Summary :
Summary What follows is a list of five common errors in the IT strategic-planning process, and tips from CIOs on evading those land mines and creating a plan that works.
Don’t Start with the Business Plan (Do Start Before the Business Plan):
Don’t Start with the Business Plan (Do Start Before the Business Plan) he who waits for the business plan to hit his desk is starting too late. In fact, that CIO may never get started at all? But even at organizations that do formal business-strategy planning, the CIO needs to participate in the creation of that plan rather than waiting for it
Don’t Just Listen Up(Do Listen Down as Well) :
Don’t Just Listen Up(Do Listen Down as Well) Arnie Rind, CIO of staffing company Adecco’s North American operations : Don’t forget the little people. "I often say that we in corporate say we know what’s going on with the business, but the people in the field really know," says Rind. Line of business employees can offer honest feedback on what’s working, what’s failing and what’s missing, and all that information can feed back to make stronger prioritization decisions in the strategic-planning process.
Don’t Sweat the Details(The Specifics of Execution Do Belong in Another Document):
Don’t Sweat the Details(The Specifics of Execution Do Belong in Another Document) IT strategic plans need to be written with an appropriate level of detail Allow the IT group will be able to change implementation details without rewriting the strategic plan the plan will be comprehensible to non-IS executives Each subsection of the overall plan is broken out into subdocuments that get into the nitty-gritty Another common approach, divide into 2 : One describes applications or solutions for particular business units or functions. section pertains to infrastructure requirements, software upgrades and architectural detail
Don’t Let It Collect Dust(Do Make Sure the Plan Gets Executed):
Don’t Let It Collect Dust(Do Make Sure the Plan Gets Executed ) Nationwide has a formal communication process for rolling out its three-year plan. All IT employees are required to read the plan, which is posted on an intranet, and are further required to satisfactorily complete a 10-question quiz about its contents
But Don’t Bronze the Plan Either(Do Create Flexibility Through Scenario Planning and Frequent Review):
But Don’t Bronze the Plan Either(Do Create Flexibility Through Scenario Planning and Frequent Review) Bain’s Rigby says that contingency planning and scenario planning are two underappreciated and necessary steps in writing an IT strategy. " Contingency plans, both short term and longer term, have to be worked out in advance with the business heads. You have to say, ’Here’s how I would rank-order our expenses, so if the CEO says we have to cut by 30 percent, these are the ones I would drop?what do you think?’" says Rigby. He says the process helps cement business alignment and support, or at least that the CIO can " tease out weaknesses in your budget beforehand" instead of being blindsided in a downturn. "If you don’t prioritize investments, someone else will do it for you," he says .