Are Your Digital Technology Platforms and Information Technology Processes Aligned With Your Business? – 8 Questions You Need to Answer

Middle market companies are challenged with leveraging their investments in Digital technology and IT infrastructure.  Their systems are typically a patchwork quilt of software and hardware products that have been bolted together.  They need systems that are scalable, sustainable, cost effective, available 24×7, easy to manage and have been converted from a cost center to a revenue center.  So how does the potential of digital technology become more fully realized? The answer is often found in one word: alignment. Alignment between the digital technology departments and the core business.  When this alignment is missing, the business finds it hard to relate to what IT is doing and what their IT expenditures are buying them.  Without the alignment, IT personnel may find themselves struggling under slashed budgets and justifying their funding requests in front of a sea of glazed over eyes. Middle-market companies that have made the alignment between the business and IT find themselves edging out competitors in productivity, incremental sales and cost reduction.  A recent Deloitte mid-market survey observed that 41% of respondents see “critical” value in technology as a differentiater and catalyst for growth, while 38% view technology as a strategic investment.  This survey found the number reporting a higher tech spend has jumped to 58%.  Middle market US companies are on the threshold of a new world of operational efficiency, productivity and customer engagement through the Industrial Internet of Things.  The rapidly changing face of technology and its myriad offerings makes for a bewildering range of choices. That is where Group 50’s Digital Technology practice begins its work.  Our team of seasoned IT executives focus on how a company can leverage software, operations and infrastructure to optimize performance throughout the company.  Our consultants have successfully helped a wide variety of companies, from Fortune 50 to start ups, get their Business-IT alignment correct. We answer the following 8 questions that are always on the minds of senior leaders:

1. How well am I operating and utilizing my current IT/IS infrastructure?
2. How good are we at utilizing our current IT/IS infrastructure at communicating with suppliers and customers?
3. Does my current IT/IS infrastructure support the company’s strategic direction?
4. Are our existing technology and software investments effectively meeting our current needs?
5. Are our IT/IS platforms serving the company’s current life cycle needs and are they scalable and flexible enough to support future life cycle needs?
6. Are there more effective IT/IS “Total Cost of Ownership” models that the company could be using?
7. How can we be better at customer interface and interaction?
8. How can we move Digital Technology from a cost center to a revenue center?

We work with you in focused assessments that:

• Draw out and articulate your goals and strategy
• Identify opportunities to capitalize on these using Digital Technology

You can read more about these issues in the following Group50 article: Middle Market Growing Pains and Leveraging Technology for your Next Wave of Productivity, and for those middle market companies who need more, they may want to consider discussing a Business Transformation with us.

We have created a series of Digital Technology assessments that are focused on getting answers to the 8 critical technology questions.  They are part of part of Group50’s Company Physical^®, consisting of over 50 assessments and workshops designed to provide a client’s leadership team with the appropriate insights to how their business operates, identifies the opportunities to significantly improve business performance and develop and implement improvement programs.  Group50 has the resources and skill sets that will enable us to make the entire transformation journey with our clients and focus on the intersection of people, process and technology.

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About the Author:  Shirish Néné is the head of Group50’s Digital Technology Practice.  Shirish and the Group50 team are a cadre of veteran executives with a track record of melding people, process, and technology into game changing strategies and tactical advances across a wide range of industries, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies.  Our experience is reflected in a field-tested methodology and framework for establishing Digital Technology in its natural role of a strategic corporate asset.  Our perspective from the trenches to the boardroom has instilled in us a respect for, and the ability to fit into a variety of corporate cultures. #group50 #Business-IT Alignment #datacenter #Digital