I started this IT service business in 2006. The vision is to provide a packaged IT solution that is more about strategic management, maintenance, and planning than it is about day-to-day IT support. Somewhere along the road, though, my vision lost ground to the reality of business. We need to pay the bills, so we need to accept clients that don’t really get the value of the all-encompassing solution.
We then get stuck with those clients in a reactive mode. They don’t want to move forward with our strategic recommendations because they don’t want to spend the money. Then we get so tied up in support, that we don’t have time to do the proactive, strategic planning for our clients. Now we are judged only on our ability to fix support issues, rather than on our experience in business technology planning.
I am trying desperately to get us out of this rut, but sometime business needs (money needs) come before my vision for the company. I know my vision is necessary and valuable to companies, but we need a shift in business thinking regarding technology before my vision of an IT service provider is accepted as the more valuable solution.
I don’t know when this shift will come. When will business technology move past being a necessary evil for most companies and be viewed as a driver of business value? When will companies see their IT investment as a potential competitive advantage, and understand that experts can make that advantage happen?
I’m still preaching, but who is listening?
Financial Planning and More 