Planning for the future

IT is constantly changing. Only a few years ago, IT organizations had to quickly adapt to “work from home” due to the COVID pandemic. Now, IT teams are undergoing other changes as organizations adopt generative AI.

In this constant hum of change, IT leaders may think that it’s impossible to create long-range plans. But it’s important to remember that despite individual changes, IT leaders need to keep their eye on the big picture and their role in making that happen across the larger organization. How will you address future needs for the organization in the face of new technology?

To plan effectively for the future requires building a strategic plan.

Thinking ahead

Two things stand out in IT strategic planning:

1. IT is vital to the organization’s successful achievement of its mission.
2. IT services are delivered in a distributed - but increasingly coordinated - manner.

Central IT and division IT should also develop their own strategic plans in support of the organization’s strategic plan, and periodically revisit that plan to measure progress. An IT strategic plan should guide the efforts of an enterprise for at least the next five years. This may feel like a long time, but it’s possible to create such a long-range plan with some forethought. For example, you might start with a SWOT exercise to identify opportunities, or use the double diamond approach to brainstorm future plans.

Whatever method you adopt, the IT strategic planning process must build on collaboration across the organization, providing ample opportunities to share plans, success stories, and lessons learned. The resulting IT strategic plan document should be used as a guide to help navigate the future.

When creating your IT strategic plan, consider the following themes:

Guiding principles

What are the foundational assumptions upon which you build your strategic plan? Identify a list of vision statements that represent your organization’s key principles. For example:

• Technology decisions should include broad input from those most impacted
• Infrastructure planning needs to be carefully designed and executed to address enterprise needs
• Examine opportunities for business process improvements, in conjunction with adopting software before re-engineering administrative IT systems (in other words: look for ways to adopt the software’s process flow rather than changing the software to fit an old model)
• Open standards and interoperability are important and highly valued characteristics
• New applications will be adopted when available, and built or integrated when necessary
• Security and privacy of electronic information will be highly valued, and all systems and infrastructure will meet required levels of privacy and security

Goals

What do you need to achieve in your IT organization to be successful over the next five years? How will you leverage IT as a power multiplier to transform the organization in that timeframe? To answer these questions, start by listing high-level statements about what accomplishments IT must make in the next five years. For example:

• Plan for and provide sufficient bandwidth, cabling, electronics, and service quality for network connectivity in all areas
• Offer consistent availability of data and telecommunications, and provide a secure environment to access information and collaborate across the organization
• Secure all electronic information and IT systems
• Increase the utilization and effectiveness of central IT systems
• Provide a secure network and computing environment
• Establish systematic processes for recapitalizing IT equipment
• Fully integrate the IT role in capital planning and funding processes

Actions

After identifying the goals, go back and review them. For each goal, identify at least three to five action items that will advance or support each goal.

Measure

As a final step, review each action item and define how you will measure each item. These are also called key performance indicators (KPIs) and they help mark the progress of each activity. The KPI will differ depending on each action you might take, so consider the different ways that you might measure the performance of an action.

By establishing your IT strategic plan, you will set a path for your organization to follow. In doing so, your organization will know how to orient itself in the face of new technologies and challenges, and adapt to a changing landscape.