Achieving advanced tech foundations

While advanced capability is not something that can be achieved overnight, we recommend focusing on a small number of areas at a time and developing a plan (with a dollar/effort budget) to achieve the required improvements over time.

Achieving advanced tech foundations capability requires improvements across the eight categories described below. 

PCs and other personal devices (mobile phones, tablets, etc)

• Staff and managers are highly satisfied with their devices
• Devices are set well, support effective staff working and can easily evolve to meet our organisation’s future needs.

Email and calendars

• We are sophisticated email and calendaring users, including the use of shared mailboxes, email aliases, distribution lists etc
• Staff and managers are highly satisfied with our setup and it can easily evolve to meet future needs.

File sharing

• Staff and managers are highly satisfied with our file sharing services
• Access permissions are correct, staff can easily work with the files they need, and the system can evolve to meet future needs.

Network infrastructure

• Visitor internet/wifi is available at our sites, separated from the core network for performance and security
• Key traffic is prioritised, so speed and performance are never an issue
• All devices are remotely monitored and managed
• Our budget allows refreshing devices every 3-6 years.

Servers and user authentication

• Our servers are reliable, hosted in the cloud and be easily increased or decreased in size as required
• Our core authentication systems are linked so that staff can use one username and password to access the information they need.

Telephony and videoconferencing

• Our telephony system runs in the cloud and supports staff working anywhere with an internet connection
• Our telephony, videoconferencing and calendaring systems are integrated and can readily support future needs.

Group collaboration

• We make effective use of our group collaboration platform with external partners and stakeholders
• All staff are comfortable getting the most out of this technology.

Organisational information

• Our files and information are well structured and easily searchable
• Staff can find information easily and access it wherever they are
• Our information systems and structures are flexible and easily evolve to meet the needs of the organisation.

Many of these measures require feedback from staff, and we recommend both an annual IT satisfaction survey (to measure overall satisfaction, improvement suggestions, etc) and potentially focus groups for more detailed feedback in key areas. 

Achieving advanced Tech Foundations capability provides your organisations with a excellent collaboration environment that allows staff to reduce the time they spend on activities which don’t add value to the organisation and sets you up for success in the future.