Creating an effective long-term IT strategy is not easy, says Steve O'Connell, sales and marketing director at Advantex, who offers advice to help plot a course to success.
There can be little doubt that those organisations that consider some fundamental questions about what they want from their technology and related services before moving ahead will ultimately be more satisfied with the performance of their investment in the long term. Indeed, experience shows that those companies that have robust IT governance in place will yield greater ROI and increase their corporate competitiveness. However, issues around an organisation’s abilities, culture, structure and objectives, as well as any deficiencies, can make decision making a tough call – clearly, when it comes to adopting an effective IT strategy, one size does not fit all. But if it’s difficult to identify specific commonalities, the question of how technology creates value that fits into your overall strategy remains a perennial one. In this respect, start by asking yourself what it is about your current situation that keeps you awake at night? At this stage, no one knows the solution, just the problem. We then need to understand who or what is needed to remove this headache. Ask yourself what better will look like for your organisation in two, three, or five years’ time? Look at your investment and weigh-up the pros and cons of your choices. Are you likely to benefit from tangible, measureable improvements (hopefully so) – and how will these manifest themselves: cost savings, smarter working practices, better value for money, greater integration of services with cloud-based technologies? Hard to answer perhaps but focus on value and making hard decisions about priorities – any decision-making should be about your organisation’s commitment to decide on a strategic direction and what role technology must play in supporting growth; essentially aligning IT initiatives to your commercial goals and objectives. Effective IT requires a stable structure and strong, well-informed decision-making. The focus must be on achieving results from strategic choices and if necessary, working with an external partner to help you navigate some very challenging financial, technical and aftercare issues. After all, to reap maximum value from your investment will require some tough decision making around such matters as how to allocate finite resources and how best to manage the procurement, installation, commissioning and service support processes. You will undoubtedly be accountable for the delivery of value from new IT-enabled operational capabilities and inevitably all eyes will be focus on you to deliver in this respect. Does the prospect keep you up at night? The solution is more than simply a matter of implementing an IT framework. Rather it’s about achieving real solutions that are crafted to meet your specific commercial goals and daily operational requirements as a business. If you can understand your IT processes and what strengths you have that can be leveraged, it will see you in the ascendancy with an approach that ticks your short term needs while segues into long-term strategic ambitions. So as you contemplate technology, adopting the managed services route (the practice of outsourcing the responsibility for your IT, often to secure improvements in operations and tangible cost saving) may help you to decide what’s right for your organisation – a beneficial sounding board to help you develop a vision of an immutable future, where you can leverage technology for business growth, revenue generation and business agility.
