IT Roadmap - executing strategy

IT Roadmap: Executing Strategy

Technology sits at the heart of every business’s operations – how you harness it is pivotal to your success! At Smile IT, we’re passionate about businesses aligning the technology they use with their business goals, and today we’re going to build on that.

In this article, we introduced the concept of an IT strategy and why it’s a good idea for your business. Today, it’s all about an IT roadmap, which builds on your strategy, helping you take the plan you have on paper and execute it effectively. When you’ve mapped out your business goals and identified how your technology needs to adapt to support them, it’s time to implement an IT roadmap.

This will bring your IT strategy to life.

What’s an IT Roadmap?

An IT roadmap takes your strategic ideas of how your technology will support your business goals and connects them to a timeline of action. It’s the bridge between ‘we need better IT systems’ and ‘this is what we’re doing about it’.

It’s a practical tool outlining what’s getting done, when and by whom. The roadmap makes your IT plans real, keeps your team aligned and holds individuals and departments accountable for their role in its completion.

Strategy vs Roadmap – What’s the Difference?

IT roadmap being explainedBoth are designed to help your organisation appropriately leverage technology to realise its business goals. How do they actually differ though?

Here’s how we look at it:

Your IT strategy is why you’re making a particular decision around your technology and what you’re trying to achieve.

Your IT roadmap is about how you’ll get there and when it’s all going to happen.

IT strategy points you in a particular direction with your IT. The roadmap lays out the path for you to drive on.

What Makes a Good IT Roadmap?

Every business is different, so every IT roadmap will look a little different too. But there are a few key elements that will help yours work effectively:

1. Clear Objectives

Everything on your IT roadmap should serve a purpose. Each initiative that takes occurs should be linked to a business goal such as improving data security, increasing productivity or supporting remote work. This gives you clear guidelines for measuring the effectiveness of IT decisions.

2. Milestones

Break the journey into phases. What’s happening in the next month? The next quarter? The next year? Milestones help you track progress and keep things moving.

3. Accountability

If something on the roadmap looks like it’s everyone’s job, nobody will end up doing it. Responsibility for each step of the roadmap needs to be assigned to individuals, or to the head of a department to delegate and ensure it gets done.

4. Budgeting

Budgeting properly helps ground your roadmap in reality. If the funds aren’t there to support the work to be done, it’s not going to happen. Establish realistic budgetary frameworks that facilitate your mission rather than make it harder.

5. Risk Planning

Rolling out any kind of program comes with the occasional hiccup. How well you’re prepared for them is the key to success. Make sure you have an understanding of where things could go wrong and build in contingency plans. Your roadmap should have a degree of flexibility to it to accommodate problems arising.

6. Success Measures

Define your KPIs at the start of the program so you know if the strategy is working as intended. Be open to learning about what you’ve set out to achieve, and adjusting targets if you realise they fall outside the realms of reality.

How to Turn Your Roadmap into Action

executing IT strategyYou’ve laid out your roadmap and it’s time to get started. Here are some important points to bear in mind:

Prioritise the important stuff. Figure out what steps will deliver the most value and focus on those. Everything can’t happen at once, so keep it all within the capacity of your team. Quick wins build confidence and help with team morale.

Collaborate and Communicate. This is essential for the team to be on the same page for each step of the roadmap. The Microsoft 365 stack makes this easy with tools like Teams and OneDrive. Team members can work on documents together, updates can be shared in real time, progress can be monitored and wins can be celebrated.

Review regularly. Technology advances, business goals change, team members come and go. Allow space to revisit the roadmap and make changes to it if required.

Common Roadblocks

You will run into challenges with your roadmap – that’s part and parcel of running a business that you’re no doubt familiar with. These are some of the common ones – the good news is that if you’re ready for them, they’re easy to overcome.

Lack of Alignment

To appreciate their role in the roadmap, every team member needs to understand its purpose and the intended outcomes. Share the steps across the board, be transparent in all communications and make sure all your different departments are on the same page.

Resource Constraints

It’s frustrating when you reach a stage in your technology journey only to realise you don’t have the people or the finances to see it through. Your initial roadmap should be founded in reality, but even then you can run into constraints due to changing situations. Be flexible –  you can scale things back or slow it down if required.

Scope Creep

Once your project is underway it can take on a life of its own. Adaptability is good, but don’t lose sight of your core objectives. If something new is becoming too much of a distraction, log it for the next stage of the roadmap.

How Smile IT Can Help

Want to craft an IT strategy and build a roadmap for its implementation? Smile IT is here to help! Your success is what drives us, and we want to help you implement technology in the best way possible to achieve your business goals.

From cloud solutions to improved cybersecurity, better collaboration or enhanced communications, we can guide you towards real results. We’ve helped multiple businesses around Brisbane and Queensland with developing actionable IT roadmaps and would love to help with yours.

If you’re just starting out or you’d like to give your technology a review, one of our IT consultants would be glad to help. We know what works and what doesn’t and will keep the focus on what matters most: achieving your business goals. Get in touch today.

peter drummond

When he’s not writing tech articles or turning IT startups into established and consistent managed service providers, Peter Drummond can be found kitesurfing on the Gold Coast or hanging out with his family!

Share

Client Support