How Do We Get to Strategic IT?

If you have ever used a computer, laptop, tablet, or printer, you have most certainly been frustrated by some sort of nagging issue. It can be as simple as your printer not printing or as important as not being able to process payroll!

Earlier this month, I met with a business owner and a few members of his staff who were VERY frustrated with recurring IT issues. A group of six of us sat down and discussed how important it was that payroll went out on time – and how frustrating it is that sometimes the accounting department barely gets it out due to computer software glitches.

We also spent a significant amount of time discussing a scanner. This scanner needed frequent restarts, and subsequently created a huge loss of productivity waiting for it to come back online. 

By the end of the meeting, solutions were provided for fixing the long-term nagging issues. And we were all satisfied that the world would be a better place if we could get the right resources on these issues right away!

What happened next is what every IT business consultant sees as the best possible outcome. The owner said: 

“Now that that is taken care of, I have some ideas about how we could take this business to the next level. Could we sit down by the whiteboard and map out a plan to design a new customer portal that will revolutionize our business?”

We said, “Great!” and scheduled a time to map it out together.

It's amazing what people can achieve when those nagging, frustrating IT issues are set aside, and we can focus on strategic technology issues!

Have a great month, 

Marty

Related: Is Your Business's Information Technology Strategic?