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How to Create an IT Strategy

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It goes without saying that IT (Information Technology) is a vital part of any organisation. Technologies change over night, securing the appropriate funding can be challenging, not to mention the potential conflicts in organisational priorities. However, it is absolutely essential that organisations have a roadmap in the form of an efficient and effective plan for the future. As Crawford Greenewalt, former president of the DuPont Company, once said, “Every moment spent planning saves three or four in execution.” A robust and thorough IT strategic plan not only sees time saved in the execution phase, but can result in considerably higher returns on investment.

According to Architecture and Governance Magazine, some Fortune 500 companies and government agencies have validated returns on investment as high as 700% as a result of their investment in IT strategic planning.

What is an IT strategic plan?

IT strategic plans are most commonly 3 – 5 year proposals that consist of organisational and project goals, objectives and overall guiding principles. IT strategic plans can range from incredibly specific, in which precise time frames, costs and resources are detailed, to more generalised plans, which leaves it open to department and senior managers to establish the project goals and objectives. Effective strategic plans focus your resources, time and money by prioritising the projects that generate the most significant benefits for the organisation.

Oftentimes the process undertaken to develop a strategic IT plan is just as important as the plan itself. The IT strategic plan should complement the strategies, goals and objectives of other divisions within the organisation. Involving the other units of the organisation early in the process can help to shape and improve the overall objectives through gaining a better understanding of what is necessary for all involved. This approach can be vital in ensuring the plan receives the appropriate funding and resources.

For example, marketing and sales could be managing a significant increase in the amount of customer data. IT could begin planning for how the organisation will handle that increase through expanding on-premise data storage, moving to the cloud or upgrading the capabilities of the data analytics team. If these data storage and analysis resources are inadequate, then steps can be taken to shore them up internally or to locate an outside IT consultant that these tasks can be outsourced to.

An IT strategy would address these gaps and highlight the need for the organisation to build out the supply of skills and infrastructure necessary to meet the demands of multiple divisions of the organisation.

It is important that IT not only think of it’s strategy in terms of technological solutions, but rather think in terms of business goals and opportunities.

A number of organisations use the services of IT consultants to perform the process of creating an IT plan to help provide objectivity and dedicated resources for the creation of a strategy.

IT Strategic Planning Process

IT strategy creation

In order to develop an efficient and effective plan, project management best practices must be followed. This entails the creation of a project charter, developing and following a detailed project plan, as well as the formation of a project team with a project manager to oversee and steer the entire process. In the beginning stages of the formation of the project team, the definition of roles and responsibilities is vital. Likewise, the project team should consist of representatives from all major organisational departments.

Step 1. Discovery

Information and feedback is gathered from all relevant stakeholders. This includes hardware and software inventories, documentation for telecommunications services, network topology diagrams, organisational charts, policies and procedures, disaster recovery and continuity of operations plans, as well as all other relevant documentation.

Additional information is gathered through internal and external stakeholder surveys, interviews and focus groups with the goal of assessing how current IT is performing, what challenges people face and what opportunities are available.

Step 2. Analysis

Once all relevant documentation and information is collated, an analysis of the data is performed. This attempts to look at best practices and gap analysis in order to understand current IT deficiencies with the goal of developing recommendations based on the findings.

During this phase it is vital the project team are consulted to ensure these initial findings are in alignment and on target. It is likely however that additional research will be required.

Analysis and Documentation

Step 3. Documentation

Goals and objectives are formed, along with overarching guiding principles in order to aid the writing of the strategy. The guiding principles in particular help guide and shape the overall decision-making, particularly when issues arise that are not part of the goals and objectives.

For example, the strategy might include that IT will take a cloud-first approach when purchasing new technologies and software. The project team then need to provide adequate feedback within this documentation phase to aid the prioritisation of strategic initiatives and plan objectives. This includes the assurance that funding, time frames and resources are not only realistic but achievable for the project.

Following this, a detailed strategy is written where feedback is obtained from the project group and relevant stakeholders.

Step 4. Review

The feedback is used to revise and finalise the plan. The project manager then presents the plan to senior management, IT staff and other relevant stakeholders, following which the strategy is usually published and distributed internally.

Following the completion of the plan, the objectives and initiatives are implemented within the specified time line and budget. As the implementation of the IT strategy takes place over the 3-5 years of the plan, it’s vital that progress and performance are monitored and tracked. More often than not, the plan will be revised and adjusted during this time as a good plan is always under construction. External, and unpredictable, factors such as emerging and disruptive technologies, the economy and legislative change can impact and alter the original implementation.

You can learn more about eStorm’s IT consultancy and how you can get the most out of your IT environment.

eStorm Australia is an IT managed service provider headquartered in Brisbane. We partner with your business and provide IT solutions and services that suit your specific requirements. Our solutions include a variety of services that are critical to overall business success and competitive advantage.

