Many managers and business owners are in a reactive mode when it comes to their IT investments. They purchase new machines when the current ones have broken down, look for new software when support is being discontinued, or beef up IT security after a breach.
Given the heavy reliance on IT for so many daily activities, it is imperative to be more proactive and think ahead about your potential IT needs. Start by identifying what you have today, then evaluate its effectiveness, and finally, determine the gaps that are standing in the way of achieving your business goals.
Once you have a clear picture of your current capabilities, you can then think about your future IT needs and how you will get there. This is your IT roadmap.
A well-designed IT roadmap looks at your entire organization’s IT stack, including:
- IT hardware and connectivity systems
- Application software capabilities and needs
- Overall system utilization and effectiveness issues
- IT support and resource needs
- IT security and business continuity concerns
Once you are armed with this roadmap, you will be better able to optimize your IT investments to get the most out of your IT spending, while minimizing IT-related business risks.
Sassan S. Hejazi can be reached at Email or 215.441.4600.
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