What cannabis function resembles a bowl of spaghetti?

In many companies, it is IT.  And unlike spaghetti, the current state may leave a bad taste in your mouth and sour your appetite for more technology.  

The need
Companies have straightforward goals.  Get the most out of their current applications, data and systems, minimize the cost & hassle of IT operations and make technology a strategic enabler.  To win in the marketplace, firms will need to make sure their IT assets are both effective and efficient.  Long term, the most successful cannabis firms will have best-in-class IT capabilities.

What’s happening?
Cannabis IT is not fully delivering on its promise.  Among the problems:

- Applications often do not work as advertised, nor do they seamlessly integrate to deliver true seed-to-sale functionality;
 
- Managers struggle to keep a lid on ballooning IT costs and complexity, not to mention scaling up to meet business needs;

- Companies are not fully leveraging the power of data analytics in all activities;

- Nagging doubts remain that the business is protected against cyber threats.

The causes
There is not one single culprit. For example,
  
1) Poor planning led to the rushed deployment of a mish mash of software and hardware assets, customizations and data formats;
 
2) Organizational complexity. Firms needs to operate in multiple jurisdictions, each with different requirements;

3) A lack of integration between different applications;

4) Knowledge gaps.  Cannabis leaders who do not understand IT co-exist with software providers who don’t comprehend the nuances of a cannabis business;

5) The growing presence of Technical Debt, which acts as a coding and financial drag on future IT enhancements. 

The above problems are not unique to the cannabis industry.  However, the dynamic nature and financial instability of our sector make these issues especially problematic.

Solving these problems is beyond the scope of this short post (plus every company and situation is different).  However, it is evident that many firms need an IT reboot so they can increase their return on assets and build a foundation for transformational IT: AI, robotics and the 'internet of things.'

Leaders could start with:

> Defining IT’s vision & goals and then incorporating them within the firm’s strategic plan;

> Break down data silos between groups while ensuring appropriate governance and security;

> Address the human and process gaps in enterprise IT including user training and better linking tools with workflows;

> Ensure IT is properly funded and resourced.  Companies should be looking to spend 4-6% of revenues on IT;

> Prioritize and implement the necessary fixes & upgrades;

> Explore managed IT services for non-core tasks.

I can help you untangle the spaghetti. DM me.

#data #IT #technology#strategicplanning