Standalone Technology Strategy Is Dead. Long Live Stand Alone Tech Strategy

Every now and then I read something which sends me in a time machine chuckle.  I think to myself, "Self, haven't you read this already, like 20 years ago?"

"The days of building a standalone technology strategy are over."

This is the final line in a post on Outsource Magazine.  The idea is some orgs have moved all of their tech to the cloud, so there are no systems in house requiring tech support. SO hey, we don't need no stinking standalone tech strategy. Let's just completely integrate our tech plan into other areas.  It'll be great, THEY say. Everyone will help drive tech strategy and it will rock, THEY say.

I say get over it. The need for a standalone tech strategy still exists even if all of the systems are in the cloud.
If you have more than one system, who will think about integration?
If you have devices to access the cloud, who will think about those?
If you have staff using the technology, who will think about support and training?
If you want to re-engineer processes, who will do the mapping, solution planning, etc?
If you have new features released, who will think about how to use them?

I could go on and on. Not to mention, the need for someone to step back and have a vision for technology across the org.

Let's jump back to 1993. This model about Strategic Alignment from Venkatraman summarizes things for me.  We will always need technology thinking to happen from four different perspectives.

You can read about the model, but in essence it shows a need for technology strategy to:

1. Start with Business Strategy, drive process, end with tech implementation 
2. Start with Business Strategy, involves IT in definition, end with tech implementation
3. Start with IT Strategy, suggest Business Strategy change, end with change process
4. Start with IT Strategy, implement tech, end with change process

There are real needs for each of these types of strategy and without a standalone tech strategy to harness, drive and push these, how well do you think things will end? I picture a skyline consisting of a city of half built buildings without a tech strategy.  As long as you are in the middle of the city with your eyes down, getting the daily work done, you never notice the buildings don't get finished. But someone stepping back to view the horizon can see it clearly.

Tech For Small Orgs!

photo from Sergio on Flickr

Having spent the last few years helping Leap of Faith Arts Ministries with their tech has spurred new thoughts on what it means to be a small org.

I think we have heard the pleas of "not enough money", "not enough time", and "not enough skills" so much that we become numb when we hear it. But these challenges are real. Using those challenges as excuses to have no technology plans is still not acceptable though. Even the smallest nonprofit should have a technology plan. Even if it is a napkin with a list of tech they use, vendor info and when it should be replaced.

SO my challenge to all small nonprofits is to stop focusing on your size and challenges and look at the opportunities you have. This video does a better job explaining it, I think...



SO what is the action you should take?
I would start with training the person who will be your technology decision maker. (note, I didn't call them your IT staff. I said technology decision maker. Even if you don't have IT staff, every org needs a formally recognized technology decision maker.)

• Tactical Technology Training from Idealware
• Nonprofit Tech Academy from NTEN
• Book: Accidental Techie from CompassPoint
• Book: Managing Technology to Meet your Mission from NTEN

Here is my full presentation about tech for small nonprofits:

If you are interested in seeing an example list of technology from a small org, you could read my post about the tech Leap of Faith uses. It is a good example of priority in spending tech dollars.

The other awesome part of small nonprofits? Even a $25 donation goes a huge distance. If you found this info or my blog helpful, consider donating to Leap of Faith Arts Ministries!

Tech Planning Smack Down! Tactical vs. Strategic vs. Missional

I am preparing for a session I will be presenting at the 2014 Nonprofit Technology Conference.  I have been having an internal battle for 15 years on the topic of Strategic Technology Planning.  I have read books, blog posts, case studies and articles proclaiming the best practices of a Strategic Technology Plan. But as I often repeat, “Best for you, isn’t best for me. Let’s talk about Model Practices.”

This leads me to a topic I have seen bounding around recently. Maybe we don’t all need a strategic technology plan. At first, you have to focus on a stable infrastructure.

As a terrific example, Idealware has created their Tactical Technology Training, which I LOVE!

But we all know a strategic plan is needed for deeper impact of our technology. Which I would recommend the Tech Leadership Academy from NTEN.

However, the contender I want to bring to the ring is MISSION.

Sure our Strategic Technology Plan is tied to mission via a close tie to the organization’s overall Strategic Plan. But what about stepping back to find ways for technology to directly impact the mission, not to support the org in meeting the mission. Do you see the distinction?

Here are a couple slides to illustrate this, but I would love for a few people to watch the video embedded below and give me some real feedback.  I will be refining the concept, slides and presentation between now and March 2014.  This is just a sampling of what will be discussed there, but I could really use your feedback!

