Technology Strategy - Typical Structure of A (IT) Technology Strategy

Typical Structure of A (IT) Technology Strategy

The following are typically sections of a technology strategy:

  • Executive Summary - This is a summary of the IT strategy
    • High level organizational benefits
    • Project objective and scope
    • Approach and methodology of the engagement
    • Relationship to overall business strategy
    • Resource summary
      • Staffing
      • Budgets
      • Summary of key projects
  • Internal Capabilities
    • IT Project Portfolio Management - An inventory of current projects being managed by the information technology department and their status. Note: It is not common to report current project status inside a future-looking strategy document. Show Return on Investment (ROI) and timeline for implementing each application.
    • An inventory of existing applications supported and the level of resources required to support them
    • Architectural directions and methods for implementation of IT solutions
    • Current IT departmental strengths and weaknesses
  • External Forces
    • Summary of changes driven from outside the organization
    • Rising expectations of users
      • Example: Growth of high-quality web user interfaces driven by Ajax technology
      • Example: Availability of open-source learning management systems
    • List of new IT projects requested by the organization
  • Opportunities
    • Description of new cost reduction or efficiency increase opportunities
      • Example: List of available Professional Service contractors for short term projects
    • Description of how Moore's Law (faster processors, networks or storage at lower costs) will impact the organization's ROI for technology
  • Threats
    • Description of disruptive forces that could cause the organization to become less profitable or competitive
    • Analysis IT usage by competition
  • IT Organization structure and Governance
    • IT organization roles and responsibilities
    • IT role description
    • IT Governance
  • Milestones
    • List of monthly, quarterly or mid-year milestones and review dates to indicate if the strategy is on track
    • List milestone name, deliverables and metrics
  • Relations
    • the important components of information tehno-strategy is information technology and strategic planning working together.

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