Interested in getting an IT roadmap going for your business? Great! IT roadmaps are a great way to plan for future business initiatives, organize current IT projects, and budget for next years’ needs and goals. However, many roadmaps fail to payoff due to improper planning. Below are four activities you should complete before getting started on your IT Roadmap.
Get an Assessment
A technology assessment is a great demarcation point for your business and will help you greatly with making an IT roadmap by documenting your current infrastructure, getting an inventory on your current devices, and identifying any critical issues you should address right away in your new IT roadmap. A proper assessment should help you gather the following information:
- End of Support (EOS) dates for key systems
- List of all hardware assets:
- Switches
- Routers
- Servers
- Desktops
- Laptops
- Identify the health of your current infrastructure
Five Questions to Ask Before Getting an Infrastructure Assessment
Find out You Executives’ Vision
Nothing can be more of a time waster than making concrete plans, only to find out that your boss has different goals in mind. Before starting your roadmap, find out where the executive team sees the business in the next three, five, and ten years. Is everyone on board with a move to the cloud? Does the boss envision a technological marvel at your office packed with IoT devices and digital signage? Also, make sure to get multiple opinions on the future goals of the business. Finance, Marketing, and Sales should definitely be involved before you plan the future infrastructure for your organization.
Discover Deadlines
Deadlines such as hardware renewals, software end of life dates, and other technology driven contracts will definitely play a roll in any IT roadmap. For example, if you are running Windows 2008 servers, you may think about moving some of your infrastructure to Azure sooner rather than later.
Assemble the Right Team
Creating a solid IT roadmap is not a one-man job. It may be important to involve your IT Services Provider and anyone else in your business who will play a roll in critical goals and projects. Also, having a Project Manager involved may also be a good idea, as they will have experience staying on track and on budget.
Conclusion
In today’s complex technical world, strategy and planning are crucial for the future of your business, and creating a roadmap for the future of your IT infrastructure is a great way to stay on track and help transform your business.
Are you running any Windows 2008 servers?
