If you’re reading this from the future, you may have already forgotten the uncertainty that was created during the global COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re reading this while COVID-19 is a present reality, that’s it, I’m done talking about it.

What’s more important are that the benefits of this article are independent of global pandemics or status quo operations. These questions are important for business leaders to ask of their IT teams in almost any era, scale, or type of operations. If you use computers and/or mobile devices, these are important questions.

In the modern landscape of technology, we’ve seen IT shift from a cost center department to a business driving department. Gone are the days when your technology strategy affects nothing but your expenses and liabilities. If technology isn’t driving revenue through efficiencies and scale in your business, then these questions are especially for you.

Further, if you haven’t already read one of our previous posts on simplifying technology at a time when technology is more and more complex, you should read that first because contrary to what your IT team might tell you, there are objective goals for technology that are measurable and proven and striving for those means making technology simpler and more accessible to your team.

Onto the important part. Let’s start with the most important question and hope you stick around to read the other four.

How will our IT look different in 5 years?

First and foremost, this is a strategic question. If there are no plans to make technology more efficient, more cost effective, perform better, or expand it into new areas of opportunity, it’s being done wrong. If in the last 5 years it hasn’t changed quite dramatically, you’re not taking advantage of new advances in technology that you could be. You’re not saving money, you’re not as efficient, or there is a gap in your business you could be filling. Here are 5 answers you need to set a long term IT strategy:

• Current State – What is the current landscape of our IT?
• Existing Direction – What are we currently working towards?
• Incoming Trends – How will incoming trends affect our direction?
• Adoption Rate – Are our people using technology provided?
• Impact – How are we measuring the effects on the business?

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffet

How will our current processes, apps, and services grow when we have a big win?

Plan for the best, prepare for the worst is a good ‘ole saying we’ve all heard. It’s good adage to live by in business and IT. If the business came across a huge new customer, or an acquisition, or entering a new market, how will (if we’re the only ones thinking optimistically for your business there’s other problems) your business processes, apps, and services change to handle this? Do you have processes in place? Do you have distributors that could handle this adjustment? Are your systems resilient and reliable enough to move quickly? While they might not need to do this overnight, there should at least be an answer to this question.

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” – James Cash (J.C.) Penny

What is our business continuity strategy during a disaster?

In the same vane of the good ‘ole saying, make sure you have a plan for when things don’t go well. In our experience, COVID-19 brought to light a lot of gaps in companies’ workflows. Many companies were not ready to work remotely or from home. Many companies’ systems and processes weren’t resilient enough to handle the scaling in personnel. This wasn’t ideal, but what was worse was they didn’t know where to start. Many organizations were scrambling to solve these problems reactively.

We’re not saying you need a plan for every possible pandemic, but to have trusted experts to call that can quickly – and cost effectively – implement a first-class solution is critical. You don’t want to be scrambling to fix a problem after it’s happened. As a point of encouragement, the practice of IT disaster recovery has many robust and proven frameworks that can be implemented at very little cost to ensure you’re prepared for situations both small and extreme.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Are we following local licensing tolerance and data residency regulations?

Our intentions of this article are not to defend licensing costs or the validity of regulatory requirements, but none-the-less, they are required of our businesses. It is important to have greater mindfulness of these but to be more encouraging, the technology industry is full of innovative companies that have extended that innovative mindset to their licensing models. Many companies have very fair, simplified, licensing models that provide more then just a key for their software these days.

Properly licensed software often provides features that pirated or unlicensed versions don’t share and are often some of the most beneficial aspects of the software. They provide levels of integration and access to support experts that can help in maintaining apps and services better than generalists ever could.

Meanwhile regulations assist in providing guidelines for privacy – which should always be a priority – and legal insulation. While sometimes they feel overbearing, there are great benefits and, in our experience, they are not that difficult to adhere to at any size, scale, and with very little impact to budgets with modern technology.

“I have gained this philosophy; that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.” – Aristotle

What is the goal of the IT department or team?

Historically, IT has been strictly a cost center to the business. There has been an unspoken pyramid of importance where the core business is most critical, then sales, marketing, and accounting fall to tier 2, and human resources, legal, and IT are tertiary, etc.

We believe the marketplace has created a new methodology where the core business is in the middle of a circle and all the other business departments have direct impact on that mission. Because of this, it’s more important than ever to have specific goals for each department to strive for to drive the core business forward.

If the IT department or team don’t know what their goal is, they’ll have a tough time moving in that direction in harmony, as well a very difficult time measuring their success or failings. If these goals are known, defined, and measurable, it makes it easier to build processes and automation to assist in the efficiency of the goals.

“If you are not going to divorce the status quo, you will give birth to mediocrity.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

 BONUS: Do you have a trusted IT department or team?

We figured we’d sneak in a bonus question. We at Davinci Technology would love to be, or to offset your existing IT department or team. That being said, if you’d like a fresh start, a new direction, a clearer strategy, IT processes development, an IT audit, or even just a third-party to ask your existing team or provider some accountability questions, please give us a call or reach out to us. We’ve built our business on finding creative ways to make you better through technology.

“Trust, but verify.” – Ronald Reagan