Technology strategy

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A Technology strategy (e.g. as in Information technology (IT)) is a particular generation of an organization's overall objective(s), principles and tactics relating to the technologies that the organization uses. Such strategies primarily focus on the technologies themselves and in some cases the people who directly manage those technologies. The strategy can be implied from the organization's behaviors towards technology decisions, and may be written down in a document.

Other generations of technology-related strategies primarily focus on: the efficiency of the company's spending on technology; how people, for example the organization's customers and employees, exploit technologies in ways that create value for the organization; on the full integration of technology-related decisions with the company's strategies and operating plans, such that no separate technology strategy exists other than the de facto strategic principle that the organization does not need or have a discreet 'technology strategy'.

A technology strategy has traditionally been expressed in a document that explains how technology should be utilized as part of an organization's overall corporate strategy and each business strategy. In the case of IT, the strategy is usually formulated by an organization's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or equivalent, and that person is accountable for leading the strategy's execution. Accountability varies for an organization's strategies for other classes of technology. Although many companies write an overall business plan each year, a technology strategy may cover developments somewhere between three and 5 years into the future.

Contents

[edit] Typical structure of a (IT) technology strategy

 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (February 2008)

The following are typically sections of a technology strategy:

  • Executive Summary - single page summary of the IT strategy
    • High level organizational benefits
    • Project objective and scope
    • Approach and methodology of the engagement
    • Relationship to overall business strategy
    • Resource summary
      • Staffing
      • Budgets
      • Summary of key projects
  • Internal Capabilities
    • IT Project Portfolio Management - An inventory of current projects being managed by the information technology department and their status. Note: It is not common to report current project status inside a future-looking strategy document. Show Return on Investment (ROI) and timeline for implementing each application.
    • An inventory of existing applications supported and the level of resources required to support them
    • Architectural directions and methods for implementation of IT solutions
    • Current IT departmental strengths and weaknesses
  • External Forces
    • Summary of changes driven from outside the organization
    • Rising expectations of users
    • List of new IT projects requested by the organization
  • Opportunities
    • Description of new cost reduction or efficiency increase opportunities
      • Example: List of available Professional Service contractors for short term projects
    • Description of how Moore's Law (faster processors, networks or storage at lower costs) will impact the organization's ROI for technology
  • Threats
    • Description of disruptive forces that could cause the organization to become less profitable or competitive
    • Analysis IT usage by competition
  • IT Organization structure and Governance
    • IT organization roles and responsibilities
    • IT role description
    • IT Governance
  • Milestones
    • List of monthly, quarterly or mid-year milestones and review dates to indicate if the strategy is on track
    • List milestone name, deliverables and metrics

Relations the important components of information tehno-strategy is information technology and strategic planning working together.

[edit] Audience

A technology strategy document is usually designed to be read by non-technical stakeholders involved in business planning within an organization. It should be free of technical jargon and information technology acronyms.

The IT strategy should also be presented to or read by internal IT staff members. Many organizations circulate prior year versions to internal IT staff members for feedback before new annual IT strategy plans are created.

One critical integration point is the interface with an organization's marketing plan. The marketing plan frequently requires the support of a web site to create an appropriate on-line presence. Large organizations frequently have complex web site requirements such as web content management.

[edit] Presentation

The CIO, CTO or IT manager frequently creates a high-level overview presentation designed to be presented to stakeholders. Many experienced managers try to summarize the strategy in 5-7 slides and present the plan in under 30 minutes to a board of directors.

It is also common to produce a professionally bound booklet version of the strategy - something physical that IT teams can refer to, rather than the more disposable presentation slides.

[edit] Relationship between strategy and enterprise technology architecture

A technology strategy document typically refers to but does not duplicate an overall enterprise architecture. The technology strategy may refer to:

[edit] See also


[edit] References

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