Are Your IT Resources Focused On Being Strategic Partners?

Today's technology permeates through every aspect of your business.  In order to achieve a competitive advantage, Information Technology is required to be part of your overall strategic direction.  You need a resource that is consultative and proactive and drives innovation, value, and results.

We work with mid market companies to raise the profile of IT so the department is seen as a business enabler or partner.  Our goal is simple:  Transition your IT department to be an effective business innovation center thereby providing an advantage over your competition.  The competitive advantage is IT to Business Alignment.

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Optimal IT Strategic Focus

Innovation through collaborating with IT will lead to a competitive advantage with quantifiable results in; increased customer satisfaction, advancements in products and services, effective internal collaboration and training, improved sales and marketing, efforts, meeting corporate strategic objectives, and more.

Click the infographic to learn how the optimal resource allocation can lead to a competitive advantage.

How Brinex can help?

Our team has a history of changing this phenomenon through training, mentoring, process improvement, cost reduction, efficiency gains, and implementing sound change management and portfolio/project management best practices.   Starting here enables the team members to start spreading their time on 'Innovating with the Organization'.

Our 3 step process is directed toward Aligning IT to the Business Strategy.  This includes working towards an optimal IT resource allocation and facilitating alignment to business objectives which transitions the IT team into partners within the organization:

1. Protect - It's a simple fact that IT spends most of its allotted time in this area.   Working to assure the organization is capable of meeting and handling the business needs while also working to protect the organization from modern threats, business continuity and disaster, and enforcing policies that assure the business can continue to function at a high capacity.  Overall, the IT department resources are dedicated to this category from 80-95% of their time.
2. Enhance - Unfortunately, IT departments do not get to spend much time in this area.   The focus is on improving quality and processes.  The value add from working on "Enhancing the Business" is to realize a return on investment from implementing industry best practices.  However, due to the nature of "Protecting the Business", most IT departments only dwell 5-10% in th category.  The reality is that, for a time, 20% should be spent on this category in order to show IT's return on investment.  This is where Brinex can help the most.
3. Improve / Innovate - This category is where IT can be seen as corporate partner.   Partnering with your business and helping to "Improve the Business" is an essential role of the IT organization.   However, most IT departments spend more time on "Protecting and Enhancing" and do not get to spend the necessary resources in the "Innovation" category in order to drive business value.  This category, in many cases, receives less than 5% of the allotted IT resources time and commitment.

Research shows that the optimal allocation for a mature organization is the reason one company will out-pace the competition time and time again.

1. (70) - Strengthen the "Protecting the Business" category.
2. (10) - Work to bring industry best practices that fit your business size and goals by "Enhancing the Business".
3. (20) - Enable your IT department to focus more time on "Improving the Business" through innovation and partnering with the business.

Also, we have found that many IT Managers are not equipped with the 9 CIO Competencies required to sit at the executive table.   They speak too much 'geek speak' and not enough 'business speak'.   They lack the strategic mindset, are not customer focused first, or are simply perceived as a cost center to the organization rather than a partner and a differentiator.  Our CIO Services solve this challenge.

What's the duration to the optimal mixture?

This doesn't happen overnight. However, our team is dedicated to focusing on what matters and assure your IT team is responding as a partner that enables the organization, not hinders.  We follow a Strategic Discovery and Planning Process to develop a road map that will be the guide for an IT department with better processes, technology, and training.