Technology is meant to be the sharpened tool that helps companies slice through blockers and gain a competitive edge, the miracle growth serum that propels them to 10x growth. It can be all these things when used properly, but too often, technology is treated as a silver bullet—a simple answer to a complex problem.
Technology is a tool, like a drill bit when you need to make a hole. But the real question isn’t about the brand of drill you use or what features is has; it’s about how big of a hole you need and what you need it for.
Are you struggling to get buy-in on your technology roadmap? Do you have a robust plan that doesn’t require re-justification every 30 days?
If your vision isn’t translating into a plan because you’re lacking support, it’s best to start at the beginning—with the business problem.
In this article, I’ll dive into why it’s crucial to get business alignment first and I’ll highlight some common pitfalls when building a technology strategy. Without these foundational steps, you’re building your castle on sand.
Why Bother Aligning Your Technology Strategy with the Business?
Why is it so important for a technology team to focus on supporting the business objectives first and foremost?
Business objectives support the lifeblood of a company, guiding it to thrive, grow, and remain competitive. They’re the non-technical, non-solution-focused goals like growing top-line revenue, improving profit margins, and enhancing the customer experience.
It doesn’t matter how revolutionary your new technology is if your company is losing its runway and market share.
Let’s break down why putting business first is essential.
Maximize ROI
Aligning technology investments directly to increased revenue and profitability is how you demonstrate the value of technical solutions. Increased returns from technology enable further innovation, allowing you and your team to grow while driving the company forward.
Collaboration Between Tech and Business
Many technology teams operate like isolated islands, perceived by the rest of the company as tinkering away with cool new tech rather than contributing to business goals. Without cross-functional collaboration and empathy, technology groups risk being seen as mad scientists playing with new toys rather than business enablers.
Drive Innovation
New technology excites everyone, and AI is the latest shiny object. As technologists, we’re best positioned to drive innovation with these advancements. But for the non-technical, there’s often a gap between innovation and practical application. Without a clear tie-in to how this helps the business and the daily lives of employees, it might as well be a flying car from the Jetsons—a cool idea, but no one knows how it will work in reality.
Maximize Efficiency
One often overlooked benefit of technology is its ability to alleviate day-to-day pains. While gaining something new is great, removing pain is even better. Technology use cases tend to focus on innovation, but there’s immense value in addressing existing pain points with simple solutions.
Our CTO, Warren, was looking for practical uses of generative AI and created a prototype to help developers maintain ‘flow’—a persistent challenge for decades. By aligning technology with business outcomes, we can guide conversations toward this intrinsic need for comfort and show how technology can meet that need.
Key Steps to Align Technology Strategy with Business Objectives
Understand Business Requirements
Having a deep understanding of business requirements might seem obvious, but it’s often overlooked by technology teams. We jot down targets, slap them on a monitor, and consider the job done. But we need to dig deeper into the business objectives and the underlying challenges.
There are many ways to solve a single business problem, and we won’t find the right one until we truly understand what we’re trying to solve. Being the “annoying toddler” in the boardroom, asking ‘Why’ repeatedly, might be irritating, but it helps clarify what’s needed—and may even help the business understand what they want.
Finding a Solution to a Business Problem
As a technology team, we’re constantly exposed to the latest innovations and itching to try out new tools. But when presented with a problem, instead of jumping to the coolest solution, we should consider multiple ways to solve it.
Teresa Torres’ opportunity tree, though designed for product managers, is an excellent tool for mapping out technology strategy as well. It helps identify multiple opportunities for solving a problem and multiple solutions for capturing each opportunity.
Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Investments
Taking a product management approach to problems and solutions, we can try and break down large initiatives into manageable pieces. Instead of launching massive 18-month initiatives with vague returns, consider an MVP approach. Quick wins can build momentum and demonstrate value, keeping the focus on the right direction.
Intentional Decisions
Saying ‘yes’ to one thing means saying ‘no’ to something else. This often goes overlooked, with teams trying to do it all, eventually. But by saying ‘no’ to some things, you free up mental real estate and prevent chasing multiple goals simultaneously—a recipe for failure.
Metrics for Course Correction
Establish clear metrics to monitor progress and impact. Use data to make informed adjustments and pivot strategies as needed. Embrace simplicity—prioritize ease of use and avoid overcomplicating solutions. Simplified processes and technologies lead to higher adoption and efficiency.
Common Missteps to Avoid
A Solution-First Mindset
We all want to be the hero who solves the business’s problems with cutting-edge technology. But before diving into solutions, it’s essential to thoroughly understand the problem.
Too often, meetings spend minutes on the problem and hours on the solution.
The ‘move fast, be agile’ mentality has been a double-edged sword, sometimes leading to a lack of planning and analysis. Focus on problem identification before exploring potential solutions.
Trying to Fit a Predefined Solution to an Objective
Change is scary, and bringing in new tools can disrupt the status quo. There’s a fine balance between tool standardization and tool proliferation. Every new tool adds support, management, and cost, so ensure that the tools fit the unique needs of the business rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.
Poor or Lack of Prioritization
“If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.” Prioritization is singular—only one thing can be the most important at a time. Teams often try to juggle too many top priorities and end up delivering nothing.
Decision Visibility
Major decisions are often made behind closed doors, leaving those responsible for execution in the dark. Without understanding the ‘why’ behind goals, teams won’t buy in, and without buy-in, your chances of success plummet.
Not Having an Iteration or Pivot Strategy
Failure only happens when you give up. Roadmaps and technology strategies should be living documents, regularly reviewed and updated. Break them into distinct phases—Now (next 3 months), Next (next 6 months), and Later (next 12 months). This approach ensures clarity and flexibility, allowing you to adjust as needed.
Conclusion
In this article, I’ve touched on why aligning your technology goals with business objectives is crucial. While some points may seem obvious, implementation can get messy. In the next article, I’ll explore how to develop ‘Cross-Functional Empathy’ to build connections and trust with stakeholders across the business, creating technology champions who drive innovation forward.
This is the first article in a multi-part series where I’ll break down technology strategy and build towards building a robust technology roadmap built for success.
Share your experiences and challenges in aligning technology with business objectives in the comments. Let’s continue the discussion and learn from each other’s insights.
