IT Strategies: Setting Direction, Maintaining the Balance

Corporate IT Forum workshops are requested by and specifically designed for IT professionals striving for best practice in the corporate environment. Free from supplier involvement, delegates receive real-world information from experienced and unbiased peers - people who know what they are talking about.

1. IT Strategies: Setting Direction, Maintaining the Balance (Top Tips)
2. IT Strategies: Setting Direction, Maintaining the Balance (Executive Summary)
3. IT Strategies: Setting Direction, Maintaining the Balance (Report)
4. Presentation: The Corporate IT Forum Strategy Survey 2012 (Presentation)

Experience exchanges around the development and delivery of IT strategies have long been a feature of Forum member activity. But with 'seismic shifts' occurring in IT capability and delivery, and 'business change' ongoing - and even imperative - across sectors, setting and managing a high level strategy, and maintaining a cohesive and comprehensive set of corresponding IT strategies, has never been more challenging.

Balancing current long-term aims of simplification, increased efficiency and effectiveness against near-term potentially game-changing initiatives in consumerisation, cloud-based IT and social communications requires a clear understanding and representation of internal IT and the business environment, the external environment (e.g. suppliers, government legislation) and the link with the business plan. But strategy isn't a 'fit and forget' undertaking. The nature of business and IT evolution requires it to 'live'; grow and adapt in line with the organisation it supports.

Is it possible to establish best practice around IT strategy setting and management? Which frameworks provide the best starting points? And as IS and IT become ever more complex, how can you ensure sufficient understanding and confidence within the business to take a fully participative role in its development and execution?

This workshop, currently in development, is based on two recent Forum Q&A discussions on Tactical vs Strategic Software Development and Applications Strategy Job Description.

This discussion is likely to focus on the different models, their challenges and gaining support within the business.

• Corporate IT Strategies today

 - an in-depth look at results from the Corporate IT Forum Strategy Survey 2012; trends, implications and dependencies

• Strategy development

 - Stakeholder engagement (partners, group interests?) and input

 - Setting a high-level strategy; the decision-making process (IT Strategy Function)

 - Documentation and communication

 - Management

 - Setting goals and parameters without a clear business strategy

• Strategy 'waterfalling' (specific strategy derivation)

 - Recommended Frameworks, guidelines for:

            - Scoping & documenting e.g. architecture, infrastructure & technical strategies

            - Relationships between infrastructure and data strategies

 - Current and future focus: getting to grips with setting 'new' strategies

• Delivery and measuring success

 - Accommodating change; strategy review