Why IT Should Be in the Room During Strategic Planning

When businesses map out strategic growth, IT is often left out of the conversation until it's time to implement decisions that have already been made. This is one of the biggest mistakes growing companies make.

Operations teams are tasked with ambitious goals—scaling headcount, expanding locations, improving customer experience, tightening compliance—but too often, those plans are created without a clear picture of the technology infrastructure needed to support them. The result? Missed deadlines, spiraling budgets, tech rework, or worse, operational outages that impact core business functions.

In healthcare especially, where regulatory compliance, data security, and patient care all depend on reliable, scalable IT systems, the consequences are too big to ignore. According to Gartner, 63% of business leaders say their digital initiatives are being slowed down by infrastructure limitations that could have been addressed early—if IT had been consulted from the start.

This post will break down:

• What companies get wrong when excluding IT from strategy planning
• Why it’s essential to bring IT into the room early
• How proactive, aligned IT leadership drives better business outcomes

Why IT Gets Overlooked in Strategic Planning

Many growing companies still view IT as a reactive service rather than a strategic partner. The thinking is: "We'll loop in IT after the business decides what it needs." But that mindset leads to a series of common—and costly—problems:

• Systems that can’t scale with new business demands
• Security and compliance gaps that surface after deployment
• Tech investments that don’t align with actual workflows or growth goals
• Constant patchwork solutions that eat up resources

In healthcare, these issues can be dangerous. Legacy systems, siloed data, and poor tech alignment increase risks for both operational failure and regulatory violations.

Worse, when strategic decisions are made without input from IT, businesses lose the opportunity to leverage technology as a force multiplier. You’re not just missing out on efficiency—you’re actively creating roadblocks to growth.

How to Make IT a Strategic Asset, Not an Afterthought

1. Bring IT Into Strategy Sessions—Not Just Implementation

What it is: Inviting IT leadership into the earliest stages of annual planning, budgeting, and operational strategy design.

Why it matters: IT leaders can flag risks, identify opportunities, and help shape more realistic, tech-aligned plans. For example, if a healthcare practice wants to add a new location, IT can advise on network capacity, compliance logistics, and secure data access before any leasing contracts are signed.

Implementation tip: Include your IT Champion or CIO in your core planning team. If you don’t have one, partner with a provider like Notics that embeds a dedicated expert on-site.

Business impact: Fewer surprises down the line. More predictable execution. Better budget alignment.

2. Align Tech Roadmaps with Business Goals

What it is: Creating an IT roadmap that mirrors your business priorities—hiring, service expansion, customer experience, and compliance.

Why it matters: A tech plan that lags behind your growth plan leads to bottlenecks, frustration, and budget overruns.

Implementation tip: Conduct joint IT/Operations planning reviews quarterly to track alignment and adjust based on new business needs.

Business impact: Seamless scaling, improved cross-team execution, and better ROI on tech investments.

3. Treat IT as a Cross-Functional Leader

What it is: Positioning IT not just as a support function but as a stakeholder across HR, operations, finance, and compliance.

Why it matters: Today’s tech decisions impact every department. Hiring remote teams? You need secure access. Changing vendors? You need integration. New billing system? You need workflows mapped and tested.

Implementation tip: Assign tech leads to cross-functional projects and workflows. Encourage department heads to regularly engage with IT.

Business impact: Faster execution on department initiatives, less downtime, and tighter cross-functional alignment.

4. Plan IT Investments Proactively

What it is: Budgeting and planning for infrastructure, cybersecurity, licensing, and support before gaps arise.

Why it matters: Being reactive leads to emergency spending. And in healthcare, that can mean fines or patient impact.

Implementation tip: Establish an annual IT budget baseline (we recommend at least $3,000 per employee per year) and update forecasts based on headcount and compliance demands.

Business impact: Lower total cost of ownership, smoother audits, stronger security posture.

5. Use Embedded IT to Increase Accountability

What it is: Deploying on-site IT Champions who are part of your team, not just an external vendor you call when things break.

Why it matters: Embedded staff understand your business inside and out. They spot problems before they become roadblocks, and they work in real-time with your leadership team.

Implementation tip: If you’re using a traditional MSP model, consider switching to a model like Notics’ IT Champion approach for tighter alignment.

Business impact: Faster issue resolution, more responsive planning, and a tech environment that supports—not slows—your growth.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Businesses Who Plan Tech Like They Plan Growth

If you’re serious about scaling your business, IT can’t be an afterthought. It has to be in the room when strategic decisions are made. The risks of exclusion—delayed projects, budget waste, operational friction are too high.

More importantly, the opportunity is too big. Technology isn’t just there to support the business. It is the business. The systems you invest in today will either enable your future, or hold it back.

At Notics, we believe IT should be proactive, embedded, and fully aligned with your business strategy from day one. That’s how you scale with confidence.

Now’s a good time to ask yourself: Is your current IT setup helping you grow, or just keeping the lights on?