If your business uses technology like a website, or software then it’s important you have a technology plan.

A technology plan can support and grow your business or organisation. It can be as simple as a one page list, or as complex as a 30-page strategy. The key purpose of the plan is to know where your business is going with technology.

Regardless of the size of your business we recommend looking at what technology you use now, identify what you would like to use in the future and a rough timeline for this to occur.

Steps to create a technology plan:

1.   Write a list of the technology you use…

The first step is often to create an inventory of all the technology you use. Don’t just think about physical hardware like laptops, printers and computers, also consider the software you use. What software do you use to capture timesheets? Or to do your finances? Are they programmes on your computer or are you using cloud based tools (like Xero or Office 365)?

Do you have servers, backup drives, mobile phones? What about a website? Social Media sites etc?

2.   …And the policies and processes you have

If you don’t have staff, then this stage may be less important. Do you have policies in place (that communicate rules around security, BYOD, Disaster Recovery)? What technology clauses do you have in your employment contract (such as acceptable use, social media, portable devices)?

Do you have process for reviewing and replacing technology and core software?

How do you identify which staff need training on which product?

Check out our example list (technology inventory) at the bottom of this document to get your grey matter thinking – it’s not a comprehensive list, but hopefully you will find it a great place to start.

3.   Identify your issues

Look at the lists of technology policies and processes you have created. Are they all meeting your needs? Are some technologies becoming obsolete, or will no longer be supported? Is some of your hardware getting old and needs to be replaced? Were there items in our example list that you should probably have in your business? Talk to your staff (and/or yourself) – what do you/they find frustrating?

4.   Think about your future needs

Look at your list of issues – what are the things you can change to resolve those issues? (Write them down).

Think about what your needs in the future will be - you may find it useful to do this with others as a brainstorming session. Maybe you know you should be doing more with technology but don’t know what ‘more’ is. If so, then complete our free Digital Journey assessment – it looks at how you are using Digital Technology and identifies areas for improvement.

Are you confident you are doing enough with cyber security to protect your business? We also have a free cybersecurity assessment which make recommendations on how you can improve your cybersecurity.

5.   Write a list of improvements/actions

The next step is, after looking at your list of issues and future needs, write a list of the improvements you would like to make – in an ideal world, with unlimited time and money.

If you are like most businesses, it is not an ideal world and you have limited resources, time and money. So prioritise your list. Think about the next three years… and put a ranking beside each line item –

• What must you change? (3)
  
• What should you change? (2)
  
• What would be nice to change? (1)
  
• And, what is never going to happen? (0)

Do you have a business plan? If so, take a few minutes to reread it. What are your business goals and how do these effect the ratings on your improvements list? For example, if one of your business goals is to increase your customer base then an action to start using social media may become higher priority.

6.   Put a timeframe around your actions

Look at your ‘must change’ (priority 3) actions and think about the next three years. What actions must happen sooner rather than later? What actions are dependent on another action to be completed first? You should be able to draft up a rough timeline for the next 3 years – when is each action going to occur (what year, quarter or month), and how long will that action take? Now have a look at your timeline - is it achievable? Can you add in any priority 2 actions?

Your Plan for Technology

After completing the previous 6 steps you should have a list of technology actions to take, a priority rating for each action and a timeline for these actions to occur. Your plan doesn’t have to be pretty it just needs to be easy to understand and achievable.

You may find it useful to add in technology objectives, budget, resources and even project scope for the actions. It’s up to you and your business how you progress your technology actions.

If you would like to research other approaches, here are a couple of links:

• This guide provides an overview on creating a Technology Plan (or Roadmap) for a Small Business.
• Microsoft provides a detailed approach on developing a technology plan. Look at their step-by-step guide to developing a technology plan.

In addition, for those of you who prefer working within a structure, we have included a template as an attachment to this article. Edit away.

How we can help

If you have any questions or need advice, you can get in touch with the Digital Journey team at hello@digitaljourney.org.

Digital Journey works with individuals, businesses and organisations of all types across New Zealand. We provide FREE online digital assessments and resources, as well as training, coaching and project management services.

Our vision is to help everyone get the most out of the Internet, online tools and digital technology. Find out more at www.digitaljourney.org.