Setting the IT Tactical Plan

As part of an overall Corporate Business Strategy Renewal Process the IT function must examine its overall Information and Communications Technology – software, hardware and services – environment and develop an appropriate Technology Tactical Plan that supports the Corporate Business Strategy. The IT Tactical Plan must also include a delivery organization and governance structure that is best suited to delivering IT solutions and services in a cost effective and efficient manner.

Developing the IT Tactical Plan

The IT Tactical Planning process should provide the 3 to 5 year view of IT direction, and enable a thought shift throughout the organization away from reactive mode and short-term thinking. Drawing on the company’s approved Business and Service Delivery Strategies for direction it provides the long-term context for project decision making and priority setting. It recommends policies to address high level questions like “Buy vs. Build vs. Lease vs. Outsource”.

A good IT Tactical Planning process starts with a detailed assessment of the current environment. You must compare an objective view of the current infrastructure – people, process and technology – against the performance of similar organizations and against generally accepted good practices. This quickly and clearly outlines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This leads to the identification of any immediate actions that could be taken to strengthen weaknesses, grasp opportunities or mitigate threats.

The second step is a series of investigations and facilitated brainstorming sessions between Business units and IT, where a future, target state is jointly decided. The outcome from this is a description of near-term and future applications, services, technologies, facilities and IT management practices that the organization will need to adopt to build and maintain a business leadership position. The focus of this phase of the project is on application, service, technology and organizational considerations for the next 3 to 5 years such as:

• Emerging applications, technology and facilities
• Client-focused solutions
• Equipment life-cycle and support services plans
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
• Potential legislative, regulatory and/or political changes
• Shared services
• Partnerships
• Alternative service delivery

The third step comprises of a Gap Analysis between the Current State – as defined in Step 1 by the Assessment process – and the Future State – as defined by the Facilitated Brainstorming. The Gap Analysis process is outlined in the following illustration:

step four, a multi-year plan is developed, based on the outcomes of the Gap Analysis, to plot the course from the current state to the future state. The plan must include the hardware, software, facilities and services required; the cost of investment; staffing and training; and, timeframes for implementation that include acquisition, testing and user training.

IT Delivery Organization and Governance

All organizations need a structure under which to operate. The IT Department is no different. There is a need for a formal structure and organizational model that promotes and enables all forms of “management” with the IT organization. The model must address, amongst other things:

As the IT Tactical Plan unfolds a practical and effective operating, or governance, model must be included. Step five is to build, or modify the existing model, to ensure it meets legislative requirements and provide the IT Management Team with the tools and flexibility to continue to deliver quality IT Services in an economical and risk-averse manner.

The Documented IT Tactical Plan

The deliverable from the completed IT Tactical Plan is a comprehensive document that should include:

• Articulation of the organizational impacts to be expected as it propagates the effective use of technology to its internal and external clients; this will include potential changes in roles and responsibilities, security, strategies and processes to ensure that the “technology” is configured with sufficient redundancy and back-up to ensure business continuity in the event of mass system failures or other catastrophic events.
• A technology governance, leadership and performance model together with a decision making framework that will support the effective implementation of the recommended corporate technology strategic direction.
• Well defined actionable Recommendations supported by business and/or operational justifications; tangible benefits; inclusive capital and operational costs; a risk assessment; and, the key operational performance indicators.
• A detailed Implementation Schedule for each recommendation that clearly shows timelines; costs; resources; facility requirements; interdependencies; and, any key progress points to gauge the success of the schedule.

The report must provide a framework within which an IT Steering Committee and IT Management can make tactical and operational decisions; and evolve the company to its optimal state. The target environment would be one illustrated below, in which IT is a core element supporting all aspects of the business and adding value to the cumulative use of the data.

Next month we will focus on why and how organizations should consider outsourcing or other shared services options to deliver the operational business units goals and requirements. We will explore how the IT function and other supporting business functions can determine the most appropriate sourcing strategy for people, process, technology and services to support the corporate strategy and how, together, they can build a solid business case to proceed.

Not all organizations have the skills or resources to conduct assessments or develop a Tactical Plan in-house; particularly while they are keeping the business operating “as usual”. Any juggler will tell you how hard it is to keep your eye on more than one object and it usually ends up in a poor performance. It is also often very beneficial to use an unbiased third party to facilitate the process and to work with the business units as they look “inwards” to develop meaningful and achievable plans with clear and justifiable business cases.

By: Stuart Millar
Partner at Negenit Corp. (Outsourcing, Project Management, IT Strategy and Telecommunication)   

To Contact Stuart: 

E:  smillar@negenit.com or on LinkedIn

Negenit Corporation,
6021 Yonge Street, Suite 485,
Toronto, ON M2M 3W2
T:  416-421-2017
F:  416-421-5549
Website:http://www.negenit.com

CIO Series Articles: A Year In Preview Determining The Business Goals IT Tactical Planning Alternative Service Delivery How To Acquire A New System Solution Implementation Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Planning

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