[Approx. 5 minutes reading time]
In the world of business, you have a lot of things to worry about.
At any one moment in time, you need to be keeping a range of different functions operating efficiently to propel your company forward.
But one particular area tends to stand out from the rest - and that is your technology.
The way that your company uses its technology is a key lever that is going to determine how successful you can be - and it's something you need to be paying careful attention to.
If you don't have an I.T. strategy in place, you're leaving lots of value on the table and it's holding your business back.
Here are 5 reasons why NOT having an IT strategy is a mistake:
- Security Vulnerabilities
- Technology Becomes Outdated
- Overspending on your IT Budget
- Insufficient Internal Maintenance
- Missed Automation Opportunities
1. Security Vulnerabilities
Some of the biggest risks that modern companies face comes in the form of cybersecurity risks - and we've seen numerous companies get caught out because they weren't taking this seriously.
Good IT strategy will incorporate cutting edge cybersecurity that protects your business against malicious actors and ensures that you are never putting your clients' data or your data at risk.[1]
If you don't have a strategy to deal with these risks, it's only a matter of time until you face the financial and reputational costs of a security breach in your internal systems.
This should be a non-negotiable.
2. Technology Becomes Outdated
Business technology is always evolving and if you don't have an IT strategy for maintaining, upgrading, and updating your devices - you'll find that it gets out of date quickly.
If you leave this too late, it can negatively impact your operations, your customer experience, and cause you a lot of headaches in time.
It's much more efficient to keep up to date on a regular basis[2] and the only way you do this is by implementing a strategy so that it remains a company priority.
By making this a regular thing, it also creates opportunities for you to discover new ways of doing your work and this innovation can be a catalyst for true transformation if you give it a chance to flourish.
The best IT strategy helps you to be proactive and get ahead of the curve, rather than waiting for others to force you to change.
3. Overspending on your IT Budget
If you're not careful, your IT spending can get out of hand really quickly.
With so many different components to take care of, you want to make sure that you're getting value from the money that you're spending.
A good IT strategy will help you to prioritize the key areas that require investment and help you to avoid overspending in areas that aren't moving the needle for your business[3].
Every cent that you can save in this area can be deployed to push your business forward so it's worth looking for every opportunity to do so.
This budgeting process also helps to align your future IT investments with your strategic investments.
Your IT strategy should be long-term in nature, and it should be adapting to the current business circumstances that you're facing.
When this is done well, it can be a wonderful aid to growing and scaling your operations in a sustainable way.
4. Insufficient Internal Maintenance
As your company gets bigger, it gets more important that your internal IT systems work efficiently and reliably.
If you don't have a good IT strategy in place, these can very quickly become clunky and unreliable which has a vast array of negative downstream effects as a consequence.
By making the maintenance of your internal systems a key part of the strategic plan[4] you can avoid these problems and keep everything running smoothly all the time.
Whenever your business technology is down, you place the entire operation at risk because of your inability to function as expected and how that harms the built-up trust that you've developed with your customers.
You never want to find yourself in that position, so making it part of your strategy can help you manage these risks.
5. Missed Automation Opportunities
One of the key developments that is making waves in the business world is the increased use of automation within internal processes.
These advancements can be revolutionary for businesses of all types, and it can completely change the landscape if you can implement them in a smart way.
However, you don't get any of these benefits if you don't have a good IT strategy in place.
Without an IT strategy, your business is not actively looking for these potential improvements[5] and you're not looking at your business holistically to discover where automation can be useful.
As such, you'll end up sticking with the status quo for far too long and you'll let your competitors go past you in the process.
Conclusion
There you have it - those are 5 reasons why having no IT strategy is holding you back as a company in the modern world.
Hopefully you can see that this is terrible state of affairs and that it could be the reason why your business is at a plateau.
Unlocking the power of strategic IT usage can transform your organization.
Here at Continuous Networks we've helped numerous clients get on top of this and implement the right IT strategies to push their company forward.
If you're looking for a Virtual CIO / CTO to lead these efforts, or even an entirely co-managed IT team to work with you - be sure to get in touch today.
We'd love to hear your story and get you the best IT strategy for 2021 and beyond!
References
[1] 'Five Ways to Protect Your Company Against Cyber Attacks' by Alniz Popat. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/316886
[2] 'How to Keep Up With Changing Technology Trends' by Zachary Smith. https://blog.thomasnet.com/keep-up-with-changing-technology-trends
[3] 'IT Budget Management Basics (+ Best Practices)' from Contender Solutions. https://blog.contendersolutions.com/information-technology-budget-management
[4] '8 Components of a Great IT Strategy' by Joe Hertvik. https://www.bmc.com/blogs/it-strategy/#
[5] 'Easy Automation Wins Your Business May Be Missing Out On' by Scott Batchelor. https://netsells.co.uk/insights/easy-automation-wins-your-business-may-be-missing-out-on
