You can use an ICT plan to establish the role of ICT in supporting your overall corporate goals and strategy over some time, such as a year or even longer. Keeping it up-to-date should be done regularly to keep up with new trends and upcoming technology that your organisation may benefit from investing in. Your strategic ICT can be an independent document that outlines the objectives of your organisation and the role that technology will play in helping you accomplish those objectives, or it can be an integral element of your overall business plan. To get the most out of your ICT strategy, you should incorporate all your departments, not just your ICT staff. To be successful, your ICT strategy must be aligned with your company’s overall goals.
There are a variety of approaches to developing and presenting an ICT strategy that can be used to customise your document to the preferences of your organisation. There are, however, a few points to keep in mind when formulating your approach.
Establish roles and duties for each person
Individual responsibilities, both internal and external, are critical to any ICT strategy. A lack of clarity about who is responsible for what can lead to a breakdown in relationships between organisations, their internal departments, and their ICT service providers. Others prefer to retain control and administration of their IT strategy inside, while others outsource this function entirely.
Regardless of which model you choose, it is essential to define each stakeholder’s obligations to avoid ambiguities explicitly. It’s also critical to have a single point of contact for IT to prevent software duplication and wasted money.
Establish a starting point
After allocating roles and ownership of your strategic ICT, the next step is to conduct an audit of your present provision to identify what you’re already utilising and where it can be streamlined or made more efficient. As a result, you will be able to identify and remove any apps or software that perform a similar function. You may be able to remove unnecessary costs and discover areas in which you should invest right away. Auditing your current IT environment will help you identify any areas that need improvement.
Storage concerns, non-compliant programmes, and systems that can’t handle a large number of users or the amount of data they process are just some of the potential problems. Use this time to assess your current gear and determine whether or not it needs to be replaced or upgraded and how you’ll pay for it.
Set a spending limit for the year
Controlling your costs is a significant advantage of having a successful ICT strategy. The long-term benefits of a well-planned approach to hardware and software are more cost-effective and allow for better budgeting. Rolling cycles are the best way to handle certain goods. For example, buying 1,000 laptops in year one and replacing them all in year four might not be the best approach if your organisation needs to replace them every three years.
To avoid the headache of having to replace every three years, you can replace several hundred each year on an ongoing basis. Without a suitable ICT strategy and corresponding plan, this cannot be achieved. Most software products can be purchased on a subscription basis in the cloud, which means you only pay for what you use and can swiftly scale up or down, depending on your current needs. As a result, substantial initial software acquisition and licencing expenditures are avoided.
Even while the early cost savings are essential, you should constantly focus on the long-term goal of reducing your organisation’s ICT expenditures. ICT improvement isn’t the only goal of digital transformation. The focus should be on making your IT systems work better for your company. Spending an extra $30,000 to save your company $2 million for a decade may be preferable to saving $30,000 in the short term.
Avoid falling behind if you want to succeed
Technology is constantly evolving, with new products and services entering the market. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, it’s essential to keep an eye out for developing trends and new technology that could benefit your organisation. You’ll be obliged to consider the implications of future technological advancements on your organisation if you plan forwards as part of the creation of your ICT strategy. There is a chance that adopting them early will help you gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. As mentioned at the outset of this piece, it’s essential to keep an eye on the rapidly changing technological scene and keep a living, breathing document updated to reflect those changes.
