5 Components that Make a Great IT Strategy

A great IT strategy is not just about the technology. It’s also about how it can help your business grow and succeed. With a good understanding of what an IT strategy entails, you’ll be able to build one that will work for your business. You’ll want to start by making sure that the strategy is understandable and easy-to-use for all of your staff, aligned with your company’s goals, and focused on present and future needs within the field of IT. To ensure that you’re adapting to changes in IT and your business with ease, it’s important to have a flexible plan too! Finally, the last key element that makes a great IT strategy is to focus on cost efficiency. This helps you get the best bang for your buck while getting everything you need from your IT strategy. If you want to learn more about how to build an IT strategy, what’s involved in it, or the benefit of having one, keep reading!

Understandable for all staffsection_1

Building a great IT strategy is all about making sure that your technology is up to standard and your team are able to complete their work successfully. However, if an IT strategy is too technical and overcomplicated it can be difficult for people who aren’t tech-savvy or lack computer knowledge. Which is why having an easy to understand IT strategy is so important. This way everyone knows exactly how IT can help them achieve their goals and generally understand it better. Not only will this make them feel supported but it’ll also cut down time spent asking questions and waiting on answers from the experts.

Aligned with business goalssection_2

For an IT strategy to be successful, it must also align with your business’s goals and objectives. This means understanding what’s important for your business right now and what direction you want your business to go in the future. Once you understand the present and future needs of your business, it’s much easier to align your IT strategy with company goals. An effective way of doing this is by involving key stakeholders like managers and chief executive officers with the building of any strategies. They’ll be able to give you valuable insight into the organisations’ current challenges or pain points, making it easier for your IT strategy to offer valuable technical support that will assist with achieving current business objectives and later on down the line.

Focus on IT presently and in the futuresection_3

The next thing your IT strategy should consider in order to be successful is to focus on the present and future needs of the business. The reason this should be considered when building any effective IT strategy is because both business objectives and technology advancements can change rapidly. The needs of a business right now are going to be different to the needs in the future. So your IT strategy must consider the technology requirements right now and further down the line so it remains relevant to the business. Technology also changes quickly, chances are you’ll need to upgrade your equipment as time goes on to stay relevant. So while it might seem like overkill now, if your strategy recognises the need to invest in modern technologies (for example, virtual reality software), it will ensure your business stays ahead of competitors who ignore emerging trends.

Adaptable to change with your businesssection_4

A key factor to building a great IT strategy is to always take into account how well the strategy can adapt with the business. Depending on changing circumstances, it’s very common for a business to change its direction or focus on other goals. This means that when building your IT strategy, make sure it is open to possible changes and can adapt with the business. If the strategy cannot be adapted, it will no longer be relevant to your technology and cannot provide support for your team and the organisation.

Cost-effectivesection_5

Finally, a great IT strategy should be cost effective for your business. It is impossible to plan strategically without considering the financial side of things. It’s crucial to identify what technology is worth investing in. You don’t want to spend more money than necessary on something that may not even benefit you in future years or invest in something that needs an upgrade every time there’s a new technology breakthrough.

Tips on building a great IT strategysection_6

Once you’ve got a clear idea about why having an IT system is beneficial , how do you go about putting one together? It can be quite difficult to build, but here are some tips that should help:

• Keep it simple – don’t try to take on too much at once as this will only overwhelm your team and makes success less likely.
• Get an expert in – if you’re struggling, ask someone who knows what they are doing for help! There’s no shame in not knowing everything about IT management so make use of those around you with relevant skills and knowledge.
• Collaborate – the whole point is that technology should be working together, rather than against each other. The best thing to do here is try a pilot project where certain aspects of different technologies can work alongside each other before deciding on how/if to implement them more widely throughout your company.

Working with technology can be daunting. You might not know what you need or how to use IT properly, but the best thing to do is ask someone who knows what they’re talking about. Onestop IT offer a wide range of skills and knowledgebase to help build a great IT strategy for your business. Get in touch today by calling 0131 5100 100 or start a web chat with a member of the team!