Questions to ask yourself
Do you have a difficult time getting a straight answer regarding total cost of information technology?
Are you uncertain about you’re IT team’s productivity?
Does your IT TEAM work in unison with the goal of the company?
Do you feel that your IT team is more concerned technology than profits?
Matching technology return on investment for many companies continues to be a challenge. You are not alone. Companies have struggled with this question for decades, “What is financially appropriate technology for our business?”
Many technology professionals continue to be enamored with technology rather than focus on the bottom line. Technologists thrive on the perceptions of being Wizards of the keyboard and need strategic direction to focus on core business needs. Scott advisory has used the following practices to help IT teams meet business expectations:
1.Tie technology tasks directly to financial goals
2.Track efforts, find efficiencies, and reduce costs
3. It's not about technology it's about business
4. Ability to say no, and explain why
5. Standardized to make it easier
Tie technology tasks directly to financial goals
Technologists are not trained to focus on the bottom line. If businesses simply tie the financial obligations of the technology group to the company’s bottom line, with clear expectations of expense control, technology professionals will try to achieve these goals. Outlining a clear and precise chart of monthly and quarterly financial goals will help guide expectations. We have seen the practice of reviewing monthly burn down reports that calculate actual expenses burn rates relative to company revenues as very effective tools. When teams understand the correlations, technologists will actively participate meeting corporate financial goals. In many cases, the issues are related to individual or group maturity. Your firm may need to move up the chain of more standardized practices. This is a good problem to have, because these issues are a matter of growth and education.
More to come...
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