to mention a roadmap. A roadmap will outline your business goals and the technology stack that can help you to reach them. This roadmap should be viewed and adjusted accordingly.
Do I need an IT strategy?
Often the IT department is seen as the team to fix things when something goes wrong, however, everything revolves around IT these days. If your IT department isn’t involved in your business planning then there can be bottlenecks that slow growth and could even bankrupt your business if, for example, your tech isn’t as secure as it could be.
In our opinion every business even small ones should have an IT strategy in place which help with business growth. If you have an IT strategy in place it’s always worth checking it to see if it is helping your company.
Signs your IT strategy isn’t working or could be improved upon include:
- You don’t hear of your IT consultants unless you have a problem.
- You don’t have regular meetings to discuss your IT Strategy.
- You have used the same hardware or software for years.
- You don’t know how often your data is backed up.
- Your team are constantly having problems with their systems.
- You don’t have a cyber security policy.
As an IT Support company in Ottawa, we help businesses create and improve upon their IT strategy and if you would like help please get in touch with us.
How can my business improve our IT strategy?
Creating a good IT strategy is not something someone can do if they have never had experience in doing it before. In this case, we would advise you to contact IT experts that have experience in developing an IT strategy.
An expert IT consultant or company will be able to look at your existing infrastructure and processes and recommend more efficient ways of carrying out the job at hand. They will also be able to sit down with you and talk about your business goals, your tech stack and how to reach those goals with the infrastructure you have and any additions you will need to make.
An IT Consultant will first look at your current state of IT this could be a small overview of your hardware, software and processes or it could be more in-depth depending on the size of the digital transformation. They will look at the current system capabilities, your processes, your systems and tools, the security of your network and much more.
When the consultant has a better understanding of your system they can then talk to you about your business goals. This understanding of future business strategy will then allow the consultant to build an IT strategy that works for your business.
The whole process is a lot more complex than above and this is only a small breakdown of crafting an IT strategy but this is an overview to help you understand what is involved in the process.
When developing an IT strategy it is advised to plan for the next 3-5 years, this is because creating an IT strategy and adjusting your infrastructure can be costly if you don’t have the facilities to support your business goals. Giving you 3-5 years allows you to plan and budget for the most important changes that will fuel growth.
Conclusion
The IT department is usually seen as the fixers when something goes wrong, but if they are allowed to be a part of the planning process not only can they help prevent problems from arising in the first place but they can also help you to plan processes and infrastructure changes which can help business growth.
Many businesses won’t have an IT department so having an IT Strategy is more than likely something they won’t have either. If this sounds like your business then don’t worry you can consult with an IT support company like ours and we can help create an IT strategy that will help your business for many years to come.
As one of Ottawa’s premier IT support and services companies, we have worked with many businesses big and small to improve their processes and infrastructure. We have also helped them with strategic IT planning. If you would like to get a free quote or would like to talk to an IT expert use the form on our website or give us a call.