Technology changes fast and the time will come when you need to update your infrastructure and systems to leverage working better and faster.

You will most likely outsource the job to technology companies and start-ups.

But just how do you tackle that? Who from your company should be involved and what is your priority consideration?

Shane Ogilvie, Chief of Strategy and Innovation at aged care services provider Bethanie is no stranger to engaging tech companies to solve problems across the defence, finance and manufacturing sectors.

He says the number one thing to consider when engaging a company is security – you are after all, about to divulge your corporate data and IP.

Who should be involved?

It’s not just the IT department that needs to be involved when undergoing tech changes.

For major changes such as a piece of technology to improve business process, Ogilvie says it’s important to ensure the business owner is involved and probably taking a leadership role.

“You'd want someone from your IT team who understood your entire IT ecosystem and could understand how the two products will work together,” he says.

“You would probably want people from other parts of the business that are going to interact with it on a day to day basis.

“And if it’s a customer facing function, then the first people you need to include are your customers and understand what their needs are, and how this is going to solve for them any of their problems.”

Aim for a partnership

When embarking on change, working with a tech company on hardware or software becomes a partnership where you work out what you need.

However, be sure to investigate your options with a number of tech companies.

To keep costs in check, Ogilvie says it’s important to make sure you buy only what you need and ensure it is scalable for the future.

Here he talks about how you decide what you want from a tech company and how what phase of your business you are at will determine how much you may need to spend.