It’s Time to Plan Your 2022 IT Strategy

Time flies! We’re halfway through 2021 already, and that means it’s time to start planning your IT strategy for 2022. Even after all the tech restructuring you experienced last year, you probably have a few tech troubles you’d like to tackle by the beginning of next year. You’d probably also like to nail down your approach to remote work, now that many of your employees want to maintain their flexibility. 

The beginning of Q3 is a great time to start planning your tech strategy, so you can take the time to figure out real solutions that will help your organization. With good planning, you can improve your IT security, increase your staff productivity, and reduce your staff turnover. Best of all, good strategy planning usually saves on IT spending. 

 So, let’s get started, shall we? 

TL;DR: IT strategy planning isn’t hard, but it does take attention to detail. You must calculate your costs, your budget, and your strategic IT goals for 2022 – then figure out how to align your spending with your goals. Contact Interplay for help. 

3 Steps to Planning Your 2022 IT Strategy

IT strategy planning is relatively straightforward, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to dive right in. Of course, like all things, the devil is in the details. 

Here are the three steps you should follow: 

1. Calculate your IT costs

Before you can determine how to get to where you want to be, you must know where you are. Unfortunately, IT costs can be sprawling and very hard to track. Your organization is likely to have:

• Equipment costs, such as server, laptop, phone, router, switch, and printer costs
• Software costs, including licenses for downloaded software and cloud software
• Utilities costs, including cooling and power costs
• Storage costs, including the square footage needed to house working and non-working equipment

If you have trouble compiling all these numbers, or if you have the nagging suspicion that you’re missing something, contact your local IT experts in Seattle for help. 

1. Calculate your IT budget

Once you know what you’re spending currently, you’ll either be comfortable spending more – or you’ll want to reduce costs immediately. Both goals are easily accomplished because identifying all your costs helps you identify where you’re wasting money using duplicate tools or expensive and unnecessary workarounds. 

Of course, it helps to know what a typical IT budget includes, so if you’d like some help crafting the most realistic IT spending plan possible, the IT experts at Interplay can help. 

1. Determine your IT goals 

We already touched on this a little in the previous section in terms of IT spending but, remember, you’re creating an IT strategy plan for 2022, not simply a budget. In this section, your IT goals will be related to your strategic plans, not just your costs. 

In which case, it is helpful to start brainstorming ideas for how you can improve productivity, reduce costs, increase employee and customer satisfaction… all those things. Ask around to your employees and see where they can imagine improvements – they’ll probably have some great ideas. 

Once you’ve generated ideas, toss the ones that you don’t like (you are the boss, after all), and divide your list into: 

1. • Must Have, and
   • Nice to Have

If you discover that your Must Have list is a bit overwhelming, especially considering your IT budget, you may want to reach out to an IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) for help prioritizing your IT strategy needs. (Quick tip: Don’t forget to plan for IT cybersecurity!) 

Use IT Strategy Consulting to Reduce Your IT Spending and Get More Done

Like all business financial processes, tech strategy planning takes time and attention. Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone. The Seattle-based IT experts at Interplay are happy to step in and help on any (or all) of these steps. 

In addition to helping you plan your strategy, our IT Managed Services team can ease your workload by:

• Eliminating current IT inefficiencies to save you time and money
• Freeing up staff time (and labor hours) from tiresome IT troubleshooting activities
• Freeing up wasted space in your office, currently clogged with outdated IT equipment
• Tracking IT assets and inventory, so you can keep IT equipment running longer and streamline your fixed asset tracking for taxes
• Supporting your employees with their tech troubles 24/7, so they know they can always reach out to a local, friendly, sympathetic tech at any time 

As we all learned (quite suddenly) in 2020, your IT health can determine your business health – and can impact everything from HR to finances to customer service and beyond.

Planning your IT strategy for 2022 is synonymous with planning your business strategy for 2022 – and that means it’s a good idea to start as soon as possible. 

 

Ready for help? Just reach out and let us know where we can lend a hand. 

For 20 years, the friendly and knowledgeable IT team at Interplay has helped business leaders across a range of industries get more out of their tech, stress free. Not only are we always (and we mean always) happy to offer the best managed IT services, support, and advice, we’re also the team you can trust for the best cocktail recommendations here in Seattle or in Disney World – we’re versatile! All humor aside though, we’d love to help you get your IT running smoothly and securely, around the clock.