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What is an IT Strategy in Business?
An IT strategy or framework defines how technology and IT processes align with business goals. If you're serious about success and growth, you must align IT and busi ness strategies.
A comprehensive IT strategy, including a strategic IT roadmap, can be put together to document and detail various factors affecting IT and technology use. Having a comprehensive and effective technological framework in place helps allocate business resources effectively, covering hardware, software, cost, risk, human resources, and vendor management.
What’s the Purpose of a Comprehensive IT Approach?
A comprehensive IT strategy ultimately guides IT processes, software, hardware, and infrastructure decisions. It's a roadmap for understanding and managing all IT areas, enabling informed business decisions to drive growth.
It identifies:
- The current state of the business.
- Future goals and ambitions.
- Challenges and necessary improvements.
- Desired future capabilities and benefits.
- Resources required for success.
- Operational procedures and necessary partnerships.
It’s essentially a roadmap for businesses and helps you understand and get to grips with all IT areas, enabling them to make smart, informed business decisions to drive growth.
And it should identify and explain three main things:
Where Does the Business Currently Sit?
- What are your company's goals and ambitions?
- What does your current technology service portfolio look like?
- What are the challenges that you need to overcome?
Where Does the Business Want to be in the Future? (in line with company mission)
- What capabilities and benefits do you want to achieve in the future to support the business?
- What does the future-state landscape need to look like?
- What are the gaps between now and then?
How Can a Business Reach Its Objectives
- What resources do you need?
- How will the future state be operated?
- What partners do you need?
In a nutshell, it’s the who, what, where, why and how. You’ll need to identify and answer all of these to create an effective and robust IT framework in business.
If you don’t plan, you won’t succeed. Businesses without goals or specific objectives will not only lack direction but are destined to fail.
In fact, according to the strategic software company Cascade, 67% of strategies fail due to poor execution—that’s over two-thirds! This highlights the need for an effective technology roadmap guided by experts.
The Benefits of a Well-Designed IT Strategy
Creating a well-thought-out plan is an organisation-wide effort, offering numerous benefits:
Here's a list we've put together that covers the main plus points:
- Unifying approach to information processing and sharing.
- Lower IT costs.
- Enhanced data collection, processing, and analytics.
- Improved cybersecurity and compliance.
- Enhanced IT resilience and reduced downtime costs.
- Better resource distribution and project planning.
- Improved communication and alignment between departments.
Kick off your IT Strategy with a Comprehensive Audit.
A comprehensive technology plan starts with a complete audit of your business and IT systems. It's an in-depth analysis of IT policies, operations, and infrastructure to ensure alignment with business goals and industry standards. An IT audit lays the foundation for building an effective IT strategy.
A comprehensive technical audit should investigate and outline whether the current systems are up to scratch, aligned with industry best practices, and aligned with your business goals. The audits should also uncover any risks associated with your IT infrastructure and provide you with the next steps to help reduce them.
Learn about IT audits and why they're important.
An IT audit requires a high level of skill, time, and investment in auditing software, and it lays the foundation for building your digital roadmap. So, if you have an in-house IT team but don’t have the right resources to complete your IT audit to the correct standard, you’re best off seeking outsourced help.
Investing in a comprehensive technology strategy is essential for business growth and efficiency. If you lack the resources for an in-depth IT audit, consider seeking outsourced help. At Netitude, we specialise in helping businesses develop robust IT strategies; we've helped hundreds of businesses build and revolutionise their approach to technology.
An effective technology roadmap is not just a luxury but a necessity for any business serious about its growth and success. A coherent technology strategy defines a business in the modern workplace; a comprehensive roadmap that aligns technology and business objectives and guides decision-making processes will help your business stand out in this digitally-driven age. By understanding where your business currently stands, defining future goals, and outlining the necessary steps to bridge the gap, you pave the way for sustainable growth and resilience.