S.I.P. Approach
At S.I.P. we approach ICT strategic planning with a view to improve the value of IT and Telecommunications to the organisation. We balance local autonomy with common systems to achieve the benefits of the organisation's strategic goals. This often means restricting users' freedom to do whatever they like by requiring them to comply with a set of standards and constraints similar to city planning regulations for roads and buildings. The constraints seek to improve overall utility by reducing convenience to some individuals.
The guiding principles of ICT Investment
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Maximise value of ICT investment by supporting business objectives and balancing cost, benefits and risk over the system lifecycle (consider Purchase, Support, Disaster Recovery, Flexibility, Scalability, Availability).
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Support a customer centred service culture so that the organisation can focus on business profitability rather than technology.
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Organisation wide approach to information access through standardisation of shared services for economies of scale and standards for unique needs and interoperability.
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Flexibility and adaptability through components and standards based technology.
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Where possible use commercial "off the shelf" solutions.
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Support multiple delivery channels (Web Browser, PDA, etc).
ICT Strategic Planning aims to:
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Bridge the gap between business requirements and investment in IT Projects by providing clarity between Organisation Strategic Goals and investment in ICT.
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Reduce the risk in technology based projects by using a business driven, top-down process for managing the IT lifecycle.
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Provide a high level Enterprise Architecture linking an organisation's business drivers to business processes and underlying information and components of technology required to support the business vision.
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Scope of ICT Strategic Planning
Where are we today?
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Collate the business strategy plans and key performance indicators for the organisation.
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Develop a 'map' and common language about the high level activities of the organisation. This is an agreed taxonomy of business activities, processes and technology solutions.
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Prepare a current information systems model defining what information systems are in place today and who are the system owners and key users.
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Document the current infrastructure model defining the supporting technology infrastructure.
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Identify key stakeholders within business process and systems.
Where do we want to be?
Undertake detailed analysis and prepare recommendations for information, information systems and technology needed to support the business strategies of the organisation.
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Review Business Strategy and Key Performance Indicators to identify systems to be significantly impacted by business directions.
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Conduct interviews with system owners, key users and key stakeholders to identify issues and opportunities with in the current systems. This can lead to quick wins within the implementation plan.
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Develop the strategic view of the Enterprise Architecture to define how the new processes and systems will operate.
How do we get there?
Very often the success or failure of an IT Strategy project rests on the ability of the organisation to understand and resource the implementation plan.
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Prepare an implementation plan to document effort and financial resources required to move to the new architecture. The plan will be phased and consider business resource constraints.
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Review the plan for "buy in" from system owners and key stakeholders.