Hari Patel
Certified Digital Transformation Consultant | Business Process Consultant | Certified Cloud Practitioner | Data Analyst
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Synergizing Business Growth and IT Strategy: Overcoming Challenges with Strategic Solutions
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The global budget for IT is likely to reach $3.92 trillion this year as organizations continue to integrate IT solutions to reinforce their business processes. IT in business fosters innovation which in turn improves data storage, creates smarter applications, enhances processing speed, and thereby boosts overall productivity. Irrespective of its contribution, it may sometimes get overwhelming for IT to cope with the piling needs of a growing business.
Several facets need to be considered when developing an IT strategy for a growing company to ensure that the business’s productivity is not hampered. When an organization expands, formerly stated benchmarks and goals become extraneous. The apparatuses of the business strategy, along with the IT blueprint need to be reviewed and amended to suit the new business situation. There are some common aspects that every growing company should keep in mind when developing its IT strategy.
IT Strategy Challenges
With Growth Comes Challenges
Business and data go hand-in-hand. All businesses depend on huge volumes of data. This data can be anything, including employee details, bills, details of business partners, financial records, customer purchasing behavior, communication with business partners and customers, internal documents, and more. The more the business expands, the more data finds its way into the organization. It becomes difficult for IT to maintain such diverse data in huge volumes. IT solutions should work closely with their team to ensure that the IT needs of the business are taken care of.
New Locations
The growing business also means that there will be new locations. While globalization has made it easy for companies to expand their roots overseas, this step also necessitates the IT team to change or revise all IT-related operations. Offices at new locations require to be integrated with the corporate network for seamless operations. Extending geographical boundaries also means that round-the-clock IT support must be made available.
New Products and Services
Adding new products and services to the company is a giant move towards growth for not just the organization but also for the IT strategy. Many changes would have to be made, including updating all channels for customer interaction, modifying all internal databases, diversifying the information collecting process of customer preferences, and implementing the latest or advanced IT tools for effective online sales and marketing.
Acquisitions and Mergers
In order to expand their business, companies often buy other companies. Acquisition is done to widen the range of products and services, to get a competitive edge, etc. It is common for two growing companies to join their business for mutual benefits. However, when two organizations using different IT strategies come together, they must work together to create a new IT strategy that aligns with the new business objectives.
Limited Time to Implement Changes
A growing business unveils complicated surprises at every step. The issues that arise in the business require the intervention of not just the entrepreneurs or business leaders but also the IT leaders. With the changes in business goals and priorities, the IT strategy also needs to be changed and modified. The IT leadership must take quick steps to adapt to the changes that come, ensuring that the ideas they develop are not just good in theory but equally effective practically.
Resistance to Change
IT strategies are often made to adapt to future needs, keeping in mind the growing nature of the business. Besides supporting the current state affairs, it also allows the IT leadership to glimpse into the future too. However, not everyone is ready to change. Leaders of both business and IT departments tend to focus on their current operating conditions and refuse to accept any changes coming their way. They ignore the risks that come with working with an outdated IT strategy. As a business is scaling up, the IT system should also be able to meet the upgraded business goals. Discrepancies will only misalign the IT strategies of the business firm, making the IT roadmap unproductive.
How to Make an Effective IT Strategy?
While it might not be possible to develop a full-proof IT strategy in a growing or dynamic business environment, but there are some imperatives that will allow IT and business to run smoothly. We have listed here some crucial factors to consider:
Upgrade – Irrespective of the current market conditions, technology is always evolving. Groundbreaking technologies surface almost every other day. The IT strategy structure of every growing business should be built with the dexterity to respond to such changes. The IT framework should be flexible enough to allow quick upgrades to the advanced technologies that make their way into the market. However, they are subject to business requirements and should also be financially justified for the business.
Redundancies – This is basically having a powerful backup system that makes duplicate and/or additional sources available to support the main system in case of a system failure. Storage of significant backup data, storage of drives and servers, and backup of the operating system are the three main redundancies.
Scalability – This is the capacity of a system to manage a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system. Regarding computing, scalability is distinctive of PCs (laptop, computer), databases, networks, networking protocols, and applications.
Integrability – Integrability allows the unification of different software applications and computing systems, functionally or
physically, so they can function as one.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans (DRP/BCP)Every IT department should have DRP and BCP. These are basically documented blueprints comprising approaches that a business should use in case of a disaster, to continue functioning or resume their operations if they had halted them temporarily. It is significant that these plans are tested practically to ensure that they are effective.
Data Protection – Data is a priceless resource, and IT strategy must include the core fundamentals of integrity, confidentiality, and data availability. Cybersecurity measures and data protection should guard the data against corruption, pilferage, leakage, and damage from any internal or external threats.
These features are a few components of a good IT strategy that can be implemented for a growing business. These will ensure that besides the daily functions, a business will readily adapt to changes that may come it’s way in the near future. An impactful IT strategy will allow them to function with ease in any dynamic ecosystem and easily face any emerging challenges.