Three questions to ask your IT team

Quick test: Ask your IT team these 3 questions. If they hesitate, you have a problem.
Most leadership teams can't clearly articulate how their technology investments align with business goals. They know IT is important, but the strategy? That's often fuzzy at best.

Here's a simple litmus test to gauge whether your IT strategy is truly strategic or just operational firefighting:

Question 1: "How does our technology roadmap support our business goals for the next 12-24 months?"

Listen for specific connections between tech initiatives and revenue growth, market expansion, or operational efficiency targets. If the answer is vague talk about "upgrading systems" or "improving infrastructure," that's a red flag.

Question 2: "What are our top 3 technology risks, and what's our mitigation plan?"

You should hear about specific security vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, or operational dependencies, with clear mitigation strategies and owners assigned. If the response is "we haven't had any issues" or "we're monitoring things," you're operating blind.

Question 3: "How do we measure IT's contribution to business value?"

Look for KPIs tied to actual business outcomes: faster time-to-market, reduced customer acquisition costs, improved customer satisfaction scores. Uptime percentages and ticket resolution times don't cut it, those are table stakes, not strategic value.

Why this matters:

Strategic IT isn't about having the latest technology. It's about deliberately using technology to create competitive advantage. Without clear answers to these questions, you're spending money on IT without knowing if it's moving the business forward.

Try asking these in your next leadership meeting. The answers (or lack thereof) will tell you everything you need to know about whether you have an IT strategy or just an IT budget.

What questions would you add to this test?