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What is a Technology Roadmap?
Would you explore and navigate a new city without a map? If not, then why would you navigate your organization’s digital journey without one. Creating a guide for your digital vision starts by realizing your business needs and identifying the gaps in your current systems. From there you can begin to build a digital roadmap that addresses these gaps and helps you see the path forward.
What is a technology roadmap, and how is it used?
Simply, a technology roadmap is a key planning document that works to support short and long term digital vision. Most organizations have an idea about being digital but they do not know the best route or where to start. This is exactly where a technology roadmap comes into play. It documents everything and illuminates the path forward to develop a digital-based business.
- Digital Vision: a digital strategy that outlines an organizations goals for maximizing data and technology initiatives in the business.
- Technology Roadmap: a high-level, visual blueprint (or map) that holistically documents the footprint of a company’s digital systems and network.
Why does your business need a technology roadmap?
A technology roadmap creates a visual guide to your digital vision. It is linked to corporate strategy, which makes it easy for teams to visualize, prepare for, and execute the essential digital outcomes for the business. We see many businesses approach digital projects too quickly – they are reactive to internal hurdles – which ends up leading down a path of random and/or disjointed ideas. We are here to tell you that approaching technology this way is typically more costly to an organization in time and people effort.
One of the biggest benefits a technology roadmap offers is that it helps to align all your stakeholders with the company strategy. Its a technical planning document, but it is also a valuable communications tool, that helps areas like operations, IT, sales, finance, HR, executives, and even your board come together and understand why new technology is being introduced, which ones are the best choice, and why existing systems are being updated or retired.
Other benefits a technology roadmap offers?
When a leadership team champions a digital vision through a strategic tool like a technology roadmap you end up with:
- An easy-to-understand diagram of your IT infrastructure that non-technical people can understand.
- A decision-making reference that helps to clearly identify and prioritize the solutions that provide the highest business value.
- A visual planning guide that easily highlights new technology ideas and ongoing IT concerns with sightlines to system lifecycles.
- A way to identify where enhancements can be made to IT and cybersecurity.
- A change management tool to help prepare people in the business for digital transformation.
Bottom line, a roadmap will help determine which technologies to invest in and how to implement them.
What’s Our Advice as a Digital Strategy Consultant?
There can be many uses for a technology roadmap and they can be built to suit all types of needs. As digital strategy consultants, in our opinion, a digital strategy without a roadmap has no destination, and a roadmap without a digital strategy has no direction. Stay away from rigid plans. Your technology roadmap should be a living document that can evolve with your business – it should remain fluid. Analyze and review the roadmap frequently and keep it updated with real-time analysis, changing business requirements, and influence from external factors (like what competitors are focusing on, market forces, and disruption attempts). Lastly, it is important to ensure your digital roadmap is managed by one person. That will help your business to stay focused on achieving shared business goals.
Is your digital ambition to optimize or transform? Either way, Convverge is here to help you create a consistent vision and direction. We can work with you to nail down your vision, fully understand your infrastructure and systems, and hopefully help to minimize the distractions that inevitably arise with systems and IT infrastructure. Our goal is to help you stay focussed on the right areas of your business that lead you to better decision making and greater profitability.
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