It is not enough simply to have the best technology. To achieve maximum benefit, companies must use that technology in the right way. For any company, that "right way" is defined through the policies and procedures describing how information technology is to be used.

Information Technology Policies serve a number of purposes. These policies further corporate missions, educate the corporate community about best practices in the use of information technology, promote companywide operational efficiencies, and reduce organizational risks. They also guide employees to help ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Policy Objectives
Good information technology policies are drawn to fit each company's needs precisely. However, there are a number of broad objectives all good policy statements seek to achieve:

• Promote knowledge transfer and reduce learning curves
  Information technology is, first and foremost, a tool for sharing knowledge. Successful technology policy authors will acknowledge this, and draft policy statements that promote technology as the communications vehicle it is intended to be.
  
  
• Protect and secure corporate IT infrastructure and/or data
  Sharing information within the organization is good. Sharing information with competitors is not. As important as it is for your people to have access to the information crucial to your business, it is equally important to ensure that information stays within your business. Effective computing must also be safe computing. IT policies must embrace this reality, and take great pains to communicate to end users how to use IT resources in a safe and appropriate fashion.
  
  
• Reduce corporate resources applied to technology solutions
  Information technology is a remarkable tool, but it is still only a tool. Moreover, it is not the only tool business requires in order to grow and prosper. Through careful articulation of a company's technology priorities, good IT policies help reduce unnecessary technology expenditures and direct scarce corporate resources towards solutions that will yield maximum benefit.
  
  
• Streamline corporate IT systems and infrastructure
  By defining standard procedures for utilizing technology resources within the enterprise, good IT policies go a long way towards streamlining IT infrastructure. Through clear articulation of standards, good IT policies help eliminate unnecessary duplication and waste of scare technology resources.
  
  
• Promote consistency in the handling of information
  Effective corporate communications require that information be handled in the same fashion across all segments of the enterprise. Security guidelines, retention guidelines, and disclosure guidelines are but a few areas in which strong IT policies can facilitate good corporate communications.
  
  
• Promote cost savings
  Business benefits when the same tasks can be accomplished with less cost. That is the essence of efficiency. IT policies are an extraordinary vehicle for promoting the virtue of efficiency within the organization. Effective IT policy helps managers identify and quantify technology costs within the enterprise, which is a vital first step in an ongoing effort to manage and ultimately minimize those costs.
  
  

At TEKMedia Communications, we combine our knowledge and understanding of technology with your knowledge and understanding of your business to develop policies specifically designed to meet these objectives for your company. We work with your staff to ensure policies are drafted in a coherent, concise fashion readily understood by the whole of your organization.

We also understand that policies which sit in a binder on a shelf collecting dust are counterproductive and costly. At TEKMedia, our overarching policy objective is to engage your company's culture during policy development, to ensure policy statements are living documents for your company.