We believe every organization should have a technology plan and an IT strategy. If you aren’t sure whether you have both in place – or even what the difference is – then this quick article is going to give you the answers you need.
Technology isn’t just a critical part of your business, it’s a constantly moving target. To be sure you have all of your bases covered, it’s important to maintain a long-term vision while also having a tactical framework that keeps your team productive and on budget. If your company is missing either of those pieces, it’s going to cost you time, money, and frustration.
That brings us to the topic of the day. What’s the difference between a technology plan and an IT strategy?
An IT Strategy Combines Business Goals With Tech Capabilities
Your IT strategy is all about the technology side of what you are trying to accomplish in your business. So, if innovation is one of your organization’s core values, then your IT strategy might be to utilize the newest tools to streamline things like sales, fulfillment, and customer service. It’s a philosophy that helps you when you need to make decisions or set priorities.
This is a simple concept, but when you don’t have an IT strategy in place it can be difficult to choose one path, concept, or solution over another. If there isn’t any guiding sense of what you want technology to do in your company, then how can you decide what to spend, or where that money should go?
You might not have a firm IT strategy in place, but you probably do have a set of guiding concepts that could be refined into one. If you aren’t sure, this is an area where an outsourced IT partner can serve as a virtual CIO and help you to solidify ideas into something that can guide you for years to come.
Your Technology Plan Should Have Some Tactical Pieces
Once you have a technology strategy in place, you can use your plan to develop tactical steps in the shorter term. That’s because your plan will have budgets and timeframes for things like equipment upgrades, data backup and disaster recovery strategies, and even ongoing quarterly or yearly budgets.
All of these tactical pieces help you take the IT strategy you developed and put it to work. They give you focus and clarity on the way you can put your values to work from one decision or quarter to the next.
It’s important to have an IT strategy, but without a tactical plan it doesn’t mean anything. And, a plan that doesn’t follow a bigger set of goals and ideas well inevitably turn into a checklist that doesn’t generate results. You really do have to have both components in place if you’re going to use tech effectively.
Is Your Company Getting Technology Right?
If you feel like you’re constantly fighting with your hardware and software, or don’t know whether you’re making the right kinds of decisions and investments when it comes to tech, we can help. Contact the experts at Fantastic IT today to schedule a free consultation and learn more about what we can do for you.