CEO Primer : Technology Strategy
/The best technology investments can transform your business. To avoid overlooking opportunities to use IT to best advantage, CEOs and Leadership teams should get comfortable that they have a full understanding of their options when making IT decisions. A balanced IT strategy must consider:
1) Foundation : Employee devices and productivity systems 2) Maintenance : Telecom and Support services 3) Risk Management : Security and Business Continuity 4) Differentiation and Agility : Strategic IT and Project Excellence
Future posts in this series will discuss IT Strategy in different business contexts including startups and small/medium business.
Foundation : Employee devices and productivity tools
Employee devices and productivity tools (desktops, laptops, mobile, email, calendar, file sharing and network) are the first investment that a business considers when planning the IT budget.
This topic often consumes a disproportionate amount of the IT planning discussion. Standard business tools are a commodity, not an area for differentiation. As such, the goal should be to drive costs down by following standards for consistent set up and maintenance, ensuring prudent procurement of equipment, and assessing the pros and cons of BYOD. Getting the basics right will preserve budget and focus for the higher value IT investments.
Maintenance : Telecom and Support services
Telecom is a fast moving and competitive industry where opportunities abound for ongoing improvement of value for money. Every organization should review telco contracts annually and be ready to push for the best deals. Considerations include service levels, network performance requirements, and phone plans (do you still need your desk phones?).
7x24 IT Help Desk coverage for standard business tools can be outsourced to service providers at very competitive rates. IT support encompasses a wide range of skills and a good provider will offer access to experts in each domain when you need them. Considering core competences, any organization with under 200 employees will be hard-pressed to develop a strong in-house Help Desk team at lower cost than a good service provider.
Business system support is typically acquired from the vendor, either as part of subscription fees or as an optional recurring add-on when system licenses have been purchased outright. It is generally a mistake to expect the IT Help Desk to be expert in the details of your business systems, but your employee's life will be simplified if the Help Desk can triage all issues and escalate to the appropriate vendor hotline. Worth discussing with your Help Desk provider.
Risk Management : Security and Business Continuity
Information Security and Business Continuity (Disaster Recovery) planning covers protection against the impact of major failures in the systems that you have put in place. This is part of your risk management strategy, but the subject is often under resourced at budget time. Security breaches can create material problems for your business, and business downtime due to a DR incident can be very costly. Adverse impacts are avoidable with reasonable preparation.
Differentiation and Agility : Strategic IT and Project Excellence
Once your basic systems are in place with appropriate support and contingency for risk, you have a great foundation for using IT as a strategic weapon. Competitive differentiation is achievable through the prudent deployment of business systems to support and empower Sales, Marketing, Support and Service, Product Design and Development, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance and HR. Significant benefits are available to streamline operations and inform decision making.
Such systems must work hand-in-hand with your business operations. Optimal value comes from balancing best practice solutions with your team's evolving business needs. Rapid deployment and agile adjustment requires the development of strong change management competencies.
The Bottom Line
Basic systems and support are commodities to be addressed as efficiently and cost effectively as possible by means of regular vendor reviews, volume buying, standard practice, and quality assurance.
Risk management is insurance, too often overlooked. Do not be alarmed - security and business continuity will not require a huge chunk of your budget if addressed with the right measures.
Building on these solid foundations, business systems and project excellence are where you can reap the most reward from your IT investments. This is the place to focus your innovation.
Over time, you should aim to invest more than half of your IT budget on differentiation and agility.