Get the most from IT in your business

Developing an IT strategy

It is important to plan ahead for the development of your IT systems, which will need to be able to grow and adapt to any changes in your business.

An IT strategy provides a roadmap for how IT will be implemented. Such a strategy should contain the following:

• A definition of the main standards, or the agreed set of hardware and software components that the business will use. This should include the operating systems, hardware types and underlying software such as database management systems.
• The network infrastructure, both for local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs), used to connect offices in different locations.
• A series of projects to implement the required changes in IT provision.

Building your IT strategy

An IT strategy should be based on the system requirements you have defined. A typical IT strategy plans for three to five years and should include the following actions:

• Produce an inventory of your current hardware and software. Consider its life expectancy.
• Review this against your future requirements. Decide how closely they meet those needs.
• Define the gap between what you currently have and the systems that you need.
• Decide on the general standards that you will use - eg the operating systems that you intend to use for servers and desktop.
• Review the IT infrastructure and support that will be needed to fill the gap you have identified. For example, if you intend to increase the number of desktop computers in use, you will need to extend the LAN.
• Define a programme of implementation projects, with defined start and end dates, to close the gap between your current IT provision and what you aim for at the end of the plan.
• Produce cost estimates so that you know roughly how much you will need to spend and when. You can estimate these figures based on your own research, eg from supplier literature or websites, or ask a supplier to give you an outline cost based upon the provisional requirements you have identified.
• Check that this programme will fit in with your overall business plan.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Understanding your business
• Aligning IT with the business
• Developing an IT strategy
• Achieving greater efficiency
• Adding value to relationships
• Exploiting new opportunities
• Delivering and supporting IT solutions
• Measuring success
• Here's how my first IT system helped me set up my business

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