{"id":15222,"date":"2019-08-27T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/?p=15222"},"modified":"2020-12-28T10:51:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:51:16","slug":"strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold<\/h1>\n

Tom Schoen, CEO, BTM Global <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"As economic forecasts continue to predict a modest slow-down, many retailers will take advantage of this quieter time to assess their operations and look for opportunities for efficiency.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s never a shortage of improvements to be made, and there are nearly an equal number of choices for the technology stacks and applications to enable those improvements. What\u2019s often missing during this planning time, however, is the important connection between strategy and the subsequent technology decisions.<\/p>\n

People interchange \u201cstrategy\u201d with \u201cgoals\u201d or \u201ctactics\u201d all the time, so here\u2019s a quick primer: Your strategy is where you need to go. The goals are the steps you need to take that will move you forward in your strategic plan. The tactics are the tools or approaches that help you take those steps.<\/p>\n

For example, if your strategy is to grow into a new segment of the market, what changes do you need to make to your technology systems in order to get there? What are the immediate goals you to need accomplish in the next \u201cx\u201d number of months or before a certain deadline, like a holiday? What tactics or tools do you need to accomplish those goals?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t make IT an afterthought
\n<\/strong>From a strategy perspective, IT has typically been an afterthought. Perhaps the CIO is invited to a few meetings, but that\u2019s about it. Conversely, IT may not be advocating for themselves to be at the table. I\u2019ve seen this happen regardless of the company\u2019s size or industry, and I\u2019ve walked into more than one meeting where it\u2019s instantly obvious that the business side and IT side don\u2019t see eye-to-eye. That sort of siloing of responsibilities and lack of trust hurts the efficiency and effectiveness of reaching your goals.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, IT has been thought of as the network, the servers or the team that runs the batch programs. It\u2019s \u201cthe network guy\u201d or the person in the data center. But that\u2019s all changed. IT is more than a cost center, as it may now include application administration and developers. These are really important people to have at the table when you\u2019re setting strategy. For example, if you\u2019re mixing cloud and on-premise systems, that\u2019s a complicated endeavor; the business people in the room usually don\u2019t have the expertise to fully grasp the implications and factors associated with those decisions, so having IT in there is critical for determining a realistic path forward on the strategic plan.<\/p>\n

In fact, IT is the only way to execute a strategy; the team helps the business side think through and prioritize the goals on the way to executing your strategy. In short, IT helps you understand whether something\u2019s possible or not.<\/p>\n

IT leaders also need to be thinking in terms of strategy, not simply execution. It the business side is hesitant about an initiative because it\u2019s too costly or too much of a hassle, that\u2019s when IT needs to step up and tie the effort to the overall strategy of the organization. How does it help the company achieve a goal? Strategy and goal setting have to be done collaboratively by both sides.<\/p>\n

Where the innovation happens
\n<\/strong>That collaboration between business and IT is where the innovation happens; by working out your goals and solutions together, you can propel yourself faster along your strategic plan and stay relevant.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re stuck, working with a system integrator (SI) \u2013 even before your technology systems and apps are chosen \u2013 can help your team prioritize goals. An SI can also help you think through data conversion plans and prioritize integrations. If you\u2019re looking to do something more transformational, your SI should know the ins and outs of your tech options and be able to advise you on making bolder moves. But wherever you are in the process, bringing together the business and IT team early and often will ensure your strategy is smart, your goals are achievable and your tactics are sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold Tom Schoen, CEO, BTM Global As economic forecasts continue to predict a modest slow-down, many retailers will take advantage of this quieter time to assess their operations and look for opportunities for efficiency. There\u2019s never a shortage of improvements to be made, and there are nearly an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nStrategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold - BTM Global<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to connect business strategy with IT strategy and technology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold - BTM Global\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to connect business strategy with IT strategy and technology.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BTM Global\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BTMGlobal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-27T13:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-28T16:51:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Schoen.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"btm-it-contact@btmgcs.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"btm-it-contact@btmgcs.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"btm-it-contact@btmgcs.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d43317069627ad45260882cde9939b1e\"},\"headline\":\"Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-27T13:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-28T16:51:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\"},\"wordCount\":694,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Tom-Schoen.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"BTM News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.btmglobal.com\/strategy-goals-and-bringing-it-into-the-fold\/\",\"name\":\"Strategy, Goals, and Bringing IT into the Fold - 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