Your IT Checklist for 2021

Here's a sobering statistic for you - according to a recent Spiceworks Ziff Davis study, 80% of businesses expect their IT budgets to expand or remain at the same high level in 2021. So what does that mean for your business? Smart money says that you can't overlook your own technology and remain competitive.

There's a reason that so many organizations are expanding their technology budgets this year. 2020 threw companies a few curveballs. Remote work exploded with the addition of online meetings and other technology to help maintain business continuity through a worldwide pandemic. Social distancing may remain a large part of many people's experience for the first half of 2021.

The problem for CFOs and CEOs is that budgeting for the upcoming year is not nearly as straightforward as it was in years past. That's increasingly clear in their IT departments. It can be difficult to project the year ahead when the past 12 months were so volatile and full of surprises. But you do need to plan and your accuracy in understanding the direction your IT department needs to go in will be a large factor in your success in the coming year.

You need a clear and concise plan for your IT. Your goal is to develop accurate assessments of how your departments performed and where your company should focus on improvements. To do all of this, you need to start with your IT strategy.

Developing an IT Strategy for 2021

Like your marketing strategy, your IT strategy needs to work with your business goals. The best place to start is always where you are. A full assessment of your past performance can help you understand the issues that plague your IT department and the areas where it excels. Your IT department itself should be heavily involved with this assessment. People who work in your department will have an honest and intricate perspective on the way your processes work and how they foster your company's ability to meet objectives.

After a good assessment of your current strengths and weaknesses, develop goals for the coming year. This may include adding new projects, upgrading software or hardware, or improving current processes. Review your employee training initiatives. This might mean adding new training options or simply evaluating how your employees perform. Develop a budget based on the goals that you have for the coming year.

Your 2021 Checklist

Every company is different. Your goals and objectives will be unique to your market, size, number of employees, and position in the market. There is no one size fits all checklist that works for every company because it depends largely on your own goals and protocols.

With that in mind, the following list includes some common (and imperative) items for every type of company.

• Cybersecurity. This is a priority item for every company of every size. It's no secret that hackers took advantage of the quick pivot to remote work to launch an increasing number of attacks. No company size's safe from data breaches. The good news is that education and preparation can help your company ensure business continuity and help you mitigate damages if you ever do become the target of an attack.
• Audit of Software. Taking an in-depth look at all of the software you're using can help you determine which systems work well for productivity and eliminate items that are no longer effective. It's also important to make sure that your employees are all using uniform processes to ease training. Your software audit should include making sure all licenses are up to date.
• Assess Upgrades. If you're currently considering an upgrade to a new platform, software, or any type of IT improvement, it should be included in your strategy and the research should include projected ROI.
• Cloud Computing. Cloud computing is a common upgrade and one that can be achieved without getting rid of all of your legacy systems. This may be on your 2021 checklist.
• Managed Services. Managed services can be an excellent option if you have a small staff or your IT department needs extra support.

Your own checklist may also include compliance issues that are specific to your own industry or that deal with your storage and use of data. You may also have new IT projects you'd like to develop. For instance, you may be researching new SaaS solutions for your document management. When you're developing your checklist, don't forget to leave some room for the unknown. As we learned in the last few months, companies that are flexible enough to pivot tend to perform better overall.

If your business is located in Boca Raton or a surrounding community and you'd like help with developing your IT Strategy for 2021, then I'd be happy to help. Feel free to send me a message here on LinkedIn or email me directly at [email protected].