If you need any information, or to find out exactly how we can help your business – contact us anytime on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected].

What Is A Virtual CIO & How Can It Help Reduce Costs and Achieve Greater Competitive Advantage?

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Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, wouldn’t be able to do half the incredible things he does without his artificial intelligence system named J.A.R.V.I.S.

J.A.R.V.I.S. is forward-thinking, always assessing the risks, prepared for when disaster strikes and essential to Iron Man’s success.

What if your business had a J.A.R.V.I.S.? What if you had someone guiding you in the right direction, that allowed you to focus on moving forward and empowered you to do more?

Iron Man Heads Up Display

This is where a Virtual CIO comes in.

What exactly is a Virtual CIO?

A Virtual CIO is an outsourced role that combines the tasks managed and maintained by chief information officers, chief technology officers and technology consultants.

Virtual CIOs are responsible for providing technological leadership, as well as developing and managing strategic and forward-thinking systems and infrastructure that is designed to accomplish the organisation’s overall business objectives, as well as improve organisational scalability and agility. While their decisions encompasses technology, they are also involved in decision making that supports the long-term growth and strategy of the business with a focus on bridging the gap between small business and large enterprise.

What are the benefits of a Virtual CIO?

  • You gain the knowledge, skills and expertise of an entire team of IT professionals
  • Cost reduction: a Virtual CIO makes it possible for SMEs to access the IT capabilities and expertise of the largest organisations without the significant cost of a permanent CIO.
  • Competitive advantage: as we are across relevant and timely industry and technological changes, we are able to provide trusted, informed and effective planning and advice to stay ahead of your competition.
  • Thorough assessment and audit of your overall IT process and configuration policies, as well as providing guidance on the most effective changes that will promote secure and cost effective networks.
  • Development of strategic IT goals that align with wider business goals.
  • Partnership based: we love to immerse ourselves in your business and invest in your success in order to provide you with maximum benefit (our level of input in your business is entirely up to you).
  • IT planning, budgets, staffing, business continuity and disaster recovery processes.
  • Involvement: on-site visits and support, as well as management and planning meeting attendance to stay up-to-date with your business.
  • Proactive monitoring, measurement and maintenance of IT health and security with a focus on keeping data safe, secure and accessible. 
  • Design: we are able to design and implement tailored solutions for your needs.
  • Consultation and troubleshooting.

You can learn what a Virtual CIO service is and how they can be tailored to your organisation’s size and needs.

If you’d like any further information, assistance with your IT needs or you simply don’t know where to start – please feel free to call us on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected]

More Reasons Why You Need An IT Audit

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With more industries and business operations becoming increasingly computerised, the need to keep information safe and secure from an ever increasing variety of sophisticated threats and potential liabilities is now more important than ever before.

An unidentified IT issue has brought Sydney Airport to a standstill this morning as the airport was forced to halt the processing of outbound passengers to deal with the issue.

The IT issue came to light early Friday morning and affected passengers being processed through the T1 international and T2 domestic terminals, during which time the Sydney Airport instructed travellers to avoid the terminals until further notice.

As a result of the IT issue, queues began to form inside and outside the terminals with many travellers taking to social media to voice their frustration.

 

While IT audits help you to ensure that your systems optimally support your organisation’s strategic vision, not all IT audits are the same. This is why at eStorm we conduct a variety of technological audits that are customised to your business that address security, compliance, performance and risk. Concurrently, our IT audit consultants contribute to your organisation’s risk assessment process.

Every organisation needs to balance its technological needs- including speed, ease of use and convenience, against their critical need to keep information safe and secure from an increasing variety of sophisticated threats and potential liabilities.

The primary objectives of an effective IT audit include:

  • Evaluating the systems and the processes in place that secure business data
  • Determining and minimising the overall risk to your business’s information assets
  • Ensuring your information management processes are in compliance with IT-specific laws, business policies and industry standards
  • Determining inefficiencies in your business IT systems and the management associated with them
  • Reviewing your system policies and documentation
  • Measuring your business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness

If you’d like any further information, assistance with your IT needs or you simply don’t know where to start – please feel free to call us on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected]


Source: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/it-failure-brings-sydney-airport-terminals-to-a-halt-486676?eid=3&edate=20180309&utm_source=20180309_PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter

Why Is An IT Audit Important To The Success Of Your Business?

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With more industries and business operations becoming increasingly computerised, the need to keep information safe and secure from an ever increasing variety of sophisticated threats and potential liabilities is now more important than ever before.

A recent release from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) proves that an IT audit and review is vitally important, regardless of the size of your organisation. The release highlights the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) recent refreshment of their IT hardware and software following major outages that crippled the department’s online systems.

