As your company continues to emerge from the crisis, having the right IT infrastructure in place to support future growth is going to be crucial. But when you’re considering whether your IT systems are agile enough to meet those needs, it’s important to make sure that the priorities are right. Because your business needs should be driving your IT strategy, rather than technology steering the business.

Make IT a differentiator

It’s easy to view IT as a cost centre that, if you get the balance right, can drive efficiencies. But if you use it effectively, it can be the means that enables you to achieve your business aims, by supporting your short or long-term strategies. The key is to always put your business needs first by reviewing your business strategy and briefing the IT experts available to you, so they can develop an IT strategy that supports your organisation’s goals.

How? One option is to form an IT Steering Group within your business. Their role is to step back and look at the bigger picture. By examining your overall business needs, they can steer your IT department on the solutions they need. The group needs to represent every relevant area of your business, but they must put their own individual department’s priorities to one side and look at the needs of the business as a whole. This allows them to act as advisors, ensuring the IT team understands the desired business outcomes, but leaving the IT leadership to make the more technical decisions around how to achieve the business goals. This will lead to a single, business-wide solution that benefits everyone, rather than individual solutions for each business area that might be right for that team, but which are disparate and disjointed.

External IT Support

This is where an external IT service provider such as SDT can help. We can work alongside your steering group to help them understand the pressure points on your IT systems, such as the different processes you use, or the availability and accessibility of vital systems for your employees. By taking an objective approach to evaluating your business needs, we can give you unbiased advice on the best way forward.

Interested in making sure your IT is aligned to your business? Talk to us

If you would like to find out how we can work with you to develop an IT strategy that meets your evolving business needs, contact Andrew Wayman  at  andrew.wayman@sdt.co.uk or call our office on +44 (0)1344 870062.