Cracking the Code: Building a Technology Strategy for Success
An effective technology strategy entails more than just a plan for technical upgrades
By: Ha Young Shin
Picture this: An organization invests millions into cutting-edge technology expecting major benefits, only to find that it doesn’t work well with its existing systems that are critical to the business…
Or an organization rushes into cloud-based solutions without a clear plan and faces obstacles because management isn’t on board…
Does this sound familiar?
As a technology strategist, I have encountered many organizations with some spin to these stories.
Technological transformations have almost become nonnegotiable for companies to remain relevant in this day and age. Yet the internet is flooded with reasons why they fail. In a world saturated with new technologies and enticing promises, a robust strategy can enable your organization to make the right decisions while minimizing risks.
How about your organization? Does it have a technology strategy? Can you tell me what it’s composed of or where it lives?
If you can answer yes to all three questions, that’s great!
But consider this: Is your technology strategy mainly a roadmap and timeline outlining technical improvements for the upcoming year(s)?
While having a vision and plan for enhancing your organization’s technology is a great start and should absolutely be part of the strategy, an effective technology strategy is that and so much more.
An effective technology strategy requires a deep understanding of your organization’s technical stack and a forward-thinking vision for how your organization’s technology should evolve in the coming years. Moreover, it should enable and align with the wider business goals, include a plan to address legacy processes and ways of working, and facilitate a smooth transition for the affected individuals. We often encounter clients who carefully plan technological changes but, at best, give little thought to the people and process aspects of the transformation. Although many components can elevate your strategy, below are some key elements that are essential in building an effective technology strategy.
1. Ensure your tech strategy aligns with broader business goals
Put simply, your technology strategy should enable and align with your organization’s business objectives. Each technical implementation should be accompanied by a clear business case, leaving no doubt as to how it will positively contribute to the business. What’s the return on investment? How will it enhance your margins, benefit customers, and support your employees?
To reach this alignment, technology leaders must understand where the business hopes to go in the next one, five, and 10 years. They should also stay informed of industry trends and understand how new and emerging technologies can help the organization achieve its goals. At the same time, business leaders should strive to understand how technology can lead them toward these goals and be able to state what kind of initiatives are needed to get there.
A telltale sign of a robust strategy is shared understanding: business leaders see the value of technology and its role in reaching organizational goals, and technology leaders can explain business objectives and how technology will enable them.
2. Evaluate your current portfolio before adding more to your technology stack
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” All too often, when clients approach us for assistance in implementing the next cutting-edge solution, the other tools in their technical stack become an afterthought. “We’ll think about that later,” the CIO would say. However, the ongoing demands of maintenance tasks and the support requests following a new technical adoption make it hard to find the perfect time for an assessment.
Evaluating your organization’s technology portfolio and architecture, coupled with an application rationalization, is key to shaping an effective technology strategy. While we highly recommend assessing your portfolio before introducing new tools, we understand that this can be challenging in practice. Technology leaders often reach out to us amid a significant systems rollout, making it impractical to hit pause. They also approach us because the business suddenly wants a new tool. Whichever the case, making changes to your technology stack should be done thoughtfully.
A portfolio assessment should address important questions such as: How well do these applications align with our overall business goals? Which tools serve similar functions? Which are underutilized? Having these answers will help your organization balance the short-term gains with long-term business goals. It will also aid in allocating resources wisely and identifying risks early on. Just remember, if you keep adding without subtracting, you risk wasting a lot of resources and cleanup becomes more challenging down the line!
3. Incorporate a thoughtful plan for your people and processes
The success of technological transformations relies heavily on the ability of your people to adopt the new technology and on processes that enable the full utilization of that technology. Therefore, a robust technology strategy should include a plan to address the human aspects of transformations. This includes clarifying new organizational structures and ways of working, addressing legacy processes, and implementing diverse methods to support the transition.
As new technologies are implemented, roles and responsibilities will naturally change. Understanding how these will evolve and how teams will collaborate within the new context are key to success. This will also help your organization identify skills gaps and create a plan to close those gaps.
Lastly, it is critical to keep stakeholders informed of these changes and regularly engage them through the transformation journey. All these components together will improve adoption by easing the natural anxiety that accompanies change and help transition your organization to a culture that embraces innovation.
Conclusion
Achieving success in technological transformations goes beyond technical implementation. It requires a holistic technology strategy that aligns with the broader organizational goals, executes a thoughtful approach to managing the technology stack, and prioritizes people by implementing the right processes, training, and communications to ease their transition. This will lay a robust foundation for your organization’s success as you embark on your transformation journey.
Slalom is a global consulting firm that helps people and organizations dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all. Learn more and reach out today.
