Information technology (IT) is integral to any company, and your small business is no exception. An IT roadmap allows you to communicate your IT strategy and initiatives across your whole organization. When you’re running a small business, this can be an invaluable resource in helping your organization soar.
Creating an IT roadmap for a small business doesn’t have to be complicated, and creating one can help your organization run more smoothly and be more efficient–both with your time and finances.
An IT roadmap is a strategy tool for sharing your IT initiatives and plans for your business. This is a roadmap that all employees can access so everyone can be in the loop with your upcoming IT initiatives.
Your roadmap should outline the timeline for your initiatives as well as how it supports your overall company growth and mission. Ideally, your IT roadmap will highlight how you plan to build, implement, and maintain your technology solutions. If you want to be more flexible with your initiatives, you can utilize swimlanes instead of a set timeline to track your progress.
There are many different types of IT roadmaps your company can utilize, like an enterprise IT roadmap or a roadmap for projects of varying scales. No matter which type of roadmap you use, implementation planning provides many perks to your business, both in terms of operations and financial benefits.
An IT roadmap allows your team to have clear strategies in place. You can use your roadmap to define the exact systems you will need and how you can best utilize your assets and resources. This way, everything is in line with your company vision and goals.
An IT roadmap is especially important for companies that recently shifted from offices to remote. A team that works from home has different IT needs than one in a shared office space, so updating your IT roadmap and strategies can help you manage your remote team.
When looking at your projects and company needs from a strategic standpoint, it helps eliminate some unnecessary costs. Your team will be able to identify what is bogging down your workload and find more efficient ways to tackle it.
Then, your company will be able to keep growing and moving forward rather than spending time, resources, and money on practices that aren’t best serving your overall strategy and goals.
Having a strategy in place can also help with preventive IT maintenance. Many server failures are a result of outdated technology. Having an effective strategy in place can help you stay on top of when servers and operating systems need to be updated and can help you manage your planned downtime, rather than cause costly issues from unplanned IT downtime.
Small business roadmaps differ from larger enterprises in that the goals will start smaller. If you want to get your small business off the ground, it’s important that you don’t overwhelm your team. Remember: large companies can have hundreds of employees across different departments.
For small business owners, it’s recommended to start with one or two goals or initiatives when creating an IT roadmap. This way, your team can feel well-equipped, even if there are fewer resources than there would be at a large company.
When creating an IT roadmap for a small business, there are a few questions you should ask yourself and answer to ensure its effectiveness.
Your company goals and vision are the core of your roadmap. Each piece of your strategy laid out in your roadmap should tie back to your overall vision. This way, you can make sure every action item is beneficial to your business goals and growth.
The second step is to establish what objectives you want to achieve and how you will measure them. Your business objectives and KPIs should connect to your goals and strategy while also being realistic for your team to achieve.
Some common KPIs for IT departments include a certain percentage of projects being completed on time, repair times, and how much you’re spending on your IT initiatives and infrastructure.
Even if you’re using a looser framework like swimlanes, it's still a good idea to set time-based goals that your team can achieve. Timelines in your IT roadmap can help you stay on budget and also allow you to factor in upcoming software updates or launches.
When creating your IT roadmap, consider which team members will be involved in the projects and milestones. Your tasks should all be S.M.A.R.T.:
Creating actionable tasks on your roadmap and gives your team a clear direction and understanding of exactly who is responsible for what. Once you’ve established these goals, you can implement the steps outlined in your IT roadmap and track everyone’s progress.
An IT roadmap typically includes a few key components. Select a few to get your small business started and revise as needed as your company grows.
At IT Proactive, our team is ready to help your business implement your roadmap. Whether you have new or existing IT infrastructure, our IT professionals can help you design, implement, and maintain your servers.
We go beyond just building your network, but finding ways to understand your exact needs and make sure your IT makes sense for you. Contact us today for a free IT assessment.