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Should You Be Making Shorter-Term Technology Plans?

By Brittany Fugate, Founder

An article in CIO Dive caught my eye recently — it was about CIOs moving toward making shorter-term IT plans given how quickly technology is changing. It outlined how, for larger companies, multi-year projects have now shrunk to cycles of just a few months in some areas, thanks to AI and other innovations.

But what does this mean for smaller businesses? SMBs generally have much smaller IT budgets and smaller technology staffs than enterprises, and you can’t afford to waste money chasing trends. So how do you decide where to put your time, effort and money when it comes to technology?

Avoid tech debt

One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your IT dollars is hanging on to old technology that costs you more than it benefits you, called tech debt. Tech debt is all the devices and systems you have that aren’t serving you anymore — but it seems easier to just deal with them or create a workaround than make a change. 

Information Week calls this “hard” tech debt but also calls out “soft” tech debt — all the solutions you didn’t invest in, costing you opportunities or causing you to fall behind your competitors. 

Stay agile and make IT choices that keep your business competitive

When you miss out on chances to edge out your competition or capture new customers, that has an effect on your business — one that can compound over time if you’re not evaluating your hardware, software and network regularly.

To mimic the shorter IT strategy time frames that enterprise IT teams are implementing, SMBs have to think like the bigger companies do, including:

Engage in continual review of how your systems serve you

Signing another multi-year contract with the same technology vendor you’ve used for the last two decades isn’t typically the right move these days. Before letting a contract renew, stop and analyze whether you should shop around to other vendors or consider an entirely different technology that suits your needs better.

Map your technology implementations to your one-, three- and five-year business goals

If you plan to add 10 (or 100) people to your team in the next few years, that’s going to add to your technology needs — new software licenses, new devices, and a lot more. If you’re looking to expand into a new market, you could need more servers, new spaces or new technology you’re not very familiar with today. Go into these changes with an open mind and consider that there might be totally new approaches. Consider working with an IT consultant to explore those options. 

For example, let’s say you plan to enter a new market that requires PCI compliance in two years, but your invoicing system contract is expiring in six months. Plan ahead by looking for a new system that has PCI compliance built in so it’s ready when you expand. You don’t want to be locked into a long-term software contract that won’t take your business where you want to go in the long run. 

Evaluate user adoption as you go

Investing in new systems and technologies isn’t useful if you can’t get your team to use it. Smaller businesses often get stuck in the “this is how we’ve always done it” trap, leading to employees using their own workarounds to do things the way they’re used to.

If you choose a technology that’s not well-adopted, analyze whether it’s a training or change management issue or the technology simply isn’t a good fit after all. Short-term technology planning requires staying agile and flexible, even if it means moving on to another solution that’s a better fit for your business sooner than you anticipated. 

Let Cenetric help you with technology planning

Technology decisions and planning can get overwhelming in a hurry if you’re not experienced in navigating these issues. Fortunately, Cenetric is. Our experts get to know your business and work with you to reach your business goals through the right technology choices. (But we’re always vendor-neutral, of course.)

Do you need responsive, expert IT services you can trust — or do you have a unique technology challenge to tackle? Let’s talk about it. Whether you’re in Kansas City or beyond, Cenetric has the experience to help.