Information Technology Strategic Plan
The use of advanced technology has attributed to the success of many organizations. Many of the companies have doubled their output increasing their revenue due to state-of-the-art technology. Technology is perceived as the collection of skills and techniques to build equipment and in the process makes work easier. The form of technology differs from company to company; some corporations opt to advance their technology through equipment while others opt for advanced software. Technology increases output by making work easier one way or another. In the case study, the aim is to determine how to increase a company earning the revenue of five million to twenty million using technology. The company in the case study is a Federal Credit Union in California that gives low-interest rates to youths for development. The mission of the organization is to help young people enrich their lives with better skills by providing startup capital. However, the bank has to increase its service quality, particularly as it is in the banking industry where competition is stiff. The article will examine in detail the weakness of the company’s form of technology and how it can be advanced. Moreover, the article will review some of the benefits of developing the type of technology to the business and the resources needed such as personnel.
Current Situation of the Company
The company is making a small revenue since it lacks some of the important basic aspects of technology the competitors are using. First, the company depends on the older methods of marketing and advertising. It is using a lot of revenue to hire personnel to advertise the products of the company thus raising the cost of production. Secondly, the company lacks the advanced software to secure their files, especially in the accounting system, depending on one form of storage that is the company servers. This type of storage is precarious for the company since, in the case of fire, they will lose all their information (Aazam, Huh, & St-Hilaire, 2016). Thirdly, the company’s customer relations are slow and irrelevant; they only depend on hotline customer relation services that are quite slow and expensive for both the company and the customer.
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Information Technology Personnel
Advancing technology usually comes at a cost. For a company to advance its form of technology, it must hire new personnel to handle the technology. The company may opt to train the existing staff depending on the change of technology. However, for a company to have a turnaround from the revenue of five million to twenty million, the massive change of technology in the firm needs new personnel with relevant skills. The individuals ensure that there is continuity in the company and that the company is adapting to the new form of technology. The company will need a system and network administrator; the role of the administrator is to ensure that all the computers and machinery in the enterprise are networked (Akinyele, & Olorunleke, 2010). The networked equipment guarantees the communication in the company is quick, and storage of files from all the computers is easy. It also provides transparency in the business thus more security for the firm. In addition, the system administrator stores the data in the company in the cloud storage for backup and safety. Secondly, the company will need a web developer whose responsibility will be vital for the enterprise. He has to develop a website to advertise and market products of the company and make sure the website is up to date relevant to information from the enterprise. Furthermore, he must build a relevant app similar to the site and link it to the database of the company (Aazam, Huh, & St-Hilaire, 2016). He also has the mandate to maintain social business sites such as Facebook and Twitter. He has to ensure the social sites are also updated, the vital part of the job is the information on the website, the company app, and social sites are synchronizing.
Thirdly, the company will need to hire computer tech support, and the individual is expected to help the customer relations in the enterprise. Advancing the form of technology used comes with a lot of challenges, including customers not understanding the new kind of technology. To ensure the customers feel comfortable, the company will need computer tech support to help the customers. Fourthly, the company will need a software engineer who is one of the most significant personnel when advancing the form of technology. He has three primary roles in the company. Firstly, he advises the company on the best type of software to be used. Secondly, he programs the software and makes sure it is compatible with company hardware existing. Lastly, the software engineer maintains the company software ensuring the bugs in the software are fixed, and they are running smoothly (Akinyele, & Olorunleke, 2010). Technology usually involves two parts, namely the software and hardware. For the company to be complete, it needs to hire a hardware engineer who ensures the equipment in the business is maintained and serviced frequently. In addition, he advises the company on the best equipment to be used relevant to the software. All the person has to work together to ensure the new form of technology is working smoothly.
