Is your business frustrated by the lack of a sound Information Technology (IT) foundation, or excited about the possibilities on the horizon? IT can and should provide an efficient and effective infrastructure that enables business growth and innovation.
Is IT viewed as an investment center that consistently delivers returns greater than what was invested, or is IT viewed as a pure cost center? Too many companies, big and small alike, view and manage IT as a cost center and thus limit their returns on IT investments.
View IT as an investment center, and just like any other investment, expect more out than you put in. Because of company size, you cannot afford a strategic-minded IT resource, but you need strategic thinking around technology in order to continually reduce IT costs and increase returns.
Here are some ways you can increase the return on your IT infrastructure:
Communicate, educate, and collaborate
Communicate to your IT resources what the business objectives are, short and long term. Make sure they understand the company's biggest needs, opportunities and issues. Continually grow their business knowledge and understanding. The right individuals will be excited about the opportunity to learn and become a more integral part of the organization.
Then take the time to listen to your IT team about what they are working on. More importantly, learn what technologies are currently in-house (you are only using a fraction of it), what is available on the market, and what new technologies are coming.
It's this ongoing communication, this collaborative educational process that can identify higher value opportunities IT can be working on for the business.
Set expectations
Set expectations that IT needs to continually do more for the business. Most IT resources don't do this on their own because they're buried in tactical requests and find it difficult, if not impossible, to lift their head above water long enough to look beyond today and identify ways to make a more strategic impact for the business.
Somebody needs to ensure that the company is looking to leverage IT for more than just email, Internet access and a web site. You can do this and you don't need to be a technologist...you only need to set expectations that you need lower costs and higher returns. Set expectations, ask questions and reward even small successes.
Create capacity to do more
There are four ways to create more IT resource capacity: a) increase technology spending; b) increase staff size; c) reduce spending; d) increase productivity/throughput. I'll go out on a limb and assume (a) and (b) are lead balloons and just won't float. That leaves us (c) and (d) to work with.
It is possible to reduce spending and maintain or increase quality?it is also possible to reduce spending and accept lower service or quality in some areas.
Review IT spending with the team and identify opportunities to reduce expenses while maintaining or even increasing service or quality. (Renegotiate that software license deal or seek a better deal next year.) Likewise, identify areas where lower service or quality would be acceptable. (Do you really need that dedicated T-1?)
Finally, are IT resources working efficiently? Are they able to focus on and finish tasks they start, or are they continually being pulled in multiple directions, never really getting much done? And finally, are they even working on the right tasks, those that are true priorities? You have limited IT resource capacity, make sure they are always dedicated to the highest return, highest value efforts for the business.
Get going
Schedule a recurring, weekly meeting, lunch or coffee with IT. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but commit to at least 6 months of weekly meetings. Clearly set expectations for needing higher returns out of IT investments, identify opportunities, then celebrate and build on small successes.
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