Steve Gickling is the CTO of Calendar, a place for unified calendars and all your scheduling needs.
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Since business-related technology is constantly evolving, the processes that support its use must follow suit. Tech leaders might have to introduce new software or hardware solutions along with brand-new procedures and workflows. Oftentimes, it’s a business’s processes that reinforce the success or failure of technologies. After all, tools and devices are only as effective as the people and human thoughts behind them.
That being the case, figuring out the best ways to structure and implement unfamiliar procedures can be a challenge. Tech leaders may need to rely on experts, consider related experiences and solicit employees’ insights to determine the way forward. Whether you’re responsible for overseeing teams that deliver tech support or solutions, here are three ways to implement new business processes based on my experiences implementing them and managing these workflows in my own company.
1. Identify Data Security Risks And Gaps
Network and data security are top concerns due to the rise in cybersecurity threats. Estimates show (via Forbes) that ransomware attacks against businesses occur every 11 seconds and that 76% of U.S. companies have experienced hacking incidents. While the prevalence of these instances might point toward insufficient technology, 82% of data breaches involved a human element, according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breaches Investigations Report, indicating a deficiency in the development and implementation of appropriate security processes.
Ostendio CEO Grant Elliott noted in a Forbes interview there is no automated shortcut to running an effective security program. He suggests looking at cybersecurity responsibilities across your organization. The issue is not automation, per se, but the overreliance on automation or the presumption that automation in itself can facilitate all of the organization’s security and compliance needs when this oversight can often lead to blind spots and a false sense of security.
With data breaches on the rise, organizations must build a data security program in which you can easily identify the location of sensitive data and who has access to it. Your security program should outline a coordinated way to record every division of assets (software, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, hardware) and determine the necessity of the asset and what type of data should be stored within the asset as well as manage who has access to the asset.
When getting started, you’ll want to first complete a thorough inventory of every internal system the organization supports and measure each one based on its significance. The second step is to ensure you understand who has access to each system and at what level. Finally, rate your data based on how critical it is to your business.
2. Look For Cross-Collaboration Opportunities
IT leaders and their staff may support organizations’ technology needs and functions, yet they can’t be effective at this without looking at how tech solutions serve the entire company. Many businesses have websites with online stores, lead-generation forms and customer support features. It might be the IT department’s job to keep the site online and secure. However, tech employees need the input of others to do it.
Any time the company’s website requires a new feature or e-commerce platform, it can impact IT’s processes. If marketing oversees the website’s content, what happens if that department chooses a new web development company—and that vendor needs access to some of the business’s tech and network resources? The web developer might also want to sync several internal apps or systems that other vendors manage.
As a tech leader, you might be caught off guard if you’re not looped in on how the decisions and activities of other departments influence yours. The same applies to procedures IT enacts from a limited point of view. You may eventually have to scrap them and start over if they don’t accommodate or align with organizational needs. Putting together cross-collaborative teams can ensure new process design and implementation serves the entire business.
3. Consider Customer Experience
Meeting customers’ expectations is one of the biggest challenges for tech leaders. People want fast, high-quality solutions, and behind-the-scenes processes that are insufficient and too bureaucratic may get in the way. Improving customers’ experiences means listening to their perspectives about how the company’s offerings may or may not be working.
Maybe half of your team develops the code behind the business’s software app, and the other half handles support requests. Customer feedback reveals that some of the app’s features are confusing and that it takes too long for support to answer their questions. After talking to your team, it’s clear that existing workflows aren’t supporting the product and support experiences that customers want.
On the software development side, there are inadequate client testing and review processes. Support staff members are also lacking clear handoff and escalation procedures. Implementing new workflows may cause some temporary disruptions, but those workflows can eventually upgrade employee and client experiences if leaders explain their purpose and how the procedures should work. It can also help to check back in with the team to see how things are going after implementation.
Introducing Something New
Executing different business processes can be challenging because it involves change. When introducing new workflows, procedures or technology solutions, tech leaders must often juggle competing interests. Rising to the challenge means identifying risks or gaps and seeing where various needs and perspectives meet. Tech leaders who do this can reduce inefficiencies and improve multiple stakeholders’ experiences.
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