Benchmark the Current Landscape
Get Stakeholders Involved
Identify Gaps in Current Strategy
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| An IT Strategic Plan Requires Good Communication with all Stakeholders |
Planning your IT Strategy
If you are in a CIO position at some point you are going to
be given the task of developing an IT strategic plan. This is a far reaching responsibility, and
you will need to draw on information from the entire business. Often this coincides with a major upgrade of
core systems.
A good strategic plan will take into account the need for
change and facilitate managing and expanding the plan as necessary. Effectively, future-proofing the IT
structure.
Step 1 – Collate opinions
In the first instance gather input from the CEO/Managing
director, and his or her immediate executive staff such as heads of
departments. The idea here is to
ascertain SWOT. Strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats of the current strategy. To do this:
·
Interview CEO/Managing director and executive
staff
·
Interview selected personnel such as Business Information Managers,
Application owners, Data owners, Information Security Managers, Compliance
Managers, Strategic Sourcing Manager, Global and local Process Owners, and ascertain business processes
·
Record the information in a spreadsheet and look
for trends and themes
Step 2 – Benchmark the Current Landscape (IST)
Benchmarking the Enterprise Architecture is never straight
forward. How IT is viewed varies from
company to company especially in relation to processes, applications, data and
technology. Some see it as costs to the
business, while others see it as an enabler of business.
Where aspects become particularly murky is in relation to
costs and outsourcing. I would advise
that if you feel like you are wading through the mud, you should call in
outside help.
When you put your benchmarking report together consider:
• Business
strategy, sourcing strategy and IT Strategy.
• Governance
and Management Sourcing and Compliance.
• Your
position in the multi vendor environment.
•
Organisation and process Maturity level.
•
Enterprise Architecture.
•Size and
scope of the current organization.
• Business
and IT spending.
• Are
projects funded based on proactive or reactive thinking?
• Are
information systems fit for purpose? Is there a multi-year plan for
improvement?
• Do you
include IT and Data leadership on the organization’s Executive team?
• How are
new corporate directives and goals communicated to Business and IT?
• Would
outsourcing some or all of IT for your organisation lower IT and even business
expenditures?
Step 3 - Process, Application, Data and Technology Review
After you have answered the questions above, the next phase
is to determine which elements are up to speed and which need to be replaced by
innovative solutions. Cost vs. Need will
see your strategic decision making tested to the limit.
I suggest reviewing each process, application, data,
technology elements and comparing it to the users’ needs. Ask yourself:
·
Who
are the “owners” and/or Business Information Managers?
·
What
are the needs of the current “owners” and/or Business Information Managers?
·
Review
the current elements and identify where the current information system is
meeting or not meeting the needs of the Business.
·
Determine
when the information system could be considered for replacement or enhancements. This should be based on not meeting needs,
purchase date, security, law, and regulatory requirements.
Once you have this
information you should then be able to formulate an action plan. It will probably look something like this:
• Identify
the current and anticipated needs by interviewing and working with the key
stakeholders and related business processes and/or departments
• Speak to
the main contractors and determine if the existing information system could or
could not meet the needs identified in the steps above
• Perform
the same process with alternative vendors, particularly if the current vendor
could not meet the required needs sufficiently
Step 4 – Strategic Goals vs. Gaps in Current Plan
With all of this information the shortfall between the
current plan and the strategic goals of your organisation will become
apparent. You should list what these
are, as you will then have a basis to put your strategic plan to remedy gaps.
You might find:
• Growth
goals for the organisation may not be in line with current business and IT
investment
• Business
and IT staff may be improperly sized to support growth or meet the current
needs
•
Information systems may be identified for replacement sooner than expected
• End-users
lack sufficient training to maximize the use of existing information systems
Step 5 – The Strategic Plan
It is best practice to create a multiyear plan to address
the gaps you have identified, based on immediate needs first. The plan should try and look to the future,
and factor in the fact that some IT services and projects would be dependent
upon gaps being filled in the plan.
It is also a good idea to encourage the management team to
give IT a ‘seat at the table’ if it is not already, to help facilitate changes
as needed.
Good luck
