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Handout #6 – STRATEGY AND STANDARDS

IT Strategic Plan – is a formal vision to guide in the acquisition, allocation, and management of IT resources to fulfill the
organization’s objectives.
– it should be part of an overall corporate strategy for IT and should align to the business strategy it
supports.

Alignment of the IT strategy with the business strategy (IT Governance) should occur at all levels of the planning process
to provide continued assurance that the operational plans continue to support the business objectives.

IT Management – involves combining technology, people, and processes to provide solutions to organizational problems.
The most effective strategy will be determined by the combination of the environment, culture, and
technology used by an organization.

IT Strategic Committee – Focuses on Direction and Strategy

(Composed of – Advises board on IT strategy and alignment
Board Members – Optimization of IT costs and risk
& Specialists)

The IT Strategic Committee provides direction and high-level overview.

Main concerns:

 Alignment of IT with Business – IT plans align with business plans

 Contribution of IT to the Business – IT delivers promised benefits and objectives
 Exposure & containment of IT Risk – All understand risk
 Optimization of IT costs – IT Delivers IT services at optimized costs
 Achievement of strategic IT objectives – track IT performance via metrics, scheduling, costs
– ensures availability of IT resources, skills and infrastructure to meet
strategic objectives
– provides direction to management relative to IT strategy

IT Strategic Committee – Focuses on Direction and Strategy

(Composed of – Advises board on IT strategy and alignment
Business Executives, – Optimization of IT costs and risk
Chief Information Officer,
and key advisors – IT, legal, audit, finance)

Main concerns:

 Make decision of IT being centralized vs. decentralized, and assignment of responsibility

 Makes recommendations for strategic plans
 Approves IT architecture
 Reviews and approves IT plans, budgets, priorities & milestones
 Monitors major project plans and delivery performance

These are the functions of the lower management committee, the one which steers. They monitor progress of projects and
detailed funding.

IT Strategic Committee is highest level – they APPROVE business strategy and may help to DEFINE/DECIDE it.
IT Steering Committee is lower than IT Strategic Committee, but involves management.

[ Steering : Deciding where to turn when driving a car. The car is still on the ground and navigates through real traffic. ;) ]

Once an IT strategy has been decided, it must be Strategic: Long-term (3-5 year) direction considers
communicated to all levels of management to ensure organizational goals, regulation (and for IT: technical
alignment and reduce conflict. advances)

Alignment of the IT strategy with the business
strategy (IT Governance) should occur at all
levels of the planning process to provide
continued assurance that the operational plans
continue to support the business objectives.
Tactical: 1-year plan moves organization to
strategic goal
Operational: Detailed or technical plans

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Portfolio Management

Portfolio Management Processes are needed to ensure the effective use of resources and alignment with business
objectives. This includes processes to initiate projects, design solutions, manage resources, provision services, procure
products, and control financial investments. Investments in technology require significant resources in terms of people and
funding that need to be directed in support of the organization’s objectives.

Demand Management

Projects need to be reviewed at the beginning of the project life cycle to make sure they have senior management support
and a strong business case. A demand management process can help ensure that resources are devoted to projects that
have a strong business case, which have been approved by senior management.

Demand management processes ensure that a project has business justification, a business and IT sponsor, a consistent
approach for approving projects; ensure alignment of application and infrastructure groups; ensure that all project costs
are identified to improve decision making; provide a means to “weed out” non-essential projects; and provide a means to
control IT capacity and spending.

Project Initiation

Once a project has been approved, it should undergo a project initiation process that determines the total cost and benefit
of a project by defining high-level business requirements and a conceptual solution.

After a project has conceptual approval, the business users and software developers can work together to develop
detailed requirements and project estimates that will be used in the final business case and form the basis for the project
budget.

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Technical Review

A technical review process helps ensure that the right solution is selected, that it integrates with other components of
technology, and that it can be supported with minimal investments in infrastructure.

A formal product evaluation process assesses:

 Technical feasibility
 Alternative technologies
 Architecture
 In-house skill compatibility
 Existing environments/replacements
 Implementations, licensing, and cost considerations
 Research and analyst views
 Vendor company profile and financial viability

Architecture and Standards

The IT Strategy provides a vision for the IT organization, and architecture translates vision into infrastructure. The
architecture group establishes the standards and blueprint for the organization.

Enterprise Architecture

Constructing IT is similar to constructing a building. It must be designed and implemented at various levels:

 Technical (Hardware, Software)

 IT Procedures & Operations
 Business Procedures & Operations

The enterprise architecture lays out a roadmap between the current and future state of the organization’s infrastructure and
application platforms. Enterprise architecture defines the different elements in an enterprise and their interaction.

This model is for defining Business & IT system.

Horizontal – Different aspects to be considered; Vertical – Different levels of abstraction

Enterprise Model – Business Model

Systems Model – Architecture of systems
Technology Model – Technology selection
Detailed Representation – Configuration of Technology

If each entry is filled in, then the design is complete.

Business Architecture – defines the key business processes and functions of an organization. Examples of key business
processes include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), document and content management, and management
information.

Application Architecture – defines the application framework and common components that can be used across the
organization. It ensures alignment with organizational strategy and guides in the purchase, configuration, design and
development of technology.

Information Architecture – encompasses the source and destination of information, formal and informal business rules for
using that information, its flow through the organization, ownership and mechanisms for ensuring persistence and security.

Infrastructure Architecture – defines the hardware and software infrastructure that supports the application. It defines the
client, server, and network technology supporting application delivery.

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