Navigating the rough terrain that is tech can be hard for many small businesses which can lead to a little avoidance. One big area for tech avoidance in small businesses is their IT roadmap, which many believe they don’t need. Any IT projects they do are usually handled as needed and not necessarily planned for in advance. To a point, this can work for small businesses; when there is a problem that requires a tech solution, one is found. However, to foster growth, this type of IT strategy simply doesn’t work. Incremental improvements allow you to budget effectively and measure success. A roadmap needs to be developed with a framework that meets short-term and long-term needs. This roadmap should encompass the next three to five years and be reviewed annually and updated as needed. Your organization will have much more success meeting goals with a roadmap of this caliber.
For your roadmap to be successful, it needs to have clear objectives and all decision-makers need to have an understanding of why a roadmap is all-important for the success of the company.
These should be the three overarching objectives that guide your roadmap:
Minimize Risk
The ability to minimize your IT service disruption requires a proactive approach. IT risk comes in many forms and repeatable processes are usually the answer. Making sure employee disruptions are at a minimum and lost data is an unlikely outcome are important precautions to take.
Cost Optimization
Your technology roadmap should be centered around making the most of your tech budget and maximizing the cost savings associated with the technologies you implement. The opportunities are endless with the right tech. Cost-savings in the long term can include the time saved and efficiency created through better technologies.
Agility
Change-resilient solutions should be the only solutions you implement. These solutions ensure you can re-configure your environment quicker and easier than stagnant solutions. The framework of your roadmap should encourage these types of solutions.
For help creating an IT roadmap and aligning tech solutions with your goals, check out GadellNet’s consulting group.
