CIO's IT Strategy Playbook

What is the IT Strategy Playbook?

This is a playbook to create a comprehensive and effective IT Strategic Plan for any type of organization. It provides the steps with instructions, deliverables, tips, pitfalls to avoid, and examples for each. In essence, it is an IT Strategy Template with guidance.

This playbook is exhaustive, with 27 components to fit the needs of any type of organization. It is imperative for the user to whittle it down to the 10-12 most important elements for their unique requirements. It is our considered opinion that attempting to follow all 27 steps will not produce desired results, and you are more likely to get bogged down than create business value. If you absolutely must complete all these steps, then we recommend splitting these steps into phases with 5-7 in each.

This is a “live” document, i.e., it is updated frequently. The latest version is always on the portal and nowhere else. We are meticulously tracking versions and changes, but you are well advised always to trust the one on the portal.

From playbook to the template in one easy step: remove the guidance pages, and voila!

Why Did We Create This Playbook?

In today’s technology-driven world, the reliance on information technology (IT) has become crucial for organizations across various industries. They utilize IT to improve productivity, streamline operations, satisfy customers, and gain a competitive advantage. However, to fully leverage the potential of IT, businesses need a well-defined IT strategy that aligns technology initiatives with their overall goals and objectives. This strategy serves as a roadmap, guiding enterprises toward effectively utilizing IT resources and ensuring successful digital transformation.

Developing an IT strategy may appear daunting initially, but breaking it into its fundamental components can simplify the process and help organizations achieve their desired outcomes. Drawing from our experience of creating and evaluating over 400 IT strategies for Fortune 500 companies, we have identified 27 essential components that play a critical role in crafting robust IT strategies.

In this playbook, we will delve into the intricacies of IT strategy, examining each of the 27 key components in detail. Each component consists of specific steps and deliverables contributing to developing a comprehensive IT strategy tailored to an organization’s unique needs. By understanding these essential components, organizations can gain valuable insights and create an IT strategy that effectively supports their objectives.

IT Strategic Planning Best Practices

Before we dive into the specifics, it is important to mention some best practices that can make or break this effort. While we detail IT Strategic Planning best practices elsewhere (and extensively!) on the CIO Portal, it is helpful to mention some of the most important ones here:

1. Executive sponsorship is a must to win this game. If you do not have it, please stop here because you are likely to fail no matter how great your strategy is.
2. Identify the stakeholders early in the process. You must work with them throughout this process. They are not just your source of information but also champions and ambassadors for the initiative.
3. Stakeholders are not necessarily subject matter experts so please be careful to include SMEs throughout this initiative
4. Maintain an unrelenting focus on the objective: how can technology power the business. Technology is a means to an end: you are looking for solutions not technology projects.
5. Partner with the business. Ideally, a joint business-IT team creates an IT Strategy. Ownership or the desire for it is one of the top reasons for the failure of this initiative.
6. Prioritize: there are never enough hours in the day to do what all is required so the one who knows what is most important wins the race.
7. Iterate: perhaps the only way to greatness is to learn-and-do. Rome wasn’t built in a day nor in one shot. Feedback and the right temperament to receive it are both foundations to this process. Adapt as needed and often.
8. Communicate or perish. Create and execute on a comprehensive communications plan throughout this journey. It is advisable to dedicate a resource specifically for this purpose.
9. A small, diverse, analytical core team usually is the most effective for an IT Strategy. The three skills most important for this initiative are data gathering, analysis, and communication.

This is the proverbial tip of the iceberg but we have copious guidance on the portal. Please remember that this playbook is a tool and following these best practices is important for it to become a solution.

How to Use the Playbook

There are a couple of ways you can use this playbook:

1. Create an IT Strategy Plan
2. Modify an existing plan

For the former, we recommend using an agile approach – small bites are the best way to eat a pizza, and incremental learn-and-do cycles are the only way to perfection.

Each step doesn’t have a clearly demarcated boundary; there are overlaps and dependencies. However, steps or parts thereof can and must execute in parallel.

We do not recommend a particular sequence. Your particular circumstance will dictate the steps and the sequence:

1. How big is your team?
2. What is the skill and experience of team members?
3. How enthusiastic are your stakeholders?
4. How urgent is your need?
5. How easy is it to access information in your organization?
6. How spread out is your organization?

If the team has bandwidth, then visioning can execute in parallel with assessment, for example.

This playbook is best used in conjunction with other resources on the portal. Specifically, the following:

1. IT Strategy Discussion Group: a group dedicated to discussions and peer interaction on this topic
2. CIO’s Guide to IT Strategy: explains key concepts that must be understood before using this playbook. It is also a ready reference during your journey.
3. CIO’s IT Strategy Reference Library: an extensive (1,200+) collection of references on IT Strategy with over 400 examples and samples that cover just about any organization and situation
4. CIO Events: periodic events explaining key concepts, introducing new developments, and working sessions with small teams.

Overview – What to Expect?

This playbook is divided into the essential steps to create a comprehensive strategic plan for information technology. Each step is big enough to be an initiative on its own, so tread carefully – pick the breadth and depth of each before diving in.

Here’s a list of the essential elements of a comprehensive IT strategic plan:

1. Identify Stakeholders
2. Establish IT Baseline
3. Assess IT Capabilities
4. Conduct a Technology Assessment by Pillar
5. Perform a SWOT Analysis of the Current IT Model
6. Business and IT Environment Analysis
7. IT Maturity Assessment
8. Assess IT Staffing
9. Organizational Readiness for Change Assessment
10. Conduct Financial IT Analysis and IT Benchmarking
11. Define a Vision for IT
12. Define Guiding Principles
13. Align IT and Business Strategies
14. Establish Long-Term IT Goals
15. Define Short-Term IT Objectives
16. Identify IT Opportunities
17. Prioritize IT Opportunities and Target State Design Elements
18. Define IT Infrastructure
19. Develop IT Capabilities
20. Foster Technology Innovation
21. Design Target IT Architecture
22. IT Project Portfolio Management
23. Regulatory Compliance and Standards Adherence
24. Create a Business Case for IT Investments
25. IT Strategy Communications Plan
26. Define Key Performance Metrics
27. Develop IT Implementation Plan

This is an [almost] exhaustive list, and most organizations, especially small and mid-sized organizations, will be well advised to select those components that apply to their situation.

Now, let’s examine each of these components, including the steps involved in constructing them and the corresponding deliverables they entail.