In 2014 Don't Let Tech Turn into SOS. #TechRevival

SOS - Save our Ship (ok, it doesn't really stand for that, but we all recognize SOS to mean something like it)
or
SOS - Same Old Stuff (or SOSDD- Same Old Stuff Different Day, yeah, I know most people say something besides stuff)

If our Tech Language and Management is centered on SOS, we will fall into the following traps.

Distress - If DISTRESSED times are the only time we talk about our technology, it will be nearly impossible for technology to have a real impact or make real change. It is seen as a necessary evil, instead of opening new potential.

Save Us - If the Tech Team is only included or called when things are broken, all we can do is treat the symptoms. In addition, IT may be seen as the creator of the problem, so they had better fix it now, which does not allow Technology to thrive.

Helpless - If SOS is called for technology and IT help always fixes it for you, how does staff ever learn from it? Give someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish and they end up spending all of their money at Bass Pro, err, I mean they can feed themselves.

BUT the worst of all is...

Ambivalent - Once users could go either way with your technology, take it or leave it, you are in real trouble. You don't want to hear things like:

• "Go ahead and change the tool, not like it matters, you will just change it again later..."
• "Nice Tool!" (secretly scampers off and continues to use work-around)
• "You are the IT group, just tell us what to do and make it work."
• "Our technology is fine, but I don't need it to accomplish my goals."

So what are we supposed to do?

Have a Vision and Share It!

You need to be able to tell the story of how technology is benefiting your organization and how you plan to improve it.

What if you asked an org about what they accomplished in 2013 and they answered:

"We answered our phones 11,123 times, turned on the lights each day we worked, paid our bills, had 50 staff show up each day they were supposed to and shook 4,234 people's hands."

If that seems messed up, then why do we talk about our IT like:

"Network is stable, 2,456 help desk tickets completed, 4 major projects completed on budget, 99.99% uptime, implemented 7 new tools." 

Who cares.

A real strategic technology plan. I strongly believe a Strategic Technology Plan aligned with your mission can make all of the difference. Especially if you turn it into a short digestible, visual document to be shared with all staff. 

The key is to be able to express the impact on staff efficiency, process effectiveness and new opportunities which came from your technology. What changed because of the technology you implemented?

Communicate it. Change the tone of communication about your technology, get the positive message out there. Paint a picture of the potential future.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  We are hesitant to share our future technology plans, because things change so fast and we aren't sure we will be able to do it all. To me the key for this is to focus on the direction and strategy, not the timeline and the tool.  

Here is what I like to do:

• Share the specific projects coming in the next year, WITH specific goals on how it will change how we work and improve our organization.
• Describe the long term strategy by talking about the philosophy and focus over the next 4-6 years.

Example:

• Next year we will implement a new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Our goal is to replace many of the manual processes tracked in Excel and decrease the paperwork needed. We will be improving our intake process to allow our admissions team to focus on the client, limit multiple data entry points and not be as distracted by the tools.
• Over the next five years we will be looking to move systems to the cloud to shift internal support staff to focus on users, centralize staff collaboration tools to clear clutter and improve communication and look for ways to improve our business processes to better leverage our tools.

But the only way you can do the communication above is to be able to back it up with a Strategic Technology Plan.  You need to have the conversations about priority, upcoming projects, long term vision and have buy in with your plan before you can share it.

So a technology plan is more than just a document needed to manage your projects, it is a key to making technology a force for good in your organization.

Start 2014 right with a technology plan. 

New to Tech Planning? Read this article from Tech Soup!

Ready to add mission and strategy to your tech plan?

• I would suggest reading my resources about IT Alignment  (and if you need help, let me know). 
• Then complete the IT Alignment Assessment to identify areas to add to your Strategic Tech Plan.

A 6 Year Technology Roadmap. Are you crazy?

As I approach 9 months at my new job, I am getting closer to completing a 6 year Tech Roadmap.

I have told a few of my IT colleagues and many of them say the same thing: Are you crazy? How can you plan 6 years into the future. Tech changes way to fast. Or I get the question about how do I have time to do that? Well. I make time, go back and see my post about urgency versus priority.

What is a Tech Roadmap? I don't even know if it is a real term. But here is what I mean. It is a summary of the overall direction and identifies what we will focus on.

I am not planning every IT project and every step for the next 6 years. I am just setting a direction for our course. If you only do planning once a year, you will end up making progress. But if you put together enough straight lines with small turns, you can still end up going in circles.

