Challenge
A growing distribution company had no one in charge of technology. Systems had been added as they were needed, and problems were dealt with when something stopped.
The owners knew they were exposed and could not say where. Each vendor had a different opinion about what to fix first.
Approach
We carried out a technology business review and delivered it as a short written document, with each finding stated as a business risk.
- Interviewed the owners and the staff who dealt with IT day to day.
- Inspected the equipment rooms, the network and the services the company depended on.
- Wrote up each finding with a recommendation and an estimate beside it.
- Ranked the findings so the owners knew what to do first.
- Walked the owners through the document and agreed the first stage of work.
Result
The owners had a ranked list they could act on in stages, and the review became the plan for the work that followed.
- Equipment rooms and critical systems brought under monitoring.
- Email moved to a service the company would not outgrow.
- A documented network and a plan for losing the main site.
Our advice
A review is only useful if it ends in priorities. Ask whoever carries it out to tell you the one thing they would fix first, and why.
Related service: IT & CTO/CIO management.