Many organisations invest continuously in hardware, software, cloud solutions, cyber resilience and digital collaboration. Yet structural insight is often lacking to assess whether these investments still align with the organisation’s objectives, growth and risks.
Technology Alignment is a periodic assessment methodology with which we look together with organisations at the current state of the ICT environment, future developments and points for improvement. This covers not only technology, but also topics such as cyber resilience, lifecycle management, documentation, compliance, business continuity and strategic ICT planning.
With Technology Alignment, B/Focused helps organisations maintain structural grip on their ICT environment, identify risks in good time and align investments better with the organisation’s objectives.
Why do organisations choose Technology Alignment?
Strategic alignment of ICT
ICT must contribute to the organisation’s objectives. Technology Alignment helps to better align technology, business processes and future developments.
By periodically assessing which systems, investments and projects contribute to the organisation’s strategy, more insight is gained into priorities, risks and future choices.
Insight into risks and points for improvement
By periodically assessing the ICT environment, insight is gained into risks, dependencies and points for improvement that would otherwise often go unnoticed.
This makes it possible to identify bottlenecks earlier and creates a clearer picture of investments, technical debt and future points of attention within the ICT environment.
Cyber resilience & Compliance
Within Technology Alignment we periodically assess which technical and organisational measures are in place, how they are managed and to what extent they are demonstrably documented. This creates not only more insight into risks and points for improvement, but also a better substantiated story towards auditors, customers, certifying bodies and other stakeholders.
Lifecycle Management
Hardware, software and licences have a lifecycle. Timely insight into ageing, replacement and future investments results in fewer surprises and more predictable costs.
Documentation & Governance
Documentation forms an important basis for continuity, audits, compliance and knowledge transfer. That is why we periodically assess the quality and relevance of existing documentation.
Continuous improvement
Technology Alignment is not a one-off assessment, but an ongoing process that helps organisations stay better prepared for growth, changes and new challenges.
Which parts do we assess within Technology Alignment?
Microsoft 365
Licences, security, collaboration, adoption and governance.
Cyber resilience
Awareness, SOC, monitoring, security measures and risks.
Backup & Recovery
Recovery objectives, backup strategy, retention and continuity.
Network & Infrastructure
Networks, WiFi, firewalls, documentation and technical dependencies.
Policy, Procedures & Governance
We also assess whether important agreements are documented in policies, procedures and work instructions. Think of onboarding, offboarding, password policy, remote working, security guidelines and responsibilities within the organisation.
In addition, we look at the relevance, applicability and demonstrability of these agreements so that organisations are better prepared for audits.
Staff & Organisations
We look at the organisational side of ICT, such as responsibilities, knowledge sharing, user awareness and agreements documented in staff agreements and with external parties.
In addition, we assess to what extent processes around onboarding, offboarding, knowledge transfer and responsibilities within the organisation are safeguarded so that risks remain better manageable.
Server & Cloud Infrastructure
We periodically assess the state of servers, cloud environments, virtualisation platforms and other business-critical infrastructure. This covers not only performance and capacity, but also availability, security, lifecycle and dependencies.
This creates more insight into risks, future investments and points for improvement that may affect the organisation’s continuity.
Continuity & Failover Procedures
We assess whether organisations have backup strategies, recovery procedures, emergency plans and failover scenarios, and to what extent these are tested, documented and available in the event of an emergency.
This covers not only the presence of measures, but also the practical feasibility when a disruption, cyber incident or emergency actually occurs.
Reference case
During a NEN-related compliance process, an organisation received additional questions from auditors about the setup of the ICT environment, existing control measures and how these were documented and safeguarded.
During the assessment it became clear that a large part of the required information was already available from earlier Technology Alignment assessments. The additional points of attention were then incorporated into the assessment framework so that future checks better align with the expectations of auditors, certifying bodies and compliance processes.
In addition, several points for improvement emerged that were translated into concrete project proposals. At the same time, several proposed measures could be substantiated with existing documentation and existing control measures, meaning additional investments proved unnecessary.
This approach ensures that organisations not only gain insight into risks and points for improvement, but can also better demonstrate how cyber resilience, governance, documentation and compliance are organised within the organisation.
Technology Alignment as a service
Technology Alignment is a standard part of our Managed IT services. This means that risks, points for improvement, lifecycle management, compliance-related points of attention and strategic developments are periodically assessed as part of the collaboration.
For organisations that do not use our Managed IT services, Technology Alignment can also be carried out on a project basis or billed afterwards. This allows organisations to still benefit from an independent assessment of their ICT environment, points for improvement and strategic points of attention without directly entering into a long-term management relationship.
Frequently asked questions
What does Technology Alignment involve exactly?
Technology Alignment is a periodic assessment methodology in which we look together with organisations at the current state of the ICT environment, future developments and points for improvement. This covers not only technology, but also cyber resilience, lifecycle management, documentation, compliance, business continuity and strategic ICT planning.
When is Technology Alignment useful for my organisation?
Technology Alignment is useful when structural insight is lacking to assess whether ICT investments still align with the organisation's objectives, growth and risks. It helps to identify risks in good time and align investments better with the organisation's objectives.
Which parts of the ICT environment are assessed?
Within Technology Alignment we assess, among other things, Microsoft 365, cyber resilience, backup and recovery, network and infrastructure, policy and governance, staff and organisation, server and cloud infrastructure and continuity and failover procedures. This creates a broad picture of both technology and organisational measures.
Is Technology Alignment a one-off assessment or an ongoing process?
Technology Alignment is not a one-off assessment, but an ongoing process that helps organisations stay better prepared for growth, changes and new challenges. It is carried out periodically to keep risks and points for improvement continuously in view.
Can I take out Technology Alignment without Managed IT services?
Technology Alignment is a standard part of our Managed IT services, but is also available separately. For organisations that do not use Managed IT, it can be carried out on a project basis or billed afterwards, so they can still benefit from an independent assessment without a long-term management relationship.