The bad news: When the year is ending in a matter of a few weeks and you haven’t planned your technology strategy or budget for the coming year.
The good news: it’s never too late.
Let’s face it: the thought of planning your technology for next year is overwhelming and that’s why people avoid it and put it off until the last minute (or skip it altogether). The problem is, that’s like avoiding checking your bank account when you suspect you’ve been overspending. It saves nothing and almost always costs more.
Instead of sticking your head in the sand, here is what you can do instead.
Set SMART Goals
If you have goals, start there. If you don’t, you can plan your technology by looking at the pain points your company is experiencing or may experience in the year ahead. Review compliance, security and communications – are there areas that need upgrades or equipment that’s on its last legs? Are your computers older than 5 years? Is your IT company responding too slowly?
A word on your goals. It’s not enough to say, “we want to grow.” Set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound. For instance, instead of saying we want to grow, a SMART goal might be: Increase revenue by 2% over the next fiscal year.
- Specific – It states how you want to grow
- Measurable – It specifies a type of growth you can measure
- Attainable – 2% revenue growth is attainable
- Realistic – the goal is realistic
- Time-bound – You’ve made it clear when you want to achieve this by
Once you have SMART goals in place, you can more clearly see what you’ll need to achieve your goals. In this example, you might need more bandwidth, more staff, different software or improved business analytics to get you where you want to go.
Budget
When you’re looking proactively at where your company has been and where you want it to go, your budget falls into place. You’ll have few surprises in the upcoming new year. A word of caution: make sure you source your prices – don’t just make up a number or go to Best Buy to look for deals.
This is where a managed services provider really brings value to the table over a break-fix IT provider. Our monthly fees include ongoing maintenance, monitoring and personalized account management so the chances of encountering unforeseen IT expenses are significantly reduced. And – bonus! – virtual Chief Information Officer services are included, so you have someone always thinking about the best ways to help you meet your goals, budgeting for you and planning your company’s technology roadmap.
Your technology roadmap
Technology products and services are tools to help your company achieve whatever it is you set out to do. The more we understand about where your company is going, the better we can help you. We’re solution providers, but we need to understand what problems we’re trying to solve or where your organization is going to help you get there.
Sit down with the IT professionals at Macatawa Technologies and get prepped for the new year.
