Making The Case for New Technology Investment

In the age of disruption, technology is nearly impossible to keep up with. While it can be enticing to bring new technology solutions into every facet of your business, budgets and resources rarely allow for it. So how can you be sure that investing in new technology is right for your organization, and a prudent use of precious funds? 

Consider the following questions when evaluating the need for new technology.

Are you ready to improve processes?

It is always a prudent exercise to consider the time and resources it takes your organization to deliver a new product or service, to manage everyday tasks or to issue reports. It is not always obvious to the team that too much time is being spent in one particular area, especially when they’ve been managing that task for some time. Often, an outside opinion – whether someone else within the company or an expert consultant –  can highlight unnecessary logjams or suggest improvement to outdated processes. If you can easily identify areas within your business that serve as a ‘black hole’ of time or resources, now is the perfect time to consider where investment in new technology can deliver valuable improvement. 

Do you need a competitive advantage?

Every organization wants to be a step ahead of the competition, but there can come a point in time where it becomes critical to invest in new technology in order to outpace those around you. As the old adage goes, “you need to spend money to make money,” and that is never more true than when working to deliver a solution or service above and beyond what anyone else in the market is doing.

Take an honest account of how you are doing against other players in your space, and talk internally with your team to determine what tools and resources are available that can help you compete more effectively. If you identify gaps in areas that could help you excel within a critical niche, now may be the perfect time to make that investment.

Do you need to improve communication?

Has your company grown while processes have stayed the same? Do you find that teams are siloed from each other to the point that innovation and creativity are stymied?

One of the most critical issues we see when companies come to us to help optimize their strategic planning and activity are holes in their communications process. This is where technology can play an important role in improving the status quo. StrategyBlocks, for example, makes it easy for all departments or individuals to access a highly visual dashboard and quickly see how effective any given project or initiative is, in near real-time. This level of transparency helps improve communication across teams, as well as communication when laddering up and laddering down.

Do you need better insights into data?

With more and more devices – and more and more processes – collecting and delivering data to your organization, have you found a way to effectively analyze all that information and create actionable insights? If the answer is no – and don’t worry, you’re not alone – this is the ideal time to invest in technology that can help give your data meaning and purpose. At StrategyBlocks, we’ve found that our clients are able to increase ROI across the organization in numerous ways simply by making their data work for them. This is one of the most compelling reasons for an organization to find budget for new technology.               

Driving home the value of the investment

Once you know it’s time to make improvements, and you’ve found the right tools to address your needs, how do you convince management it’s worth the cost? The last few years have proven turbulent for all businesses, and most companies started the pandemic by taking a conservative mindset toward new investment. Now, however, the focus is on agility, accelerating the digital footprint and enabling teams to do more with greater efficiency. 

To convince your leadership team that new investment is warranted, draw a clear line to the value it offers. Three areas that are key for businesses in the coming year include:

• Improving customer experience: make a direct correlation to how new technology, even back-end, internal solutions, can ultimately improve the customer experience. Once the value to the end-user is clear, the investment becomes much more worthwhile. 
• Increase speed and effectiveness: make a demonstrable case for improved ROI by clearly delineating the benefits of the technology and what current company expenses might be reduced or even eliminated. Consider how much you can save, or how long you can use the technology before it might need to be replaced or renewed. Be clear in the expectations and share data that proves your point to the team. 
• Attract and retain top talent: any advantage that entices new or current talent is time and money well spent. It’s hard to attract the smartest people in the field if your competition is giving them more to work with than you are. Consider what areas of the organization are holding you back from finding the best talent for your company and work to improve those, making it a recruitment selling point.

Spending precious budget on new technology solutions can feel like a gamble, especially if you’ve rolled the dice before and lost with a solution that didn’t deliver on its promises or was too complex to be of value. Carefully considering what your company needs, and drawing a clear line for how new technology can address challenges while paving the way for opportunities, are the most effective ways for making sure budget is well spent.