“The ATO’s risk management and BCM processes did not include an assessment of risks associated with storage area networks, which were a potential single point of failure. Moreover, BCM processes were limited in planning for critical infrastructure and ICT system failure to the data centres”.

network_cables
As a result, the tax office had to shutdown online tax services over several weekends in April and May to replace old hardware. The ANAO’s report also highlighted several inadequacies in critical infrastructure business continuity planning.

While IT audits help you to ensure that your systems optimally support your organisation’s strategic vision, not all IT audits are the same. This is why at eStorm we conduct a variety of technological audits that are customised to your business that address security, compliance, performance and risk.

The primary objectives of an effective IT audit include:

  • Evaluating the systems and the processes in place that secure business data
  • Determining and minimising the overall risk to your business’s information assets
  • Ensuring your information management processes are in compliance with IT-specific laws, business policies and industry standards
  • Determining inefficiencies in your business IT systems and the management associated with them
  • Reviewing your system policies and documentation
  • Measuring your business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness

Learn why not all IT audits are the same and how they can be essential to success.

If you’d like any further information, assistance with your IT needs or you simply don’t know where to start – please feel free to call us on (07) 3120 0640 or email us at [email protected]

What are Software Audits?

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What Is a Software Audit?

A software audit is a formal review of an organisation’s software suite which can be limited to one manufacturer (for example, a Microsoft or Adobe-specific audit), or open to all operating software within a business.

In a lot of cases, audits will be conducted by specific manufacturers (or parties acting for those manufacturers) who are interested exclusively in their own products. However, businesses may have a partnering company who can do a complete audit on their entire software suite.

The purpose of a software audit is to determine the nature of a software product, software process, or set of software processes to assess compliance with specifications, standards, contractual agreements, or other criteria. The manufacturer is then permitted to conduct an audit at their leisure to ensure that the agreement has been adhered to. Note that “Agreed to Terms” may be implied if you are simply using their software.

The Difference Between Manufacturer & Preparatory Audits

Manufacturer audits

A manufacturer will conduct an audit to ensure their IP and relevant agreement are being protected. The audit may detect, amongst other things, the use of pirated, expired,
or unauthorised software. Typically, a manufacturers audit will result in compliance, or, the business being required to take immediate action to prevent further legal or nancial penalties.

Preparatory audits

Preparatory audits are audits conducted by a business itself or by a partnering organisation such as eStorm. A preparatory audit can examine the compliance of all software within an environment, and can reallocate licenses that aren’t being used, saving the organisation money. Feasible and potentially more economical strategies can then be devised to address potential non-compliance issues.

Common Non-compliance Issues

Software not evolving with changes in IT systems or hardware may conflict with your licensing structure or agreement. Some software license contracts may be aligned with certain technologies and once these technologies are replaced or upgraded, the license agreement you were operating under may be unintentionally compromised.

Not conducting regular internal software audits. Regular internal software audits can save businesses a lot of trouble. They can be executed any which way a business chooses – by acquiring a partnering business to examine the environment, or by walking around the of ce with a clipboard and pen. Whichever method a business chooses will help avoid compliance issues should an external audit be thrust upon your company.

An unclear software licensing policy inside an organisation can catch them unaware of potential licensing breaches. Multiple license types – open licensing, OEM, per device, per user, volume licensing, upgrade licensing etc, can make it decidedly tricky to understand what can and cannot be done with particular licenses.

Example: A business may buy 100 per-device licenses. If they “ghost” (or replicate) an image of one PC to create a standardised desktop, a new license will be required for each new system that the replicated image is loaded on to. The new system will still work without a new license, however “sharing” a license could be in breach of the original agreement.

Not establishing and enforcing software installation and usage policies can complicate software licensing issues from day one. Installation and usage policies are critical to outlining how software is to be utilised, shared, or acquired within a business. The usage policy will outline what is acceptable (or legal) and what is not. The consequences of breaching these policies also need to be communicated.

Not dedicating the responsibility of compliance to an internal team or business partner will hinder a businesses ability to stay on top of their software licenses. Whilst allocating responsibility to one person inside a business creates bottlenecks and redundancy issues, an internal team or external business partner can strategise ways to ensure your organisations software is compliant by conducting regular preparatory audits as part of their regular business-as-usual activities.

 

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

During the 2013 calendar year, 58% of 1800 executives surveyed from Australia, the USA and Europe said they had been audited by one major manufacturer of software, whilst 20-30% acknowledged that they had been audited by at least four other major software brands. Of those who were audited, more than 20% incurred “true-up” costs of more than $1M, while the majority of respondents incurred costs of around $100K.

Ensure your business is protected from Software auditing and speak to an eStorm Managed Services representative today.

