There’s no denying it. We are living in the digital age, and just about every aspect of our daily lives depends on our ability to appropriately incorporate and use technology. Technology also plays many important roles in your business, from increasing customer experience to creating new business models. Here’s what you need to know about using technology to its fullest to truly drive your business strategy forward.
Don’t Just Look at the Long-Term Business Model
Once upon a time, creating a technology strategy took quite a bit of time and focused mostly on the long-term technology needs of the business. A company would consider what they would need over the next three to five years. Then, figure out what they had to do to get there. Things have changed in today’s digital world. Technology changes so quickly that it’s become almost impossible to determine what you’ll need in three to five years, because technology may be completely different by then. It is now more important and effective to consider which technology your company can benefit from right now.
Planning for Shorter-Term Goals
The length of time that your business strategy should cover depends a lot on the technology you have available to you right now. Look at your current vision and strategy, and figure out what you want and where you hope to go. Then, create a new vision that describes what you will need to support that strategy, and goes from there. You may only be able to plan for a year in advance, so in this case, think small. If you expect to gain 2,000 more clients in the next year, plan for the technologies you’ll need to handle those additional clients. Then, you can reassess in a year.
The Development of Multiple Models
Because technology changes so quickly, it’s hard for companies to even consider what they’ll need in a year or two. For this reason, it is vital that IT personnel work directly with other staff to stay in the loop. Along the way, your IT staff should be developing multiple architectural models that fit the strategy and technology vision. As they do this, other members of staff can review them, discuss them, and ensure that they can scale with business needs and priorities as they change in the future.
Don’t Discount Current Technology
All too often, companies try to move forward from their current technology before it’s truly necessary. For example, you might think that your business will need a new software platform next year due to increased load that your current software just can’t handle, but it’s possible that the current software will transform and change before then. It’s important to take these things into consideration and cover a variety of possible scenarios to make the best possible choices going forward.
Supporting your business strategy with technology can be daunting, especially when things change so much – and so fast. However, as long as your IT department works alongside your staff, they’re planning for a variety of scenarios, and they aren’t looking too far into the future, it’s possible to make the right choices at just the right times.
As an IT professional myself, I fully agree and endorse this. Both from a practical and a monetary standpoint.