When talking about strategy – in any capacity – you need to hold a course. A solid strategy comes from a place of experience, history, knowledge, expertise, and an understanding of what to expect. To change with the wind is rarely productive or efficient. However, when does a strategy need reviewing? This is something we regularly discuss in terms of technology, systems, and infrastructure; to up-and-change whenever there is a new technology or flavour of the month is unproductive and costly to a business, in every way. At some point though we all need to review what we have, and if it fits with how we’re performing, and if it will help us reach our goal? The following will help you consider at what point your technology review should occur.
Security
Firstly, consider the security of the business. If you’re not protected against the latest threats, this should be a concern and flagged as a risk. Cyber threats are ever increasing, and a solid IT strategy will take these into account and have ways of updating and adopting new practices. It will also provide a way to respond to new vulnerabilities and malicious tactics. It’s never going to happen to you… until it does. Be prepared and ensure any downtime is minimised.
Support and development
Next, do the vendors have your back? Are all your current business critical elements covered by support, and within a vendor’s development life-cycle? Technology is around us more than ever, and your business infrastructure needs to have the agility to utilise and respond to rapid changes. If the vendor isn’t developing your applications, or releasing regular updates to your underlying operational systems, it’s time to have a look at what you’re running your business on. You need to consider how you can continue to function if any element fails, or how you will make swift changes to maintain clients or keep up with their requirements.
Execution
How about the performance and efficiency of your staff? If your technology is not actively enabling and empowering staff to be more effective, work smarter, reduce costs, or execute at the maximum intensity, then you’re missing out on some serious business. This could be from the top or bottom-line, but either way, can you afford to overlook it? Its always easy to blame technology when it breaks, or slows us down, but it comes back to understanding the options and how best to utilise the resources available to you.
Innovation, and dare we say, disruption…
Finally, are you innovating? Are you creating new, better ways of delivering the services to your customer base? If the systems you have in place are not, then the chances are someone else in your market is. Again, technology should be an enabler; not just to continue to perform, but to strive for better, to reach more people and deliver superior services. Not just to beat the competition, but to stand aside from them.
So, is it time?
When it comes to the infrastructure that runs your business, regardless if it’s hardware based or entirely run from the cloud; if it’s application heavy or you run on spreadsheets; if you have a data-centre that looks like an international space station or you run from a few PCs in a garage; if any of the above resonate, it’s time for a rethink.
We love this stuff. We love helping customers find the right technology stack that enables them to be the best at what they do. It’s simply why we are here. If you want a chat or to have someone cast their eyes over your current strategy, fill out your details and we will get in touch. Nothing would make us happier.
We would suggest the time is now.
