The technology refresh strategy sets clear expectations, helps to control costs, and accelerates deployment cycles. With a well-defined strategy, an organization can predictably stay on course to achieve its goals.
How to Implement a Technology Refresh Strategy?
The pace of technological change can cause organizations to need to adopt the latest technologies to stay competitive. While there’s no doubt that the use of new technologies is critical for some organizations, it needs to be clarified whether the latest technologies are required for many others.
They may be more expensive than an older alternative. They may need more than unavailable or difficult-to-obtain training, support, and maintenance resources. They may need to be used more heavily to justify the expense and effort required to implement them.
In these cases, organizations should adopt a Technology Refresh Strategy. This approach involves:
- Identifying the critical business processes that the technology refresh will impact.
- Deciding which processes have the greatest potential impact on future success.
- Determining which processes will benefit most from new technologies.
- Evaluating whether it’s worth investing in a new technology based on its effectiveness in enabling those processes.
Before starting a technology refresh project, take the time to lay out a strategy. You’ll set yourself up for failure if you go into it blindly. For example:
- If you have a plan in place to use the budget allocated to the project, it might get eaten up into overhead or high-cost items that are optional for the project’s success.
- If you need a well-thought-out plan for what technology will be used in which areas of your business, you may have people using outdated equipment when they could be using something better and more efficient. This could affect efficiency and morale in various parts of your business.
- If you don’t take the time to lay out how the refresh will fit with your organization’s goals and current state, it can look like an ad hoc undertaking that doesn’t have any real benefit except to make IT people happy. The result is that management thinks it’s not worth it and decides not to fund future refreshes.
The Key Component
Here are some of the critical components regarding the technology refresh strategy:
- Your team meets monthly to discuss our technology refresh strategy for the next quarter.
- You must have a dedicated budget for hardware and software purchases because it’s vital for our business to stay competitive, especially for big companies with complex processes.
- You must have set standards for appropriate hardware lifecycles—when we invest in new equipment, it’s always at least as good as what we already have (if not better), which helps us reduce waste and save money.
How to Maintain the Momentum?
To help you steer clear of computer calamity in your workplace, here are some tips on how to maintain momentum and keep your technology running like a well-oiled machine:
- Make sure everyone at your company is on the same page regarding technology. A few years ago, I worked for a small company with much potential, but we failed to capitalize on it because no one knew what was expected of them regarding technical matters. It was a big problem because our computers were constantly crashing, and there wasn’t a plan to deal with it. Things got so bad that we had to resort to using the fax machine—yes, the fax machine—to send out essential documents. To avoid problems like this in the future, make sure everyone clearly understands their role in the maintenance of computers and other aspects of technology.
- Develop a contingency plan in case something goes wrong. To make sure things get better than they did at my old job, implement a backup plan that’s easy to follow and doesn’t require too much work or money on the part of employees. Say, for example, you have one dedicated employee responsible for taking care of all your computers.
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Conclusion
With so much going right on the technology front, all would be well, but there’s one nagging issue: our tech refresh strategy lags. This is particularly problematic because my peers have already moved on to the next big thing. We’re starting to fall behind on the technology curve, and if we act soon, we could maintain our competitive edge.