Reasons An IT Strategy Is Essential For The Contemporary Business

By Dawson Flemming


Having an IT strategy that is effective is a hallmark of many successful businesses. In most cases it's up the the Chief Technology Officer to show strength of leadership by drafting a plan and passing it to the heads of other departments to be implemented. The plan usually includes some of the following: cost management, human capital management and risk management, though there are many more facets to information technology plans.

Putting things down in writing is said to be one of the keys to success in any type of planning. It provides a focus for staff and gives them something to consult if ever they need the goals of their department reaffirmed. The key to making plans is to make sure they contain a fair degree of flexibility. The reason is because times changes, and so do a businesses priorities. This means that an information technology strategy has to be flexible enough to take into account these changes.

Business technology management (BTM) has to be embraced by the firm. There are some firms that do not have information technology. These companies have to outsource to ones that specialize in IT. So if your company provides services that help other companies, such as mailing services, database services, document services and network management, implementing BTM will make you run them with more efficiency.

Human capital management (HCM) aims to treat humans as assets and not just employees. The main thrust of the idea is that employees, as assets, can increase in value if they are given ongoing training and told exactly what is expected of them. A system of constant feedback towards staff is essential if HCM is to be effective.

In order to create successful information technology strategies enterprise risk management (ERM) has to be implemented. Almost all firms can benefit from tactics that can minimize losses and control the company finances. What ERM serves to do is create that balance between risk aversion and the need to make money. However, the primary focus of ERM is to avoid making losses when making strategic and operational decisions.

The way a firm identifies and minimizes business uncertainty, as well as legal liabilities, is called vendor risk management(VRM). Risk management dictates that a company adopts VRM policies that apply to external contractors. When a firm buys IT products and hires vendors to run their information technology services, it's essential they can trust the outside firm, especially when sensitive data is involved.

As most information technology strategies focus on saving money, it's not surprising that cost management (CM) exists. The idea is that the projects a firm runs should be subject to close scrutiny and compared closely to their estimates. By monitoring the costs, the theory goes, you'll be more likely yo cut down on them. Additionally, comparisons between actual costs and estimated costs can be made after the project to see where savings could have been made.

A winning IT strategy is usually a combination of constant monitoring of staff and budgets coupled with feedback on whether the performance meets the firm's goals. Ideally, heads of departments in charge of employees, investing, accounting and contracting will buy into the vision and sell it to staff.




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