What are IT goals and why do they matter?

In information technology (IT), change is constant—which means success hinges on having a strategy that’s as agile as the industry itself. You need a clear plan that aligns with the broader goals of your organization—one that delivers real value to your internal teams and external customers. This means getting specific with your IT goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) so you can properly track progress and measure success, ensuring your IT efforts always contribute to the bigger picture.

Put simply, IT goals are well-defined, measurable objectives that guide the strategic use, development, and optimization of a company’s technology resources. They help prioritize tasks, streamline operations, and drive innovation.

Whether it’s improving system uptime, enhancing cybersecurity, or adopting cutting-edge tools, IT goals keep your team focused on what matters most. With clear IT objectives as their north star, your team will know exactly what they need to achieve—and how to do so effectively. 

Eight of the most impactful IT goals to drive inspiration and impact

IT goals vary by organization, but certain objectives are universal. Here are a few examples:

1. Improve system uptime and reliability 

Quick take: Ensure systems run smoothly with minimal disruptions.

A little more context: System uptime and reliability are essential to keeping any organization running smoothly. When systems experience downtime, whether it’s for scheduled maintenance or unexpected failures, it can lead to lost productivity, frustrated customers, and financial losses. 

Take an online streaming service, like Netflix, which relies heavily on its IT infrastructure to deliver uninterrupted service to millions of viewers worldwide. To improve system uptime and reliability, the company might implement a content delivery network (CDN) that distributes content across multiple servers in different geographical locations. This way, if one server goes down, traffic can be seamlessly rerouted, and watchers are none the wiser. 

2. Enhance cybersecurity

Quick take: Protect sensitive data and systems from breaches and threats.

A little more context: As cyber threats evolve, strong cybersecurity is more crucial than ever. Protecting sensitive data and keeping your systems secure from breaches is key to maintaining trust, safeguarding intellectual property, and avoiding financial losses.

For example, think about a financial services firm that manages client investment portfolios. To secure all client data, they could use encryption to protect sensitive transactions, implement advanced firewalls to block unauthorized access, and train employees to recognize phishing attempts. If a breach does occur, a well-prepared incident response plan allows the company to act quickly, maintain compliance with financial regulations, and safeguard its reputation.

3. Optimize IT infrastructure

Quick take: Refine hardware, software, and networks for better performance and cost-efficiency.

A little more context: Optimizing IT infrastructure focuses on improving the performance and reliability of your systems. It’s about ensuring that hardware, software, and networks are used efficiently to meet current needs while staying adaptable for future growth. You might want to upgrade outdated systems, consolidate resources, or leverage modern technologies.

For example, a company might move some of its on-premises infrastructure to cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure. This shift reduces reliance on physical hardware, enhances scalability, and provides flexibility to adjust resources as needed. To further improve performance without overspending, they could also use a tool like Asana to track resource usage, prioritize tasks, and collaborate on adjustments.

4. Support digital transformation

Quick take: Adopt new technologies to improve workflows and user experiences.

A little more context: Digital transformation is about embracing new technologies to modernize processes, improve efficiency, and enhance user experiences. This could mean using automation to fast-track manual processes, implementing AI-driven tools, or using cloud-based platforms to streamline operations.

For instance, a retail company might adopt an e-commerce program powered by AI that personalizes product recommendations based on customer behavior. By connecting the program to their inventory management and supply chain systems, they can deliver a seamless online shopping experience.

5. Increase IT cost efficiency

Quick take: Reduce your expenses while maintaining the quality of your services.

A little more context: Cost efficiency is about managing IT spending wisely while still delivering quality service. It involves identifying areas where costs can be reduced without sacrificing performance and finding solutions that maximize the value of your investments. By leveraging budget-friendly tools and strategies, IT departments can do more with less.

For example, a small business might choose to implement a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for its customer relationship management (CRM) needs rather than purchasing expensive on-premises software. By using a subscription-based service, the business reduces upfront costs and only pays for the resources it actually uses.

6. Boost productivity

Quick take: Set your teams up with tools that empower them to collaborate efficiently.

A little more context: Equipping teams with the right tools can really boost productivity. This means providing software that helps with communication, project management, and document sharing, along with making sure employees have reliable hardware and network connectivity.

For a remote-first company, tools like Slack for communication, Zoom for video meetings, and Asana for work management, collaboration, and project launches can make a big difference. With these in place, employees can collaborate seamlessly—no matter where they’re working—and stay productive throughout the day.

7. Ensure regulatory compliance

Quick take: Stay ahead of industry standards to protect data and privacy.

A little more context: Regulatory compliance is especially critical for industries that handle sensitive data, like healthcare, finance, and legal. Staying on top of data protection laws and industry standards helps avoid legal problems and keep customer information safe.

For example, a healthcare provider must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect patient data. To do this, they may use encryption, set up strict access controls, and run regular audits to make sure they’re meeting all required standards and keeping patient information secure.

8. Improve IT response time

Quick take: Resolve issues quickly to minimize downtime.

A little more context: When IT problems pop up, resolving them quickly is crucial to keeping things running smoothly. Clear processes for spotting, diagnosing, and fixing issues are paramount, along with a well-trained IT support team that’s ready to tackle problems.

For example, an e-commerce company might have an IT support team that uses a ticketing system to prioritize and address issues. If the website slows down, the team can quickly swarm the cause—like a database bottleneck—and fix it fast, preventing any revenue loss. 

