Developing It Strategy
Chapter
Developing an Information Strategy Plan
Developing an Information Strategy Plan is the first stage in an overall IT development process that continues with the implementation of that strategy.
Strategic Planning
Before looking at how to develop an Information Strategy Plan, it is worth considering what strategic planning involves and why it is important for organizations to have an Information Strategy Plan. Strategic planning goes to the heart of what an organization does, why it does it, how it does it and where it is going. It aims to provide a total understanding of the functions of the business, as well as a map for its future. Strategic planning addresses a number of basic questions:
• What business are you in? • Where are you now? • How did you get here? • Where do you want to be in the future? • How are you going to get there?
We have split strategic planning into two elements:
1. Business Strategy Planning 2. Information Strategy Planning.
Business Strategy Planning
Business strategy planning can be defined as the process that your organization employs to make decisions about its business direction. If your organization has no formal written business strategy plan, it is critical that you elicit information from senior managers, and read company documents, to clarify what the organization’s broad business goals and objectives are. The directors and senior managers may have inconsistent and possibly conflicting ideas about the organization’s business strategy. But if time is taken to discuss the business strategy at the beginning, a consensus can emerge which can be used as the starting point for the Information Strategy Plan.
Information Strategy Planning
Information strategy planning deals with the whole ‘information resource’ of an organization - that is, the information it generates and receives, and the systems it uses to do so. This includes basic raw
Developing an Information Strategy Plan
Developing an Information Strategy Plan is the first stage in an overall IT development process that continues with the implementation of that strategy.
Strategic Planning
Before looking at how to develop an Information Strategy Plan, it is worth considering what strategic planning involves and why it is important for organizations to have an Information Strategy Plan. Strategic planning goes to the heart of what an organization does, why it does it, how it does it and where it is going. It aims to provide a total understanding of the functions of the business, as well as a map for its future. Strategic planning addresses a number of basic questions:
• What business are you in? • Where are you now? • How did you get here? • Where do you want to be in the future? • How are you going to get there?
We have split strategic planning into two elements:
1. Business Strategy Planning 2. Information Strategy Planning.
Business Strategy Planning
Business strategy planning can be defined as the process that your organization employs to make decisions about its business direction. If your organization has no formal written business strategy plan, it is critical that you elicit information from senior managers, and read company documents, to clarify what the organization’s broad business goals and objectives are. The directors and senior managers may have inconsistent and possibly conflicting ideas about the organization’s business strategy. But if time is taken to discuss the business strategy at the beginning, a consensus can emerge which can be used as the starting point for the Information Strategy Plan.
Information Strategy Planning
Information strategy planning deals with the whole ‘information resource’ of an organization - that is, the information it generates and receives, and the systems it uses to do so. This includes basic raw