The demands of operating in today’s marketplace continue to evolve at a rapid pace, perhaps just as rapidly as the introduction of new and emerging technologies. While the use of technology brings many benefits to consumers, businesses, and organizations alike, it also puts constant pressure on C-Suite executives to monitor industry trends, adapt the business strategy to maintain or improve profitability, and modernize tech to remain competitive.
C-Suite executives are highly adept at adjusting their business and sales strategies to address market challenges and needs, but is the organization’s technology strategy adaptable enough to meet those same market demands?
Furthermore, is the technology strategy truly aligned with the business strategy, or does it fall short of supporting the organization’s strategic growth goals for the next three to five years? Finally, is the tech strategy helping drive revenue and profitability for the organization–or is it hindering it?
To address the constantly evolving technology space, businesses and organizations often recruit new, top talent for Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and similar roles. However, when these individuals – who are new to the organization or the industry – begin to understand the business and its current technology systems, it can be difficult to obtain a holistic view of the present, much less the future. Additionally, while the concept of using technology to drive revenue is not new, some organizations struggle to harness technological resources and capabilities in a forward-thinking manner that enhances or creates revenue opportunities. This is when an external partner can provide tremendous value to these individuals as they begin their new roles to help them become an even greater asset to the organization.
In this article, we will cover:
Do You Need a New Technology Strategy?
As CIOs and CTOs begin their deep dive into the business and its technological assets and systems, many have found themselves asking these questions:
- Does our current IT structure have gaps in serving the organization’s current needs?
- Are we missing the mark in aligning our tech strategy and business goals?
- Are there ways to more fully leverage technology and its capabilities to increase revenue-driving opportunities?
- As I review our current assets and strategy, do I need more IT support – both strategically and from an implementation perspective – to accomplish our goals?
- Is the information I am receiving internally comprehensive and forward-thinking – or simply an explanation of what’s been done in the past?
- As I acclimate to my new role and develop my strategic IT plan for the future:
- Do I need help creating the plan?
- Once created, how do I validate the plan?
- Can I achieve more meaningful insight around market or industry trends from external, third-party experts to inform the plan?
If the answer is “yes” to any of these questions, it is worth exploring how to engage and leverage technology consulting expertise to maximize the CIO/CTO’s impact on the organization’s success.
When an Externally Supported Technology Strategy Makes Sense
When faced with adversity or challenging market conditions, businesses and organizations of all sizes have engaged third-party experts to help navigate those challenges and come out ahead. Sales and marketing teams engage advertising and marketing agencies to increase awareness and generate new customers; human resource departments utilize external platforms or systems to support hiring and people management; and operations teams leverage consulting resources to optimize distribution channels and customer touchpoints. The engagement of any of these third parties is typically rooted in how their areas of expertise can drive revenue growth and profitability. With this in mind, why would IT strategy and functions be any different?
Sometimes, technology strategy and functions fall victim to, “we’ve always done it this way; why change what works or reinvent the wheel?” or “technology is just a component of operations and doesn’t really generate revenue.” When joining a new organization, CIO/CTO leaders sometimes face this mentality, or experience inflexibility or pushback from internal team members who have played a historical role in the current strategy or structure. Even if fellow C-Suite executives can opaquely foresee new technological opportunities or understand the need to technologically evolve, sometimes that support can take time to trickle down.
How a Technology Strategy Provides Value
Just like other external consultants, vendors, or business partners, third-party technology experts help incoming CIOs/CTOs – or even existing leadership – gain a more in-depth understanding of the current landscape, and more importantly, how to formulate a forwarding-looking technology strategy that aligns with business goals and that can support revenue generation.
Business Alignment
It is essential for an IT strategy to align with the strategic goals of the business or organization. Technology consultants provide the capability to deep dive into the business and its industry, identify market trends, and formulate a technology strategy that supports where the organization wants to be in three to five years. External experts are adept at evaluating the present and the future and bridging the gap(s) between the two. Plus, external IT teams have the breadth of experience across multiple industries to identify opportunities to create a more data-driven environment that can help inform future business decisions.
Profitability & Efficiency
Speaking of business decisions, technology can sometimes be considered a ‘means to an end.’ Through this lens, technology is looked upon as a tool to support other business functions. Conversely, technology and a forward-thinking tech strategy can instead be part of the revenue-driving mix. External consultants have the comprehensive knowledge and experience to identify and create opportunities for technology to generate new revenue streams or enhance existing revenue streams and ultimately improve profitability. Likewise, technology can enable greater efficiencies from an operational perspective, thus helping reduce costs. Explore an example of this in another blog, Aligning the Right Software Solution to Your Next Business Opportunity.
Operational Efficiency Benefits
The operational benefits from engaging third-party consultants are tangible, intangible, and long-term. Not only do they remove the potential for self-interest to impact the IT strategy, but consultants also provide an entire team or network of people to support the organization’s goals and technology strategy. There is no need for costly new hires; rather, a strategic IT partner can help identify the human capital, potential skill gaps, and roles needed to implement the strategy. External experts can help identify opportunities for greater efficiencies across the board: both within the specific IT functions of an organization, and within IT functions impacting other areas of the business, such as sales and marketing, human resources, manufacturing, distribution, and others.
External Validation & Perspective
Technology consultants have the ability to look more broadly at an organization’s goals and IT needs and recommend new approaches, ideas, or systems to support sales and revenue goals. As such, innovation can be powered by an external force, one that isn’t too heavily influenced by historical approaches or differing internal perspectives. External consultants help see the forest through the trees from a fresh perspective and can serve as third-party validation to new ideas or perspectives that incoming CIOs/CTOs bring to the table. Additionally, IT consultants have their pulse on the future of technology, and in addition to helping identify new opportunities and ways to leverage technology to increase revenue, can conversely prevent IT functions from jumping too far down the road too quickly.
External IT experts can provide significant value to organizations of any size by partnering with organizations where they currently are and helping them develop a roadmap for the future.
Creating a Technology Roadmap
At UDig, we developed an in-depth process designed to help achieve business and revenue goals through an informed and aligned tech strategy:
Assessment
Gain a thorough understanding of where you want to be versus where you are:
- Business Need: What needs to change? Can technology play a role in generating revenue and create greater value for the business?
- Current State: How ready is the organization to accept change, and what existing technology, assets, and data debt does it have?
Future State
Leverage what was learned through the assessment to create a vision and plan for moving forward:
- Solution: What will bridge the gap(s) between the need and current state?
- Roadmap: What technology or process changes are required? This lays out the path and often requires substantial, multi-phased activities.
A tech strategy can be daunting, which is where the technology roadmap enters the fold. Download our technology roadmap template to get started.
Bridging the Present to the Future
UDig has supported CIOs/CTOs at organizations of all sizes and scopes in their journey towards more efficient, comprehensive, and strategic technology solutions that create greater value, optimize operations, and support revenue growth.
We recently published a case study about an organization in the school management industry where we completed a technology strategy and are now helping implement that strategy here, Creating a Tech Strategy to Power Growth. Not only did our work with this organization accomplish their goal of creating a robust data platform, we also identified opportunities for the platform that support the future vision and business objectives to ultimately help create additional value for the company.
To discuss how UDig can support your organization’s journey, reach out to us below.
