Does your business have an information technology (IT) strategy? An IT strategy is an essential element of everyday business operations. However, few organizations have one and even fewer understand the benefits that come from implementing an IT business strategy plan. If your company doesn’t have a plan of action, then read on and we’ll explain how having one can enhance your business operations and why discussion is necessary.
The Importance of IT Strategy Consulting and Planning Discussions
Before we get started, let’s first talk about what an IT strategy is.
Simply put, an IT strategy is a document that outlines how technology is expected to support your business over a given time. This usually ranges anywhere from a year to five years. Since its main purpose is to help your company achieve its goals, it’s not uncommon for the strategy to be a part of an overall business plan.
An IT strategy must be aligned with the goals of your business, otherwise you may not be able to take advantage of the benefits it has to offer. In order to maximize the benefits of an IT strategy, every department in the company should be involved.
In need of IT Strategy Consulting Services? Let PCR Business Systems Help. We can help your company build and implement an IT strategy roadmap.
What Is an IT Strategy Discussion?
A discussion about your IT strategy isn’t about selling you on a service, nor is it about pointing out holes in your cyber security coverage and blaming your provider. It’s about having a conversation about your business objectives and how to best align your IT strategy to meet those objectives. During this discussion, you’ll have time to clearly define where you see your company going. This also works to clarify what technology it will take to reach that goal.
The Benefits of a Fully Realized IT Strategy
A fully implemented IT strategy can provide many benefits. Some of those include:
- Role Clarity: If there’s a technical problem, is it your responsibility or your provider’s? If you don’t have a provider, who in your company is responsible for your IT infrastructure? An IT strategy will define individual roles and responsibility to prevent duplicity of solutions and unnecessary costs.
- Elimination of Duplicates: Formulating an IT strategy forces you to perform an audit on your enterprise architecture. This helps to identify software that’s doing the same or similar job. Each piece of software that’s performing the same job is unneeded and costing your business money.
- Identify Bottlenecks: In addition to helping you find duplicates, the audit also identifies existing technology that’s holding you back or that doesn’t fit with your business plan for growth.
- Lower Operational Costs: An IT strategy provides a planned approach to purchasing hardware and software. This is more cost effective in the long run and allows for informed budgeting.
- Competitive Advantage: When you plan ahead, it forces you to think about the future and how technology trends may change before you reach your business objectives. This encourages early adoption of new technology, which can provide a leg up on the competition.
How PCR Handles IT Strategy Discussion
PCR Business Systems has developed a tried-and-true process for IT governance. We help eliminate hassles and resolve issues. Here’s how we’ll handle your IT discussion:
- Our President Pat Carroll visits your company to understand your business, your goals, and your current IT situation.
- Pat then analyzes your infrastructure to see if it’s operating efficiently.
- After the analysis, we prepare a customized IT alignment plan with our findings. With our alignment plan, you’ll be able to align your goals with your technology strategy.
Let PCR Help You Align Your IT With Your Business Strategy
At PCR Business Systems, we’re dedicated to helping our customers reach their goals. In addition to providing managed IT services, we work diligently to find technical ways to improve your business. Through our cost-effective IT solutions, we’ll help set you on a path to success.
Give us a call today if you’d like to learn more about how we can help your business.
