Small Business IT Strategy

Very few small businesses (1 to 250 employees) will admit to having an IT Strategy, just as very few start out with a written business plan. Most small business owners do concede that a business plan would be a good idea - they just never get round to writing it down, but even they don't usually see the need for an IT Strategy. This has a lot to do with the entrepreneurial nature of small business where the business owner has an idea in their head, or a particular skill for which they believe there to be a market, and they just go for it. In these circumstances the application of IT to the business is dependent on the business owner's own IT skills and interests. They are likely to rely on computer literate friends or staff members for advice and make decisions on information from these sources, plus whatever they might be told by suppliers or glean from computer magazines. This is a DIY way of doing things which seems peculiar to Information Technology, maybe because computers are so prevalent, and particularly remarkable in that many small businesses, such as on-line traders, exist only because of technology.

At estm we will work with you to prioritise your business objectives and assess where IT can enable you to achieve them. We start with no preconceptions. We use formal, proven, methods to analyse your business needs, current capabilities and what, in information system terms, you need to do to close the gap.

If you have a written business plan and mission statement that's a good place to start, but don't worry if you haven't as we will help you identify your main goals and those critical success factors, the things that have to be achieved before your business objectives can be met.

We will, if asked, investigate the opportunities and threats to your business posed by technological developments. Does technology present new ways to market? New products and services? Different and more efficient ways of working? If you don't exploit these opportunities your competitors will.

Often the introduction of computers to business brings with it automation of existing manual processes. A strategic view of your business asks if technology presents an altogether better way of doing things and deals with the human as well as technical implications of such change.