Why An IT Strategy Is Important For Sustaining A Competitive Advantage

By Stanley Robertson


Nobody will blame anyone that confesses to an inability to keep up with change and new developments. This is especially true for technology. Hardly a day goes by or some new hardware or software innovation is launched. Organizations that strive to stay at the cutting edge of technology need to develop a sound IT strategy that will make sure that the organization is well placed to take advantage of new technology as quickly as possible.

Strategic plans are complex and require a great deal of skill and knowledge. The development of such a plan is based upon an analysis of the external environment and must include fields such as the political, technological, financial and even the competition. Anticipated changes in this environment lead to specific plans that will use such changes to place the organization on a more competitive footing.

Creating strategic plans for information technology is an especially complex task. This is because this field is one of the fastest changing. Developers of both hardware and software are fiercely competitive and their research and development plans are often closely guarded. This makes it difficult to predict new trends and products. However, without a strategic plan no information technology department can hope to stay up to date.

There are some compelling reasons why it is necessary for organizations to keep abreast of technology. New software and hardware are often not downwards compatible, often resulting in computer users being unable to share information with others. Many new innovations also create entire new methods of computing and communicating and by implementing such innovations quickly and efficiently the company can gain an edge on the competition.

No strategic plan for information technology can ever be completed. The fast pace of change requires constant revision of these plans and it is often necessary to adopt an entire new strategy in answer to unexpected trends and developments. Strategic plans need to be managed by visionaries that are also practical in their approach to change. Many organizations employ full time specialists for this task.

No strategic plan can be complete without a realistic implementation plan. This can be extremely complex because it needs to involve budgeting, purchasing of equipment, the design of new user manuals and training for the users of the new technology. In many cases it is also necessary to prepare staff for the upgrades and to make sure that existing data is safe.

Appointing a person to manage the information technology strategic plan is an important matter that should be done with great circumspect. The manager of this plan needs to be trained in strategic thinking as well as in the field of information technology, including outsourcing some work to a managed services company. It needs to be somebody that has a keen interest in new developments and it must certainly be somebody with a solid background in research.

Keeping abreast of new developments in the field of information technology is difficult and expensive. It is vital to have an IT strategy that will allow the organization to maintain a cutting edge. Mistakes can be extremely costly and that is why strategic plans need to be reviewed continuously. This requires willingness to change and the ability to budget for regular upgrades.




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