Technology is being used every day to create new businesses and business models, new products and services and revolutionise existing industries. It also allows businesses to form deeper customer relationships and experiences and understand more about their client base.
With such influence throughout the business, it makes sense that technology should have its own strategy in place, but in many companies it is often forgotten about.
Here are 5 good reasons you should be implementing a technology strategy in your business.
Every business has their overarching goals that they want to achieve and these are often sorted into short and long term goals. This overarching strategy then guides the goals of different departments, like marketing for example.
Your IT/technology department should also be working towards and driving the goals of the business, and without a strategy in place it may be adversely affecting those goals.
You may think that a technology strategy will encourage you to adopt every new piece of hardware, software or app that’s out there, but it’s actually the opposite.
A technology strategy will help you to understand how you use the technology you already have and what new products can offer you. Before you start buying new products you need to create a plan of how you are going to use it. Who will use it? What department? Who will be product champion? A technology process will help you answer these questions.
A technology strategy can help to align your IT department and staff to other areas of the business. Often times IT can become isolated from other departments and create its own silo of knowledge and is not working within the business goals.
To properly leverage technology in your business, IT should be working with other departments so they can anticipate their needs and help facilitate their goals. An isolated IT department is wasted knowledge and resources.
Are your staff using outdated computers? Are all software patches up to date? Is new software compatible with your current hardware?
These type of questions are ones that are addressed in technology strategies, and allow you to see where there may be risks in your business.
A technology strategy will identify current and upcoming risks and start the process to rectify them.
A technology strategy that aligns to your business goals will allow you to identify gaps in your technological abilities and what needs to be upgraded or added to meet future goals.
It may also identify gaps in staff knowledge and areas where they can benefit from increased training. These knowledge or hardware gaps can be addressed before moving forward and creating bigger headaches down the road.
Overall a technology strategy should allow you to evaluate, manage and plan your technological capabilities and enable your business to hit its goals.