Short- and long-term IT goals

Short- and long-term IT goals are essential for helping organizations balance immediate needs with future ambitions. 

• Short-term goals address pressing issues like system stability and security, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations. 

• Long-term goals focus on strategic initiatives, such as digital transformation or scaling infrastructure, which require more planning and resources. 

Together, these goals ensure that the IT department not only maintains current operations but also positions the organization for future growth and innovation. A common strategy is to use SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals—to effectively and methodically guide the process.

Benefits of setting IT goals

Setting IT goals transforms your IT department into a key player in your business’s overall strategy. Instead of just being the team that fixes problems or keeps the lights on, IT becomes a driving force that helps the company grow, innovate, and stay competitive. Here are a few key benefits of setting IT goals.

Alignment with business objectives

IT goals ensure technology initiatives drive broader business goals, such as customer satisfaction. When IT is in sync with the business strategy, technology investments can drive growth, enhance customer happiness, and support long-term sustainability. 

Enhanced decision-making

Having clear, well-defined IT goals helps IT leaders and stakeholders focus their resources where they’ll have the most impact. When time, budget, and staff are dedicated to the most important projects, resources don’t get stretched too thin. 

Improved team focus

When IT teams have measurable goals, they can stay focused on what really matters. With clear direction and motivation, team members know exactly what’s expected of them and how their work contributes to the bigger picture. 

In our latest State of Work Innovation report, we found that just 47% of employees understand how their work fits into their organization’s overarching objectives. On the flip side, at organizations with effective cross-team collaboration, employees are 90% more likely to understand how their work adds value and ladders up to company objectives. Measurable goals make it easy to track progress and celebrate wins, which boosts morale and keeps everyone motivated.

Better risk management

Proactive goal-setting helps IT teams spot potential risks early so they can take care of them before they turn into bigger problems. By setting clear objectives and benchmarks, IT leaders can anticipate challenges—whether related to security, compliance, infrastructure, or project deadlines—and take steps to mitigate them effectively.

Increased ROI

Prioritizing on high-impact IT projects ensures that technology investments deliver a strong return. By aligning initiatives with business goals and defining clear, measurable outcomes, companies can ensure their IT budget is spent on projects that provide real value—whether that’s increasing revenue, reducing costs, or improving efficiency.

IT KPI metrics to track with goals

Imagine you’re driving a car without a GPS—how would you know if you’re heading in the right direction or need to change course? You’d look for clear markers to guide you, like road signs or mileposts. When it comes to setting goals, these markers are KPIs. KPIs act as indicators of success, showing whether you’re hitting your targets or need to adjust course to stay on track.

While IT goals set the destination, KPIs provide the roadmap and real-time updates that ensure you’re heading in the right direction.

Here are some essential metrics:

System uptime

System uptime acts like a reliability score for your IT systems: It tracks how often everything is running smoothly without disruptions. This KPI is important because it ensures that your key systems and services remain up and available when your users need them.

Incident response time

Incident response time measures how quickly IT teams jump into action when an issue pops up. The faster they can identify and fix the problem, the less disruption.

Cost per user

This KPI measures how efficiently IT is spending money by dividing total IT costs by the number of users or devices being supported. It helps determine if your IT spending aligns with the number of people or devices you’re serving.

First call resolution rate

Imagine you work at a large company and you’re having trouble logging into your internal system. You call the IT help desk, and they immediately identify that the issue is due to a password reset and resolve it on the spot. You’re able to get back to work without needing to follow up or wait for further assistance.

In this case, the IT support team successfully resolved the issue on the first contact, so the company would count this as a win for their First Call Resolution (FCR) rate. This KPI is a clear indicator of service quality and operational performance.

Mean time to repair (MTTR)

MTTR measures how long it takes to restore a system to full functionality after a failure. A lower MTTR is key to minimizing downtime and getting systems back online quickly.

Network performance

Network performance is like your home internet connection. If you’re streaming a movie or on a video call, the experience depends on how fast data travels and how much can flow at once.

For a company, tracking network performance ensures teams can work online seamlessly, without frustrating delays—just like having a fast, reliable connection at home.

User satisfaction scores

User satisfaction scores are a way to check in and see how happy people are with your IT services. These scores are typically gathered through feedback tools or quick surveys, providing a sense of how well your IT support and systems are meeting user needs. 

Cybersecurity metrics

Cybersecurity KPIs track how effective an organization’s security measures are. They look at things like the number of threats blocked, how quickly vulnerabilities are patched, and how successful security audits are.

Track IT goals with Asana

So you know you need IT goals and KPIs. But how do you manage and track them all? The good news is, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a work project management platform like Asana, IT teams can set and track goals to stay aligned with business needs. Here’s how:

• Using Asana’s Goals feature, set company-wide, team, or individual goals, and see how they ladder up to bigger-picture objectives.

• Goals automatically update based on completed work, and progress can be quickly visualized in reporting dashboards, making it easy to spot challenges in real time before they become true blockers. 

• Customizable views and sharing options make it easy to collaborate, while IT templates help standardize goal-setting across teams.

IT goals are the foundation for a more efficient, secure, and innovative organization. By setting clear objectives, tracking progress with a platform like Asana, and balancing short- and long-term priorities, your IT team can deliver real value to the business.