Here's how you can navigate key considerations as an IT executive when making critical business decisions.

Look internally (patterns) and externally (trends) to understand your current state. Compare current state to business goals to find areas lacking capability. Evaluate impact, urgency, and ROI. User feedback, benchmarks, or test new solutions (proof of concept) to get a complete picture.

Olhe internamente (padr?es) e externamente (tendências) para entender seu estado atual. Compare o estado atual com as metas de negócios para encontrar áreas sem capacidade. Avalie o impacto, a urgência e o ROI. Feedback do usuário, benchmarks ou teste novas solu??es (prova de conceito) para obter uma vis?o completa.

As first step, IT priorities need to be aligned with business strategy. As first step, communication is key here. The business strategy should be explained and understood and how IT can support should be agreed. Another important factor is how much the company is planning to invest. So, IT should also revise the existing gaps and what needs to be improved and implemented according to the budget and how it aligns with the stragety and share it with business.

Your first move in making critical business decisions should always be a thorough assessment of the business needs. This means diving deep into what your organisation aims to achieve and determining how IT can bolster these goals. Start by evaluating your current IT infrastructure, understanding the strengths and shortcomings of existing systems, and identifying any gaps that could hinder progress. It's crucial to balance both short-term and long-term objectives, considering how technology can boost efficiency, enhance productivity, and provide a competitive edge. Prioritising these needs will ensure that your IT strategy not only supports but also advances business priorities.

Before you start with risk analysis, you need to first identify the assets that you would like to protect. These can be certain IT systems that is crucial to business operations or with sensitive data, it can be a data center where you have most of the systems running or it may even be a certain team (personnel) which perform critical operations. Then you can carry on with risk analysis and evaluate based on likelihood and threat. You would then think about how you would treat those risks. Sometimes the cost of implementing a control against a risk can be much more than the value of the asset itself. Such asset identification and risk analysis can be done with various assessement or GRC tools.

It’s imperative to identify and evaluate potential risks linked to new IT investments. This includes assessing cybersecurity threats, data privacy concerns, and compliance with relevant regulations. Understanding the likelihood and impact of these risks is crucial for developing robust mitigation strategies. It’s also essential to ensure that your security measures are strong and that your team is well-prepared to handle incidents. By proactively managing these risks, you not only safeguard your organisation but also strengthen trust with stakeholders.

This is an analysis and alignment that you need to take with the executives. Sometimes ROI may not be realized, but you may want presence or it can be a strategic direction. Proper tangingle and intangible costs calculation is crucial to consider all cost aspects and internal alignment is a must.

Start by analysing the total cost of ownership (TCO) for new technologies, which includes acquisition, implementation, and ongoing maintenance expenses. Weigh this against the projected return on investment (ROI) to assess the financial viability of the decision. It’s also important to consider hidden costs, like training or additional staffing requirements, that could affect the budget. Making cost-effective decisions is crucial, as it directly contributes to the financial well-being of your organization and ensures that investments align with business objectives.

In today's world, if you would like to talk minimum responsibility and transfer risk of managing this, you can consider cloud solutions. This would provide scalability and avoid certain costs which you may not have foreseen.

Technology evolves at a breakneck pace, making it crucial for IT executives to future-proof their decisions. When investing in new technology, opt for scalable solutions that can grow and evolve alongside your business. It’s important to assess the flexibility of these systems and their compatibility with upcoming technological trends. Planning with the future in mind allows you to sidestep expensive upgrades or system replacements later. By staying ahead of the curve, you not only safeguard your IT infrastructure but also maintain a competitive edge in your industry.

Think future-proof: Choose technology that scales and adapts to evolving business needs and align it with business goals. It must support the company's overall strategy.

Make the key considerations *visible*. Frequently, we make invisible, silent assumptions based on our own experiences, and they can be wrong. Make a simple document, write the key considerations down, and put data behind each. Don't have the data or aren't sure? Engage those stakeholders across the organization! This way, you're engaging stakeholders as you're building out the implications of the decision, and have pre-built alignment on the data by the time you get to the final decision point.

This is a must at all stages. I suggest applying agile principles so that you continously align with your stakeholders and deliver what is really expected. In this way, you also make sure what is really priority and where you need to invest. Continous communication and receiving feedback is crucial.

Make it a priority to solicit input from various departments to fully understand how technology impacts each facet of your business. This collaborative approach ensures that your IT decisions reflect a wide range of perspectives and meet the comprehensive needs of all users. Encourage open communication and actively seek feedback, which helps foster a sense of ownership and support for IT initiatives across the organization. By involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, you create a more inclusive and effective IT environment.

Communicate the execution plan to the team that will be responsible for executing it. Explain to the team what are the objectives, the risks and also the impact of successfully executing it or not. Also define CSF (critical success factors) for the execution of the plan.

Change Management - as much as possible flexible/agile: Develop a basic change plan to address user concerns and minimize disruption and focus on clear communication and user training for the chosen solution.

Establish metrics to monitor the success and effectiveness of the decision post-implementation. This allows for adjustments if needed and helps demonstrate the decision's value to stakeholders.

More AI generated poor advice. Step 5 should be step 1. Stakeholders should frame and drive and proposes investment Extra characters