Managing technology for your organization can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to responding to issues and staying on top of near-constant changes. That's why we developed a simple, three-step method called PointProcess, which allows you to move forward with managing technology by creating strategies that are flexible enough that your business can adapt quickly.
In this introduction to PointProcess, I’ll walk you through those three steps and lay out how they’ll help you to make better decisions. So you can stay ahead of the competition, no matter what challenges lie ahead.
PointProcess is much like product development, it’s agile, iterative, and happens in three distinct stages over a period of time:
As with any design-centered process, your IT strategy roadmap doesn’t end when you launch. Even after designing, developing, and executing your plan, you’ll likely encounter issues with new systems, tools, and users that will force you to have to revisit one or all of the three stages and try again.
Before diving into the technical details of your current information technology infrastructure, you should pause and take a step back to reflect on your business strategy, short-term and long-term goals, and business priorities.
Ask high-level questions, like:
Lazorpoint can partner with you to conduct an assessment of your people, processes, and technology and develop an IT strategy roadmap that will help you plan for and reach your goals. The roadmap is a carefully thought-out plan to ensure your organization has everything it needs, people included, to turn your vision into reality.
Once you have an IT strategy roadmap based on your organization’s goals and business strategies—including the approximate timing of when these initiatives will start and end—you can begin to execute on this roadmap, knowing we are here when you need us. This isn’t just about building out the technology infrastructure and business applications. It’s about ensuring the people with the necessary unique skill sets as well as the right processes are in place to achieve your goals and absorb the effects of any major changes.
Because here’s the thing: A strong information technology strategy is not optional if you want your business to grow.
When these new systems are up and running, you will need to proactively maintain their health. To ensure the highest possible performance for your customers and employees, we can put mechanisms and/or processes in place that will respond appropriately when unforeseen issues arise.
Even when these technologies are updated to align with customer demands, they'll still require maintenance from time to time. Such maintenance includes reviewing procedures to meet changing consumer needs while maximizing the availability and performance of your systems.
The next insight of my series on building a better IT strategy focuses on the Think stage of the Think, Build, Run planning model to help your business begin the planning process.