Further Enhancing Our Ability to Help Our Clients Leverage IT As a Business Enabler!

On February 11^th – 13^th, 2015, CSP Inc. attended the HFTP Regional Conference in Richmond. The event is held to bring all the HFTP (hospitality finance and technology professionals) together for continuing professional education, as well as networking to get to know each other better.

Our team was a gold sponsor of the event – attending for the purpose of learning alongside financial and technology personnel working in country clubs, hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality-related businesses. During our attendance, we learned a lot about strategic planning.

Are you truly aligning your technology with your business goals and objectives? Or are you simply planning for maintenance and the lifecycle of your technology?

Many business owners think they’re being proactive and strategically planning, however, they’re often simply planning for maintenance and the lifecycle of their technology as opposed to truly aligning their technology with their goals and objectives. Here are the three levels of strategic planning:

1. Strategic maintenance planning: This is where most people start and stop their strategic planning.

• Looking at technology refresh cycles, end-of-life notices, and building out a 5-year technology plan.
• Creating the plan solely based on hardware and software, typically based upon a budget that’s given.
• Leaving you to worry about consistent budget, limiting risks, and maximizing performance,

2. Strategic alignment planning: This is the next level of planning – an improvement compared to maintenance planning, but still not optimal.

• Looking at corporate initiatives and aligning IT priorities with corporate priorities to make sure goals are met.
• Possibly getting some additional budget in place to help drive initiatives and meet goals.

3. Key strategic planning: This is the most proactive level of planning – making the most of your technology investment.

• Using IT as a key component of developing the corporate strategic plan.
• Proactively thinking about how technology can change/enhance your business.
• Budgeting based upon needs – turning IT into a strategic business enabler instead of a necessary expense.

Need an IT services company that helps you with key strategic planning to leverage IT as a business enabler? Contact Raleigh IT Support Company and IT Services Provider | CSP Inc. at (919) 424-2000 or email us: info@cspinc.com.