A strategic IT plan is often the roadmap used by organisations to articulate how technology will be leveraged to categorise, store, process and transfer data, as well as where competitive advantages may be created. You’re probably wondering what all of this means and how it has anything to do with your organisation.
This blog will show three key signs that your strategic planning process may need work, and why it’s absolutely vital for your organisation to have it in order to reach its strategic goals. Poor strategic technology planing will often result in having a computer system that does not run at optimum efficiency. Without unifying the technology platform through the strategic planning processes, systems often grow ad hoc which creates unnecessary complexity and double handling of the information. Lastly, the overall risk profile of the organisation (due to possible downtime or security risks) is likely to be higher in the long term. All of these issues can hurt your organisation in a tangible way and will prevent it from optimally reaching its desired goals.
So what does an organisation that has poor strategic IT planning look like?
1. System running poorly and users getting frustrated
Lack of strategic IT planning often firsts manifests itself in systems which run poorly. Often this poor performance is a result of the underlying technology platform not being originally scoped to handle the increased demands of the organisation as it grows. As this continues to grow "ad hoc", more users are added and more technology is bolted on the system becomes more and more inefficient.
When a system is not being optimally run, it negatively impacts the organisation in both a tangible and intangible manner. Inefficiency in the system, whether it is system downtime or the delays when using applications will have a significant impact on your organisation financially, costing you both time and money. A well thought-out technology plan will identify flaws in the underlying technology platform and provide the "gap" which needs to be crossed between the needs of your information systems and the underlying platform to power it.
As an organisation, you want your employees to be motivated and have faith in your systems. When they must deal with inefficiencies and an ineffective information system, employees’ frustrations and resentment will affect their views of not only the system, but the organisation that uses (and therefore forces them to use) these systems - in other words, they may come to resent your organisation.
Related: What causes a slow IT system?
2. Double handling of information
Another common symptom of a lack of strategic IT planning is when staff must manually transfer data between systems.
Without a well drawn-out plan, there is a great chance your organisation is not handling information in the most efficient way. A common problem is that software systems are added over time but are not completely integrated, and there may be widespread use of Excel to store information. As a result of this, information is manually transferred by staff between systems - a very time consuming and error-prone process. It is very important that things such as databases and Excel spreadsheets have a clearly thought-out process to ensure that they are being used for their intended purpose and not for a replacement information management system.
Ad hoc solutions like Excel and Access databases do not scale well; if it isn’t currently hurting your organisation, it will eventually as you grow. Ensuring that information is handled effectively will benefit your organisation as there will be a reduction in processing time. This means that more time can be allocated to the real goals and objectives of the organisation.
3. Lack of a documented IT strategy
A documented IT strategy details your organisation’s IT goals over the next six months to three years as well as outlining key risk management issues and critical success factors. Often, the planning process may be ad hoc, or reside as a list of priorities in someone's notepad however organisations that have effective strategic IT planning understand the importance of developing a cohesive and comprehensive IT strategy.
By having this clearly documented and circulated through senior management, you are also ensuring that your organisation holds itself (or your external partner) accountable for delivering on it's strategic objectives.
Start your strategic IT planning
By incorporating a well thought-out Strategic IT Plan, your organisation will benefit massively in both tangible and intangible ways. Maximising the efficiency of your information systems will benefit your organisation in a tangible manner, and one of the most obvious consequences of a working system is happier users.
A good strategic IT plan will utilise technology to deliver on the objectives of the organisation. By undertaking effective planning processes the organisations will identify opportunities to improve efficiency, increase productivity and create a competitive advantage through technology.
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