If you know where you want to go, you should also know how you’re going to get there – which is why you need a roadmap. And like any other business department, your IT needs one if it’s going to support your company’s growth. In fact, it’s mission-critical. So what exactly is an IT roadmap?
Broadly speaking, an IT roadmap is the long-term plan for your IT strategy. It outlines the steps your company will take to improve your current IT infrastructure and how it will develop to support the business in the future.
That will look different for each business because each is at a different stage of development – but it includes things like how you will manage your data, software you may need to change, and how you plan to upgrade your hardware. It will detail the IT projects you need to carry out and their time frames.
So why exactly do you need a roadmap?
Know where you are and where you’re heading
To get to where you want to go, you first need to know where you are – which is why the precursor to a Roadmap is a Benchmark. Your IT strategy has to support your business now and in the future. To do that it must be optimised to meet your immediate needs. From there, it has to develop to meet your future vision for the company. It must do so in line with your overall business strategy AND with technological developments. That is nigh on impossible without a clear plan in place. An experienced managed service provider (MSP) can help.
Continuous, cost-effective improvement
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was industry-leading IT infrastructure. Having a roadmap in place means you can make small, incremental improvements that build over time. The accretion of small improvements over time mitigates long-term problems, meaning that expensive sporadic overhauls can be replaced by more regular reasonable, and cost-effective tune-ups. And because the improvements are planned for in advance they’re also budgeted for, meaning that unexpected huge IT bills are a thing of the past.
Build a strong foundation
The Benchmark you use for your roadmap will provide a critical evaluation of your legacy systems; the roadmap you develop thereafter mitigates systems failures and prioritises cyber security, privacy, and data protection. These are the backbone of IT strategy and provide the peace of mind and secure footing from which the strategy can build. As a matter of course, you’ll replace outdated technology, processes, and procedures, which in turn improve operational efficiency and eradicate weaknesses.
For more information on benchmarking and road mapping, visit Nutbourne.com or call us today on
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