Investing in IT Strategy: How to Drive ROI

According to the Pew Research Center, IT can have a positive and dramatic effect on nearly every aspect of your business. 51% of survey respondents said that IT helped them expand the number of people outside of a business they were able to communicate with. 

39% of people said that it allowed them more flexibility in terms of the hours they work. 35% said that it actually increased not only the amount of hours they were able to work in a day but how productive those hours were. 

But the most important thing to understand is that not all IT spending is created equally. If you really want to align your technology with your business and create the meaningful, lasting impact you desire, there are a few key things you’ll have to keep in mind. 

See the Tech Maturity Model: Where Does Your Business Stand?

Before you make any decision in terms of your IT investment, you must first get a deeper understanding of exactly what that investment will help you accomplish. How your IT infrastructure evolves must depend on your business strategy — where your organisation is headed, the overall goals and long-term needs, etc. This is the only way you’ll be able to drive a real return.

Consider the fact that the global market for technology spending is roughly $4 trillion per year, according to CNBC. However, 67% of business IT efforts on average end up getting scrapped due to a focus on chasing technology instead of chasing what technology can do for you.

For the best results, you need to factor in both the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of a business. Only by knowing where you’re headed can you choose the right solutions to help you get there.

When deployed properly, IT not only can be a conduit for running a business but also a tool to measure the ultimate success of that business as well. In terms of investing in IT, part of driving a real return comes down to identifying all the metrics you need to track the tangible benefits you’re getting moving forward.

Are you trying to increase productivity? Increase collaboration? Increase your customer lifetime value? Decrease cost of acquisition? Once you know what your goals are, you know what to measure. Once you know what to measure, you know what to deploy.

But again, even with something as seemingly specific as metrics, there is no “one size fits all” approach for IT measurement. You need to implement an iterative process optimised for your business that allows you to measure based on the criteria that matter most to you, track those measurements on a long-term basis, refine your approach as needed, and repeat as often as possible. Only then will you be able to guarantee that metrics are being used to impact the business in a positive way. 

Another step you’ll need to take to guarantee a real return on your IT investment involves finding out what “normal” truly looks like. Figure out where your business currently stands on the Tech Maturity Model — you can use our free tool to accomplish precisely that.

Diagnosing where you are on the Tech Maturity Model will help make sure you know where to focus and how to properly address your IT needs. You will get superior visibility into where your business is currently, allowing you to make an educated judgement on the holes and gaps that need to be fixed as well as a set direction to focus on. 

If you want to read more about the Tech Maturity Model, you can do so here.

There are several IT options that depend on the needs of a business for proper application, including but not limited to ones like:

• Digital Workspaces
• Integration
• Cloud Computing and Infrastructure
• Security and Compliance
• Business Continuity and Recovery
• Help Desk Support and more

Digital workspaces powered with solutions like Office 365 can be a perfect way to allow your staff to work from the cloud, access documents anywhere, schedule video conferences and more — all from any computer or device with an active internet connection. Not every business may be ready for this type of option, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be one day in the future.

Knowing what options are available to you puts you in the best position to see what you’ll be investing in as you move further down the line. To find out more information about your available options, please contact Lanrex today.

Your IT infrastructure is an invaluable business asset — provided that it was designed in a way that complements your actual business strategy, rather than changing that strategy to make the most of the technology you have available to you.

Understanding where technology fits in to your long-term goals, outlining the metrics that matter, diagnosing the status quo, and exploring all your options are all of paramount importance in terms of generating the type of IT ROI you need.

If you'd like to find out more about how to drive a real return when it comes to your IT investment, or if you'd like to get personalised recommendations from experts in the field, contact Lanrex today.