How Do You make Technology “Work” For You?
Open Minds; Monica E. Oss, 4/20/2015
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Greetings from Orlando and the 2015 National Council for Behavioral Health Conference! My session this afternoon, Making Technology “Work” In Behavioral Health, was focused on technology – specifically how to make technology investments that “pay off” for your organization.
My take is that most management teams know that they need to incorporate some of the many emerging technologies into their organization’s service. The rationale is simple – keeping the competitive advantage and assuring organizational sustainability in an environment where technology is changing the fundamentals of how health and human services are delivered.
But the question is, what technology and how to integrate those technologies into organizational operations? Our research at OPEN MINDS has identified what we refer to as the “four pillars of strategic tech success” that management teams need to consider in getting the leverage from tech investments.
1. Technology In Sync With Strategy (& Strategic ROI) – It doesn’t matter which technologies your organization adopts if they don’t align with your strategic goals. The question is, how do you decide which technology tools are the best fit for your organization’s future strategies for sustainability and success? The process starts with strategic planning and a clear understanding of your organization’s future market positioning and service lines. A common mistake in strategy is to think about technology as an “addition” to current service delivery models rather than conceptualizing the next generation of services that are possible. It is in this phase of the planning process that questions about business model, return on investment (ROI), and capitalization issues need to be addressed.
2. The Right Technology & The Right Vendor – Once you’ve made the decision about the technology you need, selecting the specific technology from a specific vendor is a very straightforward process. But there are a few considerations to keep in mind. In today’s ever changing market, the product life cycle of new technology is only about three to five years – an important ROI consideration. Another key issue is to remember that you’re not only selecting a technology product – you’re selecting a new business partner, the vendor organization.
3. Best Practice Implementation – In our experience, when tech implementations fail, there is plenty of blame to go around – both the management team and the vendor. But assuming you follow best practices in implementation—with project planning, adequate project management resources, and budget for training—the other variables are about ownership. Management teams need to assume responsibility for planning and implementation, owning their requirements, their processes, and their functional requirements.
4. On-Going “Operational” Management Of Technology – Developing the strategy, selecting the technology, and implementing technology are all complex tasks – but the on-going management of tech-enabled services lines is most challenging. This is where the “rubber hits the road,” so to speak, in getting the strategic leverage from tech investments. The tech-enabled era requires the use of metrics in management, new roles for supervisors, and expanded vision by the executive. This is a culture change that takes commitment from all levels of the organization.
Ultimately, implementing new technologies is really not about the technologies themselves – it’s about the strategy. For more, check out these resources on technology strategy from the OPEN MINDS Industry Library:
- More Tools For Tech ROI
- Tech Leverage Most Important Tool For Strategic Advantage
- Tech Strategy In The World Of Reform
- From Strategic Planning To Tech Strategy
- How To Select New Treatment Technologies & How To Calculate Their Value
- Forget The Sizzle – We Need New Technology Business Models & Business Cases
For our next live session on this topic, don’t miss our executive workshop, How To Build A Successful Technology Plan: From Innovation & Strategy, To Budgeting & Selection, at the 2015 OPEN MINDS Technology & Informatics Institute on October 26, 2015 in Washington, D.C. And continue to follow @openmindscircle for more live coverage from this year’s National Council Conference!