Every business in America uses some kind of technology to operate. From small businesses that run off of a few workstations to enormous enterprises that have hundreds of thousands of components, technology is the one thing they all have in common, keeping everything afloat. However, for all of the businesses that depend on smooth-running technology daily, only a fraction have plans for how they are going to maintain, update, and innovate their systems.
Having this type of plan in place is a key component to creating an edge and getting a leg-up on the competition. It allows growing businesses to fully take advantage of the infrastructure and systems already in place while still planning how to improve and innovate in the future. A well-maintained, customized, and strategic technology setup isn’t something that just happens. It’s something that businesses and technology experts map out and plan for.
If you want to start getting ahead of the game, it’s time to learn more about what is an IT roadmap and how you can begin implementing one. Let’s get started!
What is an IT Roadmap?
An IT roadmap, also sometimes called a technology roadmap, is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: it’s a visual representation of the future of your technology and systems. It’s a document that communicates the goals, initiatives, and enhancements you have in mind for your
technology to your entire organization. Ultimately, it’s what will take your technology to the next level.
The basics of an IT roadmap document include mapping out your core infrastructure, key software programs, and upcoming technology projects. It puts all your technical information in one place so you can see what your organization looks like now, as well as plan for what you want it to look like in the future. The visual representations allow you to take a strategic approach to your technology, focusing on growth and innovation.
How to Create an IT Roadmap
The key to creating a successful IT roadmap that actually benefits your organization is putting strategy at the center of your plan. A growth-oriented IT roadmap is more than just putting down your systems onto paper. Of course, it includes this. However, the real benefits come from taking a step back and creating and detailing technology initiatives and goals specific to your organization and how they align with the future of IT as a whole. Then, using this IT roadmap to continuously track and measure the progress and success of these goals. Not only does this help improve your technology and keep it running smoothly, but it also keeps everyone at your organization on the same page. It keeps them informed of technology plans and goals and tells them what they should be working towards or looking out for.
Benefits of an IT Roadmap
We’ve discussed the broad goals and benefits of having an IT roadmap in place, but here are three explicit benefits that your organization will experience when using a roadmap.
Focus on strategy
By specifically listing out your company’s technology projects and objectives, you and your IT team can more easily identify technical goals that align with your organization’s overall setup. Then you can prioritize those goals. It’s much harder to identify attainable initiatives when you aren’t looking at the whole picture. By putting everything down onto paper, you can clearly see where your company will benefit the most, what the best short-term goals are, and what goals may take longer to reach.
Save money
Another benefit of having every aspect of your technical environment documented on paper is that you can see what’s working and what’s not. Then, you can reduce or put an end to any tasks or systems that aren’t working and save your organization the money being used on those resources. This money can then be redirected to another area in your organization that would benefit more.
Maintain your systems
Lastly, it’s incredibly helpful for IT teams to have an easy-to-read document that keeps them up-to-date on all of the systems they are managing. Because so many organizations have many different, intersecting technologies, maintaining the entire system requires knowing all of the ins and outs. An IT roadmap provides the perfect overview, keeping new and old team members on top of their responsibilities.
In Conclusion
An IT roadmap is the key to moving forward with your technology in the best, most strategic way. As a strategic IT provider, we help develop intensive IT roadmaps for our clients, creating goals and initiatives to make the most out of their technology and systems. If you are ready to take your technology to the next level and start planning for the future, reach out to us today. An IT roadmap may be the first step in catapulting your infrastructure and systems to new heights and optimizing your technology to its fullest capacity in supporting your operations, employees, and business.
