Development of effective IT strategies

Poor IT strategies are the most common problems facing organizations today. Therefore, their IT is not meeting the needs of their business. Many IT departments don’t even store (in a CMDB) what their IT consists of. This means that they have no way of knowing what profitable investments could be for their business. Therefore, the creation and implementation of comprehensive IT strategies is extremely important.

Thanks to comprehensive IT strategies, we get:

• • A better understanding of our IT capabilities.

• • Understanding how IT can help us achieve our business goals.

• • Ideas on how to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our existing systems and infrastructure can be improved.

• • Opportunities to identify new and emerging technologies that align with our business strategy.

Without a long-term IT strategy, we will quickly fall behind our competitors in successfully adapting to new technologies.

It is clear that a good IT strategy is important and good according to our business strategy† But how do we develop comprehensive IT strategies and implement them in our company? To create effective IT strategies, we must follow 10 basic steps:

1. 1. Making a list of goals

We list the goals of our IT department and describe its mission and vision. Everything on this list should be aligned with our business strategy. With this list, we can support our IT strategy.

2. 2. Identify the gaps

We can identify weaknesses by performing a gap analysis of our existing IT infrastructure and software. In Gap Analysis, we compare the performance of our existing applications and infrastructure with the desired performance. We also identify what causes performance “gaps,” such as poorly implemented software or inefficient use of existing infrastructure.

3. 3. Take inventory of your current software

It can be difficult to keep track of the hardware and software we have implemented, especially for international companies with many different business units. We inventory all of our current software and hardware and their life expectancy. Only then can we truly assess our IT capabilities and IT needs.

4. 4. Assess IT needs

When assessing our IT needs, we take into account our existing IT systems, gap analysis and the goals we have set. For example, our gap analysis can help us identify the solution we need to implement to eliminate inefficiencies in our business processes.

However, we don’t just meet our current needs. Our IT strategy also has IT needs over the next five years mapped out. For example, when we determine the lifespan of our existing systems, we’ve likely also identified outdated software that we need to replace.

5. 5. Determine technical capabilities

In addition to simply identifying IT needs, we must also carefully consider the specific technical infrastructure that our business needs. This allows us to align our architecture with our business strategy.

6. 6. Divide the budget

One of the reasons we need to identify our IT needs for the next five years is to have a realistic budget for needs. Because resources are usually scarce, we don’t have the budget necessary to meet all of our IT needs at once. Therefore, we need to make a thoughtful plan to spend our IT budget effectively.

7. 7. Create an implementation plan

Defining and addressing our IT needs is an important first step. However, to reap the benefits of all the IT solutions we invest in, proper implementation is required. Develop a plan with realistic timelines for implementing new software or completing IT projects. We also need to include in our implementation plan who is actually responsible for implementation. The implementation plan should also align with business goals, especially if those goals are time-sensitive and dependent on the implementation of specific software.

8. 8. Set the framework

We need a framework (like ITIL) that guides how we manage our IT. We do this by building the structure, potential and competence of our team. The frameworks should also demonstrate how we improve our IT, how we execute our strategies and how we align them with our business strategy.

9. 9. Consider relevant KPI statistics

Our IT strategies should include benchmarks for success so we can track the effectiveness of those strategies over time. In particular, we track how new software and infrastructure actually impact the bottom line. This requires us to use KPIs (key performance indicators) that must be measured and reported regularly. By developing and tracking these KPIs, we can measure how successful our strategies are. Because the IT strategy is long-term, it allows us to make changes so that we don’t waste our IT budget on ineffective solutions.

10. 10. Check IT strategies

However, there are a few steps you need to take to get started with the strategy. At the C level, you need to subscribe to the strategy. We need to engage management in our IT strategies using broad and targeted messaging so they understand what the strategy is and why it is important.

11. 11. Transfer new IT strategies

However, senior management is not the only person with whom we must communicate our IT strategy. It is important that the strategy also communicates with other stakeholders, such as relevant business units. C-level executive approval helps us gain buy-in for our strategy across the rest of the organization.