New and emerging technology can make it easy to improve efficiency at your business and solve difficult problems. Whether you want to improve efficiency in your processes or productivity, rolling out new technology and encouraging people to use it can be tricky if you don’t have the right team to support you.
When you roll out a new piece of technology, you’re integrating it into your business processes. That can be a lot of work by yourself or for your own internal IT team. You want your rollout to be successful, with as many people using your new technology as possible.
A technology rollout is the implementation of a new platform or piece of hardware that solves a problem or improves something for your business. To make that all work, you need support, planning and time. And a dedicated IT solutions team can provide all of that throughout your rollout.
A business in any industry may have a need to deploy a new network or roll out a new piece of technology. Restaurants, retail stores, hotel chains, banks and many other types of businesses may have a need that requires a new technology rollout. Rollouts can involve deploying new point-of-sale terminals (POS), wireless local networks (WLAN), ATMs and more.
Some of these rollouts can require additional, new network cabling to support the new equipment. If you’re rolling out the new technology at a larger scale, having enough support from your IT infrastructure is important. In the case of large-scale rollouts, it’s even more important to have boots on the ground to help with deployment.
If you own multiple business locations across the country, then a technology rollout is a significant undertaking. You could have multiple sites that require additional cabling, changes to the existing infrastructure, and anything else that might be needed or modified to support your new technology. In cases like these, an IT services provider has the capabilities as a technology deployment company to send IT rollout engineers to your business locations to help facilitate the rollout and deployment.
A successful technology rollout for any business relies on buy-in and user adoption. You need your team to buy in to using the new technology once it’s deployed and any new processes you come up with as part of the rollout. To make sure that happens, you need to have a few things: the technology you want to roll out, a plan and a support team.
You can’t have a technology rollout without technology. When you’re faced with problems like improving efficiency, decreasing system downtime and more easily coordinating staff, an overhaul of your technology systems can help a lot.
There are a lot of different technologies out there that you can integrate into your business. From virtual reality to the Internet of Things and wireless conference rooms, you have your pick of new and emerging technologies to choose from for your business. Depending on what problem you have, the technology you deploy may need to integrate into what you’re already using and your data may need to be migrated from the old system to the new one. You may also need to deploy this technology at multiple locations if you have it. These are all things you should take into account when you choose your new technological solution.
Once you have your technological solution selected, you need a plan. Your project rollout plan will be your go-to planning document for the rollout. If you and your internal team are handling the rollout from start to finish, then your plan should encompass the entire timeline.
A project rollout plan should have your goals listed, as well as a timeline of how you’ll prepare and deploy the technology. If you’re delegating tasks to particular team members, then their deadlines for completing the tasks and any resources they need should also be accounted for. The rollout plan isn’t just project management — it’s a blueprint for a successful rollout.
If your rollout is too large for your internal team, or if you have many business locations in different areas, an IT Solutions team can facilitate the rollout itself. A reputable, organized team can install any infrastructure you need, set up the hardware and even maintain the network and infrastructure after the deployment.
As part of their support, the team can also put together a rollout plan with you and your internal team and come up with a timeline for the rollout. With their resources, a third-party support team can make the entire process much easier.
What makes a technological rollout successful? How do you know that your new solution is effective? These are important questions to ask before you start any part of the planning for your rollout. And to make sure that it goes smoothly, here are a few things you need to put in place and use.
At the start of every new technology rollout is a problem and a solution. You might be trying to improve efficiency at your business, improve customer retention or even reduce employee turnover. Whatever your problem is, the technology you choose to solve it will become part of your internal processes.
You could need just one new piece of hardware installed at your business or have many for all of your business locations. If you do have multiple locations, there may be extra logistical considerations you need to make such as delivering the physical hardware to your business location(s). Whatever your particular situation is, the technology you choose will be the focus of the rollout.
Clear and open communication with your team and your entire company does two things:
When you communicate with your team directly and clearly, they know what to expect once you roll out the new technology. They’ll also be able to adjust for any new processes coming with the rollout and plan for any training that might be required to understand the new hardware.
Training your staff in advance can better prepare them for how to use the new equipment, hardware or technology you want to introduce to the team. With that training, it’s much easier to encourage user adoption, so people actively use the new technology and processes you put in place. All of this can help you meet your definition of success for the rollout.
Training before and after the introduction of your new technology can be performed by internal team members or the company supplying you with the new technology. This is especially important if the piece of hardware you’re using as part of your rollout is completely new. Having documentation on hand with instructions and frequently asked questions can also help ease your team through the transition to using a new piece of technology.
Defining what success looks like for your rollout and having the data to measure your results are both important if you want it to be a smooth and effective process.. Besides solving your original problem, what do you want this rollout to achieve? Having a specific set of goals and objectives can help you better define what success means for the rollout itself. This success criteria you decide on can guide your overall plan and the implementation of new processes.
Data and analysis can show you whether or not you’ve met your objectives and established success criteria. Once the rollout is complete, monitoring and analyzing gathered data will show you if you need to make adjustments, like adding more training sessions for your staff and encouraging more user adoption with incentives.
Technology can be the best solution to the toughest business problems. Being prepared as you introduce new hardware or technology at your business goes a long way during the process. These three pieces, working together, are the best ways to ensure a smooth and successful rollout across your entire business.
Still have questions about technology rollouts? We have the answers to your most frequently asked questions about rolling out any new technology at your business.
A “rollout” refers to the deployment of the actual hardware or technology, whereas “implementation” means taking an idea from a concept to a finished product. Implementation is about building, not deploying new tools or resources. You can implement processes as you roll out your new technology.