Things will change. I don't expect everything in my Tech Roadmap to go perfectly according to plan. Staff will leave, budgets will change, priorities will shift, etc., but you still need to know your long term direction.

Think of it like your career:

• You go to school, to get the right degree in anticipation of getting the "right" job. You talk to counselors and get expert advice. 
• You read up on the job market. So you make plans and set a direction. 
• You have a life plan! 
• Then college life happens as you try to live out this plan. You start to have life experiences, things happen. 
• But hey, you stick with that degree, cause it's still what you want.  
• Then you get the first job, which is where plans usually change. 
• Suddenly it isn't what you expected or you stop planning because you are too busy working

This is where I hope our Roadmap helps. The Roadmap will provide long term direction, while allowing for a typical annual Strategic Technology Plan. How do you know if your one year plan is the right one without seeing how it fits over the next few years? How do you know your large projects are in the right order? How do make the big decisions in technology?

Some examples of what is in my Tech Roadmap. 

• Move from a heavy internal network to hosted solutions where appropriate
• Move from data repositories to workflow management tools
• Move from scattered internal communication to centralized, easy to access intranet
• Move from a stable-secure network to a tested, documented, monitored network
• Move from limited tech policies to governance in data, process and tech planning

The tech team brainstormed these types of directions for all of the different areas of Tech we will focus on. Then we thought through some of the initial projects for the first 2-3 years. We also examined where we need to shift culture, influence staff, build competencies, etc.

Then we shared this with our CFO as an early draft, not a completed, format, finalized document. It was meant to spur conversation, which it did amazingly well. We had deep conversation and thought through impact. 

Why 6 years? Well it started as a 5 year plan, but one of our amazing Technology Advisory Board Members suggest we match our Roadmap to our Tech Replacement Cycle which is planned at 6 years for some of our network equipment.

Anyway, if you ever want to debate the value of my 6 year roadmap, I am open to it.

Technology Strategy Follow up to #MMM Episode 2

So last week I posted a one minute video on creating a technology strategy.

I showed the basic steps of:

1. Listing your technology needs, projects and hopes in a spreadsheet
2. Add columns for Effort, Priority and Cost
3. Fill in columns with high, medium and low
4. Then look for the combination of effort, priority and cost that you are able to accomplish

Well your technology plan really can be that simple when you are just beginning. When your needs are centered around your infrastructure it is easy to manage. When these projects start to cross over into enterprise software, websites, social media or communications, it can get much more complicated.

Creating a technology plan that requires process or cultural changes, is much more complex. These will take some deliberate steps to build support, prepare staff, enable champions, document your business, understand operational goals and so much more.

So why did I try to make technology planning look so simple?

Because if you don't start with your infrastructure, the other stuff is useless. If you have an awesome website with bandwidth too slow to upload images to it, optimal external communication tools but no good way to share information internally or you have the perfect enterprise software running on computers too slow to run it, then the best technology plan is just a waste.

So your technology plan ALWAYS needs to start with the basics. Get the trains running on time, keep the lights on, start with a foundation to build on or whatever metaphor you want to use.

Later I will look at how you should begin to add in concepts like organizational readiness, mission impact, return on investment, benefit analysis and all of the other ways to make your technology more meaningful.  You have to find purposeful ways to shift your technology from a cost center to manage to a transformative method to meet your mission.

However, we have to find the balance in technology strategy.  Here is a great reminder with a quote from Allen Gunn in a great article on the Nonprofit Quarterly:

Remember That Technology Is Not a Strategy
According to Allen Gunn, executive director of Aspiration, a San Francisco-based nonprofit technology consulting organization, many organizations make the error of treating technology as a replacement for strategy: “In the same way they’d order up pizza delivery, some nonprofits think they can order up a piping hot enterprise technology strategy. We tell organizations to take a step back and think about your business processes first. Look at things from a process-centric way and not a tech-centric way.”

Be sure to go read the full article, it is fantastic. 

Technology Planning #MMM Episode 2

That's right! It is the last Monday of the Month and it is time for (drumroll .....)

Episode 2 of Minute Monday Movie #MMM!

This month I tried to create a tech plan in 1 minute. It helps when you can speed up time, prepopulate things and not really finish the process.

Of course, I would recommend transforming your spreadsheet into a narrative providing additional information, plus a more detailed project plan and overview, but what do you want in 1 minute. Seriously.

But I think this can jump start anyone that is struggling with how to start a tech plan.

Grab your popcorn, but eat fast, this is only 1 minute.