How do you ensure your technology stack can scale with the growth of your business?

In terms of business growth and the tech stack:

1. With customer growth, I want to ensure that the tools in the tech stack are robust enough for current and anticipated (2 - 3 years out) needs. I've been in situations where the company's use of a tool was too much for the tool to accommodate. You don't want systems erroring out because a tool you've chosen can't handle the workload that you provide.

2. With employee growth, I want to ensure that I have as few tools as possible to accomplish business objectives. The fewer tools in your tech stack, the easier it is to train and support end users. You have fewer integrations to manage and are able to troubleshoot issues faster. I've been in situations where I needed to support redundant tools, which could overwrite data from each other within the CRM system.

So, how is this accomplished?

1. If possible, establish your team as the point of contact and contract negotiation for tech stack tools. If that's not possible, then champion a governance committee to approve new tools. Regardless of the method, you should have a clear, objective vetting process for new tools that is clearly communicated to end users. For example:

   • Do we already have a similar tool in the tech stack?

     • If so, is this a better tool for our current and anticipated needs? (looking at function, support and overall cost) Should we replace the existing tool with this one?

     • If not, is this the best tool to support our current and anticipated needs?

   • Does this tool meet IT security requirements?

   • Can this tool integrate with current core systems?

2. Talk to cross-functional colleagues about day-to-day requirements of their roles (ie are Business Development Representatives expected to cold call 50 numbers a day?) and strategic objectives for their departments. By understanding the needs of your end users, you can better vet tech tools. If possible, include key stakeholders in the vetting process to ensure the tools are robust enough for their functional needs.

3. When onboarding new technology, work with the new vendor and with key stakeholders to develop a written plan with timelines and responsibilities for the rollout. Onboarding system loads will often be vastly different (larger) than day-to-day loads. It's important to a) develop a plan that implements the new technology without impacting current systems; b) ensure end users are trained on the new tech, if necessary; and c) communicate the cut-over(s) to stakeholders (customers, staff) so they can manage the change as it relates to their day-to-day activities.