What’s your equipment finance solution?

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BOQ finance offers a large range of financing options for all your office or classroom technology equipment needs. They understand that your financing arrangement needs to be flexible and meet your needs. With over 40 years industry experience they can offer cost effective, efficient and flexible solutions for all your IT requirements. BOQ Finance is focused on providing local expertise, close to our customers and partners. meet equipment life cycles so they collaborate with you to structure payment plans that are flexible and easy to manage. BOQ specialise in financing solutions for computer and technology equipment.

Finance all types of technology and office equipment including:

  • Desktops and laptops
  • Servers
  • Telecommunications (including VOIP)
  • Software
  • Photocopiers and MFD’s (multifunctional devices)
  • Installation costs

Benefits 

    • Master Rental Agreement: Terms agreed upfront for all future business, providing a simple mechanism for adding on new equipment
    • No Upfront Costs: Acquire the equipment required for your business without having to outlay cash for procurement
    • Fixed Quarterly Payments: Payments are fixed for the life of the contract allowing you to better manage your expense planning and budgeting process
    • Manage Obsolescence & Disposal: Acquire the equipment you need for your business today and avoid having to worry about the risks of ownership, environmental and end of life costs
    • Latest Technology: Equipment can be replaced at the end of the lease term with the latest technology without the cost of disposal of existing equipment
    • Tax Deduction: generally lease rental payments are fully tax deductible. However you should seek independent taxation advice, as this may not be applicable to your situation.
    • eStorm and BOQ Finance: we want to support your business to have current technology in your environment. eStorm chooses to partner with BOQ as our preferred finance option. Let us coordinate a meeting for you.

Drive Profitability With The Right IT Support

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In order to continue to drive profitability for your business, you need to make sure your IT systems are up to date and running smoothly. IT is no longer just a way to improve your competitive advantage; staying connected and keeping your business applications running smoothly is an essential part of every successful business operation. Whether your primary work involves service-based activity or consumer retail, your customers, suppliers, and employees depend on your IT performance. Downtime not only costs you money, it harms your business’s reputation.

However, the right IT support provider can help you overcome IT challenges and drive profitability in your company by empowering your users, optimising your application delivery and by customising your IT systems to your specific needs. This allows you to ensure your business’ responsiveness now, in preparation for future growth.

Ensuring IT service availability

On-demand expectations have changed the way businesses operate. Your employees, customers and suppliers rely on the critical data and operating systems you use. Building true business continuity isn’t a matter of just having the ability to recover your files from an isolated date or time; you need to be able to continue working, regardless of interruptions.

IT providers can offer cloud-based recovery and back-up solutions that ensure business continuity. They will manage the integration of services that benefit your users. By offering the right software and the right service level cloud solutions, IT providers offer new opportunities and possibilities that benefit your users and improve your profitability.

Empowering users

In today’s economy, IT services are a core part of nearly every business. A large majority of employees will be using your company’s IT services daily. The more time employees are spending using IT, the more it affects their productivity and thus the business’ profitability. Providing your employees with the right IT tools to do their job is essential, as well as making sure those IT tools work quickly and reliably.

Some important considerations are:

Performance – Uptime and business continuity have already been covered, but it’s also important to ensure that the IT systems are responsive and reliable all of the time. Constant delays such as, applications and crashing computers, waste employees’ time and reduce productivity, even if they aren’t officially counted as “downtime”.

Accessibility – Are your employees able to access all of the IT services from wherever they need them? If they are at a different office for the day, or using a different computer can they still work as normal? Remote working solutions not only let people continue to work when they can’t work from the office, but can also provide flexibility within the office too.

The right IT provider should have a good understanding of your business and industry sector, so they can appreciate the challenges your employees face and suggest improvements where appropriate. Regular engagement between your IT provider’s team and both your management and floor level users is essential to this process, a purely reactive and faceless help desk only service will not achieve this.

The Benefits of Enterprise Level IT & How They Drive Profitability

Many small businesses rely on the combined IT knowledge of their current staff members to handle any IT problems. But, the fact remains that in today’s economic environment if you experience problems such as downtime, you can experience serious, long-term impacts on your business. Your customers will go elsewhere, and the loss can be irreparable.

Outsourcing IT support with the right IT provider removes IT burdens from your existing staff. It allows you to access the resources that large companies enjoy, without incurring the same costs. Moreover, instead of having to upgrade, replace, and purchase hardware, your provider can offer linear grow options that tailor your IT performance capabilities to your needs.

Like any outsource strategy, it allows your team of professionals to concentrate on doing what they do best, rather than be distracted and importuned by IT necessities.

To find out more about outsourcing your IT to drive profitability in your business, speak to one of our IT technicians today on 1300 378 678 or email us.