The IT landscape is increasingly complex and ever changing. You need to count on your IT company to help you make decisions about how you should invest in technology, but how can you tell if the advice that they are giving you is solid? If you don’t get ongoing IT strategy consulting along with your monthly services from your IT company, you might be missing opportunities to do more with technology, not to mention avoid pitfalls and setbacks that result from making poor decisions. Whether you get IT advice from your Minneapolis IT support company or internal staff, the results of their direction will impact your business one way or another.
When you get good advice from your IT company the relationship you have with them naturally develops into a trusted partnership. Your investments and activity support your business goals and there shouldn’t be a lot of surprises. Ideally, they collaborate with you to create IT strategy alignment with business strategy taking into account short and long term objectives that will create a reliable framework on which your technology can evolve. Essentially, your business moves forward; you are planning for the future; and your relationship is close enough that they know your business and your industry, and can weave all of the pieces together to use technology to help you succeed.
Overall progress is halted or starts to slide backwards when you don’t get good guidance from IT. An overriding disconnect evolves between what you are doing with IT and what your business is doing. Initiatives that were supposed to improve don’t improve. Plans are shortsighted and just address symptoms instead of long range solutions. Bad things happen – you get hacked; you don’t have accurate data to make decisions; people continue to struggle; you feel stuck.
Some companies chose to hire an IT consultant to analyze their business processes and use of technology to identify strategies that will improve IT. The best consultants are worth their price but may not be an affordable solution for ongoing guidance. The right IT company could fill the role of trusted advisor, collaborating with you to act proactively now and to plan for the future.
A managed services company that offers IT strategy consulting along with monthly services will be the best option if they understand the key points in your processes that impact how you generate revenue, and meet with you regularly to assess progress and adapt to changes that happen in your business landscape.
There are many choices for Minneapolis IT support to choose from so it’s important to know what questions to ask to determine which one will really provide you with sound advice about technology. The conversation should revolve around the IT experience that you desire and the business goals that you want to meet.
Ask about IT strategy and how the IT company will collaborate with you to plan and budget, as well as work proactively to improve the overall technology experience. Don’t forget to ask for references and case studies that show that the company has experience in guiding other organizations down a road to better IT.
Getting started with IT strategy usually starts with a change in mindsetand most companies need outside expertise to help them through the process. Thriveon's outsourced IT services includes ongoing IT strategy consulting. We help companies find ways to get the IT results they want, and leverage technology to help them improve and grow their business.
Contact us at 855-767-2571 or complete this form to schedule a meeting to explore what they might look like for your company.
Not quite ready to talk? Learn more about IT strategy with our detailed article: IT Strategy Quick Start Guide.