A project rollout plan is an outline of the rollout. It details the timeline of the rollout itself, any costs associated with it and any recommendations for integrating the technology into your systems.
The time it takes to roll out a new piece of hardware can depend on your business. If you have multiple locations, then preparing each of those locations, delivering the physical hardware and installing it all should be taken into consideration.
Having buy-in from all of your teams is vital to making sure everyone is actually using the technology you just deployed. To do this, you need clear communication and enough training that everyone can understand and use the new hardware you’ve deployed.
When you initially choose a solution for your rollout, it’s important to make sure it’s compatible with any existing systems you use. You may need outside help to integrate the new technology, which is where an IT services provider can come into play.
Depending on how many different business locations you have, having multiple sites can affect the timing of the rollout. You’ll need to account for training at all of those locations, as well as any other considerations like the physical delivery and installation of the technology at all locations.
As much as possible. You need buy-in from all of your staff and teams to make the rollout a success. Announcing big changes to internal processes can be a lot, so giving your teams time to adjust their own processes to accommodate the incoming change is something to keep in mind.
It can depend on what piece of technology you’ve chosen to roll out, but your staff should be able to understand the basics of how to use it. This can also help promote buy-in of the new technology.
Once the new technology is deployed, you should closely monitor everything to make sure everything goes smoothly. If you need technical support, your IT services team can help. Collecting and analyzing user data can tell you if you’ve satisfied your success criteria and if users are adopting your technology.
An IT services provider can do more than just install your hardware before the day of the deployment. They can work side-by-side with your team from start to finish, provide guidance throughout the process and give you the tools you need for further success. Here are just a few ways the team can help.
Success criteria can be difficult to determine if you’ve never rolled out a new piece of technology before. The IT services team that you bring in can guide you through the process of establishing the goals of the rollout along with success criteria.
An IT services provider has experience in deploying networks, laying new data cabling and overhauling networks, so their rollout team will be able to collaborate with you in establishing achievable goals and a definition of success that makes sense for them.
Along with actually getting the new hardware to your business location(s), you’ll need to physically install it and any other necessary infrastructure. An IT services team can take care of the installation for you, along with the actual deployment of the technology.
If you’re completely upgrading your network, that can include your cabling structure. If you haven’t given much thought to your data cabling in the past, then you should! Cabling is the backbone of your network. Your business’s data cabling system needs to be robust and powerful enough to support your current daily needs and your future needs. If you’re going to be bringing in new technology, evaluating your network infrastructure should go along with it.
Should you need to upgrade your cabling, your IT services provider may be able to help as well, depending on who you choose to work with. At Data Line, we can provide you with structured cabling system designs that will work with your needs, install the cabling at your office or business site and then deploy the new network and technology.
Once your new technology is in place and deployed, you need to still manage it — especially to see if you’ve met your success criteria. Managing an entire IT network can be a big job, however, so you can always use a Managed IT Services team to take over. These teams are able to remotely manage your network and fix small problems before they turn into big ones that risk downtime.
The beauty of using a full-service IT services provider is that they can often provide this service as well after deployment. You can get the same support as an in-house team, but without needing to hire one. The remote team will be able to manage everything for you, perform basic maintenance and upgrades and monitor the network. You’ll have peace of mind so you can get back to work.
If you’re ready to partner with a technology rollout company or IT services provider, you should know that no two companies are alike. Some may or may not have exactly what you’re looking for. With that being said, there are some key features to look for when choosing a company for your new technology rollout.
With any vendor, you need a partner that has the experience to anticipate and even prevent the most common problems with deployment.
If the company you’re looking at can offer support from start to finish of the rollout and beyond with IT network management, it’s a great sign that you’re in good hands.
If you have questions about the rollout process, the timeline or success criteria, it’s important that the team you’re working with is transparent and able to answer your questions.
If you have to roll out your new technology to many business locations across the U.S., then any company you work with should be able to send engineers and technicians out into the field to support you.
Some industries, like healthcare, can require more care and extra consideration for a new technology rollout. The IT services provider you work with has to and should understand that.
Some rollouts may take longer than others, but whatever you roll out to your business should be completed in a timely fashion. Any IT company you work with should be able to meet your project’s deadline.
The day of deployment can be hectic and tense if you don’t have the proper support backing you up. If you have multiple locations spread out across a wide area, that makes it all the more important that you have a team that you can depend on.
An IT services team can handle things like data migration and systems compatibility well in advance of the actual day of deployment, but on the day of going live, there’s no such thing as being too prepared. Having that responsive, active support from a dedicated team can take a lot of weight off of your shoulders as a business owner. While you and your own internal teams might still be getting used to the new technologies you just rolled out, you’ll have the support of a team behind the scenes in case anything goes wrong.
Research is the first step to pursuing any new vendor relationship or contractor. You’ll be relying on a company’s outside expertise and resources to complete your rollout, so the provider you work with should be capable and reliable. You’ll also (understandably) want to be sure that the provider you’re researching is able to work within the scope of your project. Staying on time and on-budget are two things every business owner wants to see!
At Data Line, for example, you can get a free quote based on what you need, and we can discuss the scope of your project and how to best proceed to meet your needs. We can help deploy your network with years of experience under our belts and a team that’s ready to get to work.
A technology rollout can be smooth sailing if you have the right team to help support you and facilitate the rollout. Having a plan and resources to guide the entire rollout process can be just what you need for a successful deployment.