The money you throw at anything to do with your business can work as one of two things: a fix or an investment. Obviously, the latter option is the better one, but how can you tell if your spending is actually helping support your future successes?
Here, you’ll find four questions that will act as a sort of litmus test to help you answer that question.
What Outcomes Did IT Facilitate?
Perhaps most obviously, you first need to examine any results your business technology delivered… but perhaps not in the way you think.
Take some time to review the reports that IT has delivered. Is the focus primarily on technical metrics (like uptime and the number of closed tickets), or do these reports contextualize the business impact of IT’s efforts (quantifiable boosts in efficiency or customer growth)? The latter is the one you want to see if you’re trying to defend a budgetary investment.
In essence, you want to see if your IT spending made things faster or cheaper for the business to accomplish.
What Tools are Team Members Actually Using?
While you likely took initiative into account during the hiring process, there can be a point when a team member can take too much into their own hands for the sake of productivity. For instance, an employee might get frustrated with the tools they have been provided and instead purchase the software they would rather use with company funds… if not simply downloading a free option from the Internet.
The quick fix is to block these tools, further frustrating the team members using them and causing further delays. The smarter, future-focused approach is more collaborative: investigating why team members sought an alternative and seeking a mutually beneficial outcome—whether that means additional training or the business officially adopting the alternative tool.
Technology should reduce friction in the workplace, not introduce it, so it helps to keep everyone on the same standard.
How is IT Spending Allocated?
In other words, where is your budget actually going?
Too easily, a company can fall into a pattern of investing all its available resources in maintaining its existing tools. When 93% of spending goes into IT repairs, software licenses, and patching, there’s nothing left to help achieve notable growth. A healthier division would look more like 70% of spending being committed to operations, with the remaining 30% going towards any innovative endeavors… the kind that help promote a business’ growth.
Take the opportunity to consider what your IT department is investing in. If effectively all of it is going to things you already have, you’re basically paying a tax on your tools.
Is Your IT Strategy Proactive or Reactive?
While your IT department (and any of its investments) may seem to be intended to respond to the rest of the business’ needs, treating it as such is sacrificing half of its value. In actuality, your IT can and should be the source of as many business advantages as possible. The only way for it to serve as that source, however, is if the department is given the objective and opportunity to improve business operations.
In other words, IT shouldn’t be waiting for a directive or a request. Instead, your IT resource should actively identify and strategize ways to push your business forward. It’s less about need and more about opportunities, less taking orders and more delivering outcomes.
You need to know whether your IT is set to strive for success, or if you’re a passive participant in your service area.
We’re Here to Help You Manage All of This
COMPANYNAME can help your business ensure that its technology spending is optimized for success by investing in the right tools and strategies to promote security and productivity. It’s all about shifting the mindset away from the cost and more towards the benefit.
Interested in finding out more? Give us a call at PHONENUMBER.