Technology Planning Is a Strategic Process
In the modern business environment, developing new technology for the purpose of improving productivity and enhancing organizational performance can be an extremely challenging task. Often, organizations invest a great deal of time, energy, money and talent in the process of innovation. But what some people fail to recognize is that technology that has been adopted and incorporated into an organization does not necessarily mean that it is working properly.
Exploring New Options And Technologies
Organizations need to continually evaluate and test new technologies to determine if they are still relevant and important to the enterprise in order to make a substantial return on investment. Similarly, organizations should also incorporate innovative technology initiatives into their business model in order to realize maximum return on investment.
Technology development as an approach is associated with developing new products and integrating high performance and practical utility into the existing product portfolio. However, sometimes, reuse strategies may tend to be considered as counterproductive to innovation because they prefer incremental innovation of already existing technologies.
The key to innovation is still to ensure that the innovation is not focused on expanding the scope of product capabilities but instead focuses on enhancing functional and technical capabilities. As part of this strategy, organizations should ensure that the technology adopted is capable of meeting the organization’s present and future needs. To do this, organizations require support from various stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, and employees. Also, it is essential for an organization to carefully monitor the technology implemented and its impact on the organization and adapt plans accordingly.
On the other hand, technology planning can be defined as an integrated set of processes that facilitate the management of technology investments, identify new technological applications and support strategic approaches to adoption, deployment, maintenance and enhancement of technology. Such a plan helps to manage and monitor technological investments in the long-term and determine where and how these investments may be used to enhance the business unit.
Making Use Of Different Resources
To do this, it is important for managers to draw from various sources such as market surveys, market research, needs analysis and technology planning tools. The results of these studies can provide business managers with critical inputs that help them determine what technologies to integrate into their business and their environments. The result of these studies can also help to address long term challenges such as technology obsolescence, risks and vulnerabilities, system of value creation and strategy alignment.
In addition to these important factors, another important factor that organizations need to consider when developing new technology is society and culture. Given today’s rapidly changing world, many companies are striving to remain relevant in an ever changing environment.
Planning For Your Portfolio
Thus, when planning for a technology portfolio, it is crucial for corporations to consider how these technologies will fit in with their mission, goals, business model and work culture. Technology planning can therefore encompass ensuring that technology is compatible with business goals, strategies and operational practices. Also, it should include making sure that any new technology adopted meets organizational objectives.
However, organizations should also take care to avoid developing technology that is too complex or resource-inefficient. This is because a complex technology portfolio may not be effective. Likewise, a technology too resource-inefficient will not be effective. For instance, it may be more costly to use IT to build new systems than to buy new equipment, software or components for existing systems. Organizations should therefore carefully consider the technology investments they make and the associated costs and risks.
Finally, organizations that want to develop new technology need to have a proper strategic planning process in place. This process should be transparent, involve appropriate involvement of the senior management, involve expertise from diverse disciplines and involve a balanced view of technology investments.
Conclusion
This is because developing new technology may not be successful if the wrong decisions are made. For instance, if all technology investments are based on short-term profit margins, the technology investments will likely fail. Organizations should therefore carefully plan how to use the technology investments they make in order to realize positive benefits and minimize risks. This strategic planning process will ensure that the technologies adopted are truly effective and that the investments are well aligned with the organization’s long-term goals and objectives.
