If technology capabilities are clearly understood, then successfully mapped directly to specific business outcomes, the results will be transformational. However, if they’re not, the best laid plans to align IT with the business visioncan be left looking fruitless.

For this reason, many business leaders and their IT principals find themselves unsure of the approach they need to take. This is where a comprehensive technology roadmap can guide effective decision making and strategy formulation. And it doesn’t have to be complex, costly or overly time-consuming.

There are 10 keyways in which a strategic technology roadmap can help an organisation emerge from the COVID pandemic as a stronger entity. An effective roadmap will:

1. Identify technologies best suited to the organisation:
Keeping up with a constantly changing technology landscape is a challenging task. A roadmap will help to identify those that will add maximum value and the best return on investment.

2. Align technology with long-term objectives:
A roadmap will ensure all technologies deployed are closely aligned to your organisation’s business objectives. In the current uncertain operating conditions, such alignment has never been more important.

3. Create a platform for innovation:
Innovation will only ever deliver true business value when it is servicing real business needs. Once formulated and in place, a strategic technology roadmap will allow an organisation to innovate with more certainty.

4. Optimise security and reduce risk:
Effective security measures should be in place within all businesses, especially at a time when remote working and access has become the norm. A roadmap will ensure the right tools are chosen and correctly deployed.

5. Improve productivity and cost efficiencies:
A roadmap will help a business achieve a measurable return on investment by significantly improving productivity and lowering operational costs. The business will be able to become more agile, flexible, and secure.

6. Achieve more sustainable growth:
With a reliable technology infrastructure in place, a business will be much better positioned to enjoy rapid and sustainable growth. New opportunities that are identified will be able to be swiftly pursued, adding additional benefit to operations.

7. Improve agility:
Change is inevitable, and businesses best placed to adapt will be most likely to succeed. A roadmap will guide all technology investment and deployment to ensure agility is possible at all times.

8. Boost manageability:
In a world where technology infrastructures are becoming increasingly distributed, an effective roadmap will help to make that technology more manageable. It will achieve this by consolidating multiple disparate applications and using tools to better control the information lifecycle.

9. Enhance resilience:
The virus outbreak has shown the importance of operational resilience. A pandemic is extreme, but business operations can be affected by anything from a transportation strike to a ransomware attack. A roadmap will ensure clear plans are in place that show how technology can enable the the business to respond and recover from any disruptions that might occur.

10. Increase the value delivered by partners:
Having a solid relationship with an experienced and knowledgeable technology partner is another important step to take. The roadmap will detail exactly how a relationship should work and how external partners will interact with an in-house IT team. This will ensure maximum value is always delivered.

It’s clear that a well-designed and clearly documented strategic technology roadmap can deliver significant value to Australian businesses. Taking the time to develop one tailored to your organisation’s unique requirements will ensure all investments in technology deliver the anticipated benefits.

In a post-pandemic world, there are likely to be both new challenges to contend with and new opportunities to grasp. Your technology roadmap will be the foundation that enables the business to thrive in this new landscape.