IT strategic planning- Valutrics
What should be in a CIO’s strategic IT plan?
Executive summary/statement
The executive summary is a brief and impactful statement that summarizes IT’s strategic objectives. These objectives are tied with the company’s vision, mission and goals.
- Concise, straightforward statement that summarizes the plan’s objectives;
- Synopsis of the processes used to develop objectives;
- Outline of the company’s mission and vision; and
- Crafted with intended audience (e.g., the business) in mind.
Scope/situational review
IT will need to get a scope of the business’ specific requirements to help map out the technology plan for the following years; this can be achieved using a variety of methods:
- Conduct a gap analysis — identify strengths and weaknesses in operations, procedures, planning;
- Conduct other types of internal assessments, as needed (e.g., surveys, interviews);
- Conduct industry analysis for changing landscape/trends to inform metrics.
Business context
The business context is a deeper look into the specific business-driven objectives that drive IT strategy, as well as what their targets and intended results are.
- Business drivers that informed the plan (e.g., acquisitions);
- Strategic business objectives, priorities;
- Could include a roadmap visualizing these goals; and
- Pinpoint metrics that describe the IT organization’s present and target state
Strategic initiatives
These are the projects necessary to achieve the strategic IT plan.
- List of IT initiatives and projects needed to achieved target end state; and
- Statements of purpose to guide IT decision making and implementation.
Review
This review highlights IT’s accomplishments from the previous year, as well as what resources are required to meeting the goals of this new plan.
- Assessment of organization’s progress in meeting goals of previous IT plan;
- Identify which goals were met; and
- Highlight the challenges to meeting other goals.