Enterprise tech, such as cloud infrastructure, is important in helping companies grow, manage operations and deliver the best products and services to their clients. But it doesn’t just get handed out. Buying teams within a business must pitch any tech they want to use to the various budget owners and stakeholders. So how do you do that?
Here are 4 key steps you should take when building a case for funding your enterprise tech.
What is it and why should you care?
Put simply, enterprise tech refers to the different types of software and hardware that larger businesses use to help their operations run smoothly and efficiently, like cloud infrastructure. This can include servers and networking devices, printers, desktops/laptops and even mobiles.
So as an IT head for an SMB, why should you care about the tech used by large businesses? Because in the future, that tech will likely become your tech. Enterprise tech gets adapted for the use of small to medium sized businesses, but after many rounds of testing making it much easier to use. It also tends to come at a more affordable price when it hits the SMB market. So what might have seemed like a leap before is now much more accessible to more businesses.
SMBs are moving to the cloud much sooner in their business journey than ever before because it’s easier. As an IT head, you’ll recognise that it’s much better to do it this way, rather than later, so you can avoid mass migration and the potential risks that come with that.
So now you know why enterprise tech is important, now you’ll need to know how best to approach the right people to get what you want.
1. Do your research
The first step in the process is to gather evidence. You need to really prove there’s a need and, equally as important, a result from the investment.
Chat to the people who are actually affected by the changes, to understand what they need and how it’ll impact them. Understand their pain points to get feedback on your proposal. Speak to people like developers and third-party software providers, as they’ll be the ones implementing this tech with you.
Also, look at all other perceived areas of the business, like facilities, HR, marketing and sales. See how this new tech would impact them. For example, it might help them perform better or work quicker.
You’ll also need to make sure that any new tech you introduce is compatible with the existing systems and safeguards. There should be no risk to security and it should be able to share data as smoothly as possible.
2. Prove strategic value
You need to prove that this new tech will benefit your business in a substantial way, more so than the tech you currently have. Check with stakeholders to see what metrics they have the most interest in, so you can tailor your business case towards that.
If they can see that the numbers point towards more productivity and driving the business strategy, then they’re much more likely to invest.
3. Prove financial value
There’s a few things you can look into when it comes to finances. After all, that’s what the stakeholders are going to be focusing on. They want to make sure their money is being put to good use. So prove it to them. Carry out research into how the investment will be spent and the expected value and return. Investing in enterprise tech isn’t just a ‘buy this and you’re done’ situation. The value will only increase over time, as this is a long term solution not a 12 month contract, which you won’t have to upgrade or change again next year. So you’re saving both business time and money.
Be sure to address these key points:
- Total cost of ownership
- Keeping in touch with the business strategy – e.g. reducing business footprint, making better use of facilities, better availability, an overseas strategy.
- Any risks that might come with changing or adding new tech
Showing that there could be risks is good, as you can counterbalance them with how the risks can be overcome or what the downsides would be to not buying new tech.
4. Document and present
Once you’ve carried out your research, it of course will need documenting. When doing this, be sure to include:
- Every interaction with employees and others alike – a broad enough range of people who would be involved with the new enterprise tech
- Unbiased feedback
- Reports to support the business case, presenting facts and figures
- How the money will be spent and why – how it aligns with the business strategy
- Any benefits you can find to having this new tech over the existing tech.
Don’t give them guarantees of future success, but remain positive about the outcomes of these tech changes and show projected figures that will excite them.
Using an MSP to help your case
Of course, showing facts and figures is important, but what about the worries of migration? Loss of data, security breaches and incompatibility with old tech is a big concern for stakeholders when investing in new tech. They don’t want it to backfire and cause more problems than solutions.
How can a managed service provider, like Fasthosts ProActive, help with that? We take on all the responsibility of ensuring that migration goes smoothly, so you can reassure stakeholders that there’ll be no problems along the way. It can be a worry that data may be stolen during migration, which can be fatal to an SMB. But we’ve got the expertise and an experienced team who’ve dealt with every scenario from small and simple to very complex migrations. We’ll migrate your infrastructure in a structured, secure way that’ll work for your business, carrying out any necessary tests to make sure the tech is safe and compatible – something to put investor’s minds at ease. Plus, even after migration, we’ll take care of things with a unique plan catered to you.
Once the migration is complete, we’ll monitor and report back on any issues and fix them before you know it. Your infrastructure will be watched 24/7, so no need to worry about midnight wake up calls to fix your tech. We’ve got it all covered.
If you’ve got any questions about how Fasthosts ProActive can help with migrating and managing your infrastructure, get in touch with our team. They’ll be happy to help with any queries and guide you through the process. Give us a call on 0333 111 2000.