SWOT Analysis of the Plan
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company is paramount. It will enable the company to maximize its strengths and opportunities while at the same time minimizing the weaknesses and threats. Advanced technology will help the company to increase the output and hence revenue. Some of the strengths include the advanced form of communication between staff and between personnel and customers (Lloyd, Roberts, & Freeman, 2013). The quick response displays good customer relations for the company. Furthermore, advanced technology helps the security of the information and files in the firm. Storage of documents in a cloud ensures the company information is safe. Moreover, the relevant staff can assess the documents in the cloud quickly compared to a single storage system such as a computer hard disk. Advancing technology will increase the opportunities for the company (Advancing Technology, 2012). By introducing new forms of technology such as websites and apps, it will expand the market for the enterprise. The company will have more revenue due to the new customers. In addition, the technology advances from time to time; the company will be able to adapt to even new forms of technology with time. On the dark side, the strategic information plan has weaknesses and threats. The weakness of the plan is that it is expensive for the company to adapt. Hiring new personnel and purchase of new equipment might be expensive for the firm.
Our Advantages
Technology is sweet; it makes people’s lives easy and fun. With time, the employees may adapt to the advanced technology leading to technology obsession. Employees will be unable to reason on their own since they are dependent on technology (Advancing Technology, 2012). The threats might not be that extensive, but they are evident in the plan. First, the company will have to lay off some employees leading to unemployment. The bad part of technology is that it summarizes the work of many individuals. Secondly, the form of accountability has changed; this can be hard for conservative employees. Lastly, the company has outsourced some of its services such as cloud computing. Therefore, the firm lacks privacy and is riskier for the enterprise if the cloud servers are hacked (Bipp, & Kleingeld, 2011). The information technology strategic plan should have goals that are paramount to the development of the company. If the organization wants to increase the revenue from five million to twenty million, the plan must increase the sales. By increasing sales, the company will be able to have more income and more clients. The company can increase sales either by identifying new potential markets or increasing the quality of the products. The plan also needs to reduce the competition the firm is facing. The company is making significant small profits due to competition causing the market sharing effect. For the company to reduce competition, the plan must make it stand out as a unique entity from the other existing companies. This will make the business highly preferable compared to others and thus increase the revenue.
Goals for the Information Technology Plan
One of the goals of the plan includes branding; this means the company will change its products outlook and quality of services. Mostly, it changes the customer perception increasing the chances of the product being purchased on the market. Branding also reduces the competition in the market, and this leads to the paper’s prime object that is increasing revenue. In addition, branding builds the company’s reputation in the industry (Bipp, & Kleingeld, 2011). Fourthly, the goal of the plan is to improve customer relations. Research shows that most developing firms earn enough revenue due to good customer relationships. For the company to increase its revenue to twenty million, the firm has to develop a perfect customer relations plan. The customers will appreciate the company products likewise the firm will be able to know the preferences of the client. The company will be able to establish the level of customer satisfaction. Lastly, the goal of the plan is to ensure a state of an art management system. The program provides sound management thus smooth running of the company. Researchers have established that most of the companies earn low revenue due to poor management; the method ensures the company has a standard management system. Therefore, the five-goal plan for the program includes increasing sales and revenue, reducing competition, improving customer relations, branding the company, and providing a sound management system.
Speculating the Impact of the Plan
Implementing the plan will be a huge advantage to the company, as the company will be able to increase its revenue (Better strategic planning, 2012). The more the customers, the larger the revenue, and advances in technology such as using website and apps increases the market pool of the company thus higher sales. The company will also be able to improve its administration and management in the following ways. First, the company will have enhanced its communication system ensuring smooth running; there will be no time wastage in the enterprise due to communication. Secondly, the safety of the documents will be guaranteed due to cloud storage, ensuring the company management system will always have a backup whatever the case. Lastly, if the plan is implemented, the company will have excellent customer relations. By having good communication systems such as social sites, apps, and websites, the communication between the business and the customer is enhanced thus improving client services (Advancing Technology, 2012).
Conclusion
Transforming a company from earning the revenue of five million to twenty million needs a strategic well-structured plan. The information technology strategic plan entails a lot of changes in the enterprise structure and composition. The cost of planning might be higher, but the company has to use the money to get money. The transformation might be quick or slow depending on the company’s adaptation to the changes. Improving technology will increase the revenue for the enterprise. The company with time will get used to changes and improve the form of technology used in the company even higher. Some individuals criticize the improvement of such plans; their argument is logical keeping in mind the high rate of employment due to technology. Others are conservative and are not welcoming to new ideas. However, the change in technology with all the critics will improve the revenue of the company to the required target.
