Partnership
What does a technology roadmap actually contain?
What changes, in what order, over what years, and what each year costs. It is reviewed with the owner and adjusted as the business changes.
Answered by Ryan Sanders, Partnership Director
One page, three years
A roadmap is a list of what will be replaced or changed, the year it should happen, and roughly what it will cost. Servers, computers, firewalls, phones, software with an end-of-life date, the Wi-Fi that was fine for twenty people and is not fine for forty. It fits on a page or two, and the owner can read it in ten minutes.
Where the items come from
Ticket history, which shows what keeps breaking. Hardware age, which we track. Vendor announcements, like an accounting package being retired. Your plans: a new building, a second location, an acquisition, a busy season. The account manager brings the first three; you bring the last.
Why it matters to the budget
Replacing a server because it is on the roadmap costs a planned amount in a planned month. Replacing it because it died on a Monday costs overnight shipping, overtime and the week of lost work. Most of the money a roadmap saves is that difference.
It changes
A roadmap is reviewed at every scheduled review and rewritten when the business changes. Buying a company, losing a big customer or moving offices all move things. That is the point of having a person rather than a document.
Where we did this
Order the internet circuit the week the lease is signed. Carriers take six to twelve weeks. Nothing else on a move fails as often.
The relocation checklist Did you knowA backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. Ask for the date of the last tested restore.
What to actually testPeople also ask
How do you decide what hardware and software to recommend?
By what fits the problem and the budget, not by what we happen to know best. We have changed vendors more often than most firms do, always for a stated technical reason, and we will show you the reasoning.
The full answerWhat happens when you get something wrong?
We tell you, quickly and plainly, and then we run an after-action: what happened, how it happened, and what changes so it does not repeat. Hiding a small problem is how it becomes a large one.
The full answerWhat does holding a vendor accountable actually involve?
Putting the question in writing, copying the client, and asking for the answer in writing too. Most vendors are reasonable once the conversation is on the record.
The full answer
"Great to work with Zach. Excellent follow-up and directions. Even helped lower our bill from Xfinity!"
Client, 2024 surveyMore from the survey wall- A technician who knows your setup takes every request. Not a dispatcher, not a queue.
- Every closed ticket is surveyed and a partner reads every response.
- 99.5% of surveys come back positive.
- Family-owned since 2005. 21 years in the same corner of Wisconsin, not going anywhere.
"Another great job by Midwest IT. Our company just loves your fast response to our issues."
Client, 2024 surveyWant to know what next year costs?
Ask for a roadmap. It is the first thing a new client gets.
Talk to a partnerTalk to a partner, not a sales script.
Tell us what is going on. A partner will call you back the same business day, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. No pricing pressure, no pitch deck.