Strategic IT Planning

Strategic IT Planning: The 3-Step Process Assignment Part 1: 25 points (Week 7 assignment part 2 is worth 75 points) This is a two-part project. Part one entails providing an outline of the 3-Step Process. Part two entails providing a proposal paper using the Development Plan. Introduction Strategic IT Planning is required to ensure your resources and assets continue providing the results and the support your organization needs.

What is a Strategic Plan?

It is a roadmap to achieving a goal. It may cover your entire department or responsibility or it may focus on a specific issue or element of your role. It can be long and involved or a simply one-page document that provides guidance and steps you need to implement to achieve a goal.

Making it Happen

There are a few things that are important to your success. While it may seem that developing the Strategic Plan is the hardest part, most plans fail because of the implementation. The key is to keep it small and be successful, then build on that success for the next initiative. Don’t bite off too much or try to be too ambitious.

• Take your time and keep it manageable

• Link your plan to your company’s strategy

• Justify your initiative and get buy-in and support

• Don’t re-invent, rebuild

• Go slow, manage change

• Set aside time from your operational responsibilities to make it happen

Without a Strategic Plan, you and your team won’t be effective and you won’t be able to get results, get attention and get ahead.

Why you need an IT Strategy:

Redirect from tasks to opportunities and result

• Switch from fighting fires to preventing fires

• Reduce risk with planning and a longer view

Strategic Plans fail because it never gets written or because it is too complex.

Use the following 3 questions to design your strategic plan outline.

Select a topic that you plan to defend via the strategic plan proposal, get topic approval from your professor, and start finding resources as well as the steps you need to take to achieve your strategic plan.

Note: Be sure to use terms, principles, strategies, and theories in your IT Strategy textbook.

1. Why do you need to do it? What is your goal?

2. What are the things you need to get done to achieve your goal?

3. How can you make those things happen?

By answering the 3 questions above, you will have the grounded baseline to developing an effective IT Strategic Plan.