Our “White Paper” series is all about the business of IT. Topics like password security, IT management, and technology purchases are all covered in our informative series aimed to help small businesses achieve their technology goals.
As a business owner, you are required to wear a lot of different hats which can be challenging – especially in areas you aren’t as familiar with. For many business owners, leading an IT department was something they had never planned to do. After working in IT for 30 years and consulting with hundreds of companies I have seen almost every form of IT management – and mismanagement. In this series of articles, I draw from that experience to outline some best practices for you as a business owner to leverage to get the most from your Information Technology.
During my time in the industry I’ve come to recognize that a good IT department doesn’t just manage your technological needs, they make sure your technology is aligned with the company’s overall goals and objectives.
It means that Information Technology enables your entire organization to accomplish the goals of the business. Information Technology is not just a bunch machines sitting in some environmentally controlled room with lots of blinking lights, it represents the heartbeat of your business.
As such, business leaders must adjust their perspective on Information Technology by thinking of it strategically. How does a business think of Information Technology strategically? By defining the guidelines by which Information Technology should be viewed within the organization. In other words, I recommend business leaders to establish “IT Principles” that serve to guide the entire organization as it moves, adjusts and adapts to the business current it finds itself in. These Principles are high level statements about technology, and its use within the organization, intended to be debated and wrestled with by its leaders to gain consensus. Information Technology is a constantly moving and evolving industry and those within an organization need to reference these Principles to support their decisions and stay aligned with corporate objectives.
Below are some principles I recommend for every business to consider:
You can – and should – view Information Technology like any other business asset. Some assets are leveraged to enable revenue generation and others to reduce costs and some a little of both. By viewing IT as an asset as opposed to just a cost to control, the organization will make decisions that better align it to business objectives.
Your IT department should implement systems and products that result in high end-user (or employee) productivity, that means reducing the number of manual procedures and duplicative work. It also means that everyone has immediate access to the organizational data they need to best do their job.
Your business data is one of the most important assets your business has, so your IT department needs to keep it safe. Establishing secure access to resources and data and implementing appropriate controls means the right people have access to the right information. And, when your data is centralized and secure, it also all lives in one place, reducing redundancy.
Flexibility is the greatest strength of well-designed IT. Information Technology that is planned properly is adaptable, adjustable, and scalable – ready to do new things at a moment’s notice. Outsourcing firms are especially helpful in this capacity as they can instantly scale your team and technologies to meet your fluctuating needs.
With these principles in mind your Information Technology will become a strong backbone for all of the operations of your business. If your small business’ needs are outgrowing your IT departments capabilities to meet these principles, consider working with an outside IT company that is ready to help you build a better, smarter program.