As the year winds down, it’s crystal clear that business leaders have much to discuss. Neglected IT infrastructure vs an ever evolving threat landscape and growing business needs cast doubt on your organization’s ability and capacity to address imminent tech challenges. Add to that the fact that technology is often viewed as another overhead or operational cost rather than an investment and you have the perfect breeding ground for overwhelming IT challenges. Unfortunately, here’s where business leaders get it wrong.
With tech planning, organizations not only set up the right parameters to guide their technology systems and equipment purchases and IT talent acquisition. A sound tech plan further addresses the issues of costs and the broader threat landscape facing your current and future tech ecosystem. Eventually, this paves way for the deployment of effective and practical IT solutions while enhancing your organization’s product and service quality.
In this article, we highlight the essential considerations when developing tech plans, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.
Why is Tech Planning Important?
The importance of technology planning cannot be overstated. No matter how big or small your organization is, chances are that you already have established (and documented) procedures that dictate your technology decisions.
Despite their comprehensive nature, these documented tech plans are often shelved far away in the organization’s cloud storage and seldom looked at. This brings up the question; why even bother creating one in the first place?
Let’s begin with your organization’s tech needs, which can vary based on size, industry, and season – to state a few. Certainly, these factors have a profound impact on the cost of technology for your business. A solid tech plan addresses these implications by taking into account your existing tech resources, their use across the company, effectiveness, and performance, among other factors.
As employees and consumers grow more dependent on technology, business leaders need to think about its impact on productivity and the factors that might slow down its performance. A minute-long downtime can cost about $427 in losses. This does not include missed revenue opportunities, and immeasurable customer dissatisfaction. Once again, tech planning helps address imminent downtime issues with established maintenance schedules and regular performance assessments.
Security Impact and Concerns
Security is one of the key areas that require meticulous planning in business. But here’s the thing: small businesses don’t often view themselves as a lucrative target until it’s too late.
Earlier in September 2024, Kawasaki’s European arm reported that it was in the process of isolating affected servers after an attempted attack on its data by the RansomHub group. However, this was not an isolated incident.
In the same month, Lehigh Valley Health Network agreed to shell out $65 million in reparations for a massive data leak that affected more than 130,000 people.
Every day, thousands of people and hundreds of businesses fall victim to cyber attacks in the form of phishing attacks, social engineering scams, and other types of attacks. Technology planning identifies your organization’s risk portfolio and helps your security and staff to brace for the inevitable.
Taking on a reactive approach comes intuitively, but with modern cyber attacks, this approach simply doesn’t work anymore. A sound technology plan encourages preventive measures and channels resources to proactive resources, such as multi factor authentication, advanced firewalls, and the expert cybersecurity services of a third-party managed IT provider such as Boomtech.
Device Compatibility for Fluid Flow of Data
We’ve all faced moments when our hardware doesn’t support the software we’re supposed to use. When employees spend hours trying to make things work, it bears a significant negative impact on performance and productivity.
When you’re tasked with ensuring smooth flow of data between users and department, some key questions may include:
- Does the current IT network suffice to support day-to-day operations?
- Do your tech investment benefits outweigh the costs?
- How easy do employees find it to access data both on premises and remotely?
- Does your current technology play out to your organization’s long and short-term objectives?
The effects of poor tech planning can be seen in the effectiveness and overall performance of your technology. Worse, these effects could spiral to other internal users and customer satisfaction.
Outdated, Damaged, and Ineffective Technology
Outdated tech plagues rhe greater majority (70%) of organizations. Commence your assessment by evaluating your existing tech infrastructure. Underperforming hardware and software could indicate clear signs of damage or outdated application.
In your assessment, it’s easy to lose sight of your organization’s goals and objectives. What results are you trying to achieve? Are you trying to expand your market reach to new consumers? Keep your goals in sight and align your technology to achieve them.
IT Staffing and Labor Resources
Beyond surface-level IT administration, organizations will need to ensure that their IT stations are manned by adequate and skilled experts. With future IT security challenges set to exacerbate and costs on a steep growth trajectory, it’s necessary to ensure that your organization receives quality care and support of a seasoned IT provider with your best interests at heart.
Managed IT providers match this description; third-party managed IT services such as Boomtech often bring the tools, equipment, and workforce to meet your IT demands with accuracy and cost-efficiency.
But adequate IT management banks on a well-equipped, knowledgeable virtual chief information officer. With an MSP setup, businesses receive specialized and dedicated support from their vCIO, who is often endowed with years of experience in both low-level and high-level support functions such as cybersecurity. As such, these professionals are better equipped to develop and execute your technology plan and seek stakeholder buy-in across the organization.
Bonus: Take Inventory of Your Achievements and Shortcomings with Existing Tech Plans
Analytics and historical data should reveal how well your tech investments hold up their end. The test of time can reveal critical areas of interest, particularly when it comes to the involvement of technology in practical business applications.
Key metrics to look out for in this respect include system uptime (and downtime), adoption rate, user satisfaction, and overall productivity.
Remember, technology management should be treated as an ongoing process with regular improvement, maintenance, and upkeep. This is administered in response to the growing and evolving needs of the people technology is made for (employees and customers).
Don’t Leave Your Tech Plan to Chance! Get Expert Help Today
Boomtech is a leading managed IT provider in Baltimore, MD. We specialize in providing top-notch third-party managed IT services to our clients, such as cybersecurity planning, security awareness training, ongoing maintenance and support for existing systems, and much more. Book your free consultation with us to learn more about how we can help!
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Hear from Philipp Baumann, owner and founder of BoomTech:
