Purpose:

Provide a holistic view of the current business and IT environment, the future direction, and the initiatives required to migrate to the desired future environment. Leverage enterprise architecture building blocks and components, including externally provided services and related capabilities to enable nimble, reliable and efficient response to strategic objectives.

Objective:

Align strategic IT plans with business objectives. Clearly communicate the objectives and associated accountabilities so they are understood by all, with the IT strategic options identified, structured and integrated with the business plans.

Description:

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Inputs:

• Guiding Principles for Allocation of Resources and Capabilities
• Innovation Opportunities linked to Business Drivers
• Cost optimization opportunities
• Definition of potential improvement projects
• Identified gaps in IT services to the business
• Improvement action plans and remediations
• Emerging risk issues and factors
• Risk analysis results
• Aggregated risk profile, including status of risk management actions
• Project proposals for reducing risk
• Performance and capacity plans
• Prioritized improvements
• Corrective actions
• Results of fit-for-purpose reviews
• Opportunities to reduce asset costs or increase value
• Results of cost optimization reviews
• Analysis of Rejected Initiatives
• Results and Recommendations form Proof-of-Concept Initiatives
• Evaluation of Strategic Alignment
• Assessments of Using innovative Approaches
• Investment Return Expectations
• Results of Program Goal Achievement Monitoring
• Stage-gate Review Results
• Post-implementation Review Results
• Approved resources plan
• Feedback on allocation and effectiveness of resources and capabilities
• Remedial actions to address resource management deviations
• Defined scope of architecture
• Architecture concept business case and value proposition
• Information architecture model
• Transition architectures
• High-level implementation and migration strategy
• Feedback on strategy and goals
• Funding options
• Budget allocations
• IT budget and plan
• Budget communications
• Information security business cases
• Action plan to adjust license numbers and allocations
• Approved strategic options
• Communication of Resourcing Strategies

Outputs:

• Sources and Priorities for changes
• Baseline of Current Capabilities
• Gaps and risk related to current Capabilities
• Capability SWOT Analysis
• High-level IT-related Goals
• Required Business and IT Capabilities
• Proposed Enterprise Architecture Changes
• Gaps and Changes Required to Realize Target Capability
• Value Benefit Statement for Target Environment
• Definition of strategic initiatives
• Risk assessment initiatives
• Strategic road map
• Communication Plan
• Communication Package

Controls:

• Enterprise Strategy and Enterprise Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, threats (SWOT) Analysis

Task Instructions:

Understand Enterprise Direction

1. 1. Develop and maintain an understanding of enterprise strategy and objectives, as well as the current enterprise operational environment and challenges.
   2. Develop and maintain an understanding of the external environment of the enterprise.
   3. Identify key stakeholders and obtain insight into their requirements.
   4.  Identify and analyze sources of change in the enterprise and external environments.
   5. Ascertain priorities for strategic change.
   6. Understand the current enterprise architecture and work with the enterprise architecture process to determine any potential architectural gaps.

Assess the Current Environment, Capabilities and Performance

1. 1. Develop a baseline of the current business and IT environment, capabilities, and services against which future requirements can be compared. Include the relevant high-level detail of the current enterprise architecture (business, information, data, applications, and technology domains), business processes, IT processes and procedures, the IT organization structure, external service provision, governance of IT, and enterprise-wide IT related skills and competencies.
   2. Identify risk from current, potential, and declining technologies.
   3. Identify gaps between current business and IT capabilities and services and reference standards and good practices, competitor business and IT capabilities, and comparative benchmarks of good practice and emerging IT service provision.
   4. Identify issues, strengths, opportunities, and threats in the current environment, capabilities, and services to understand current performance. Identify areas for improvement in terms of IT’s contribution to enterprise objectives.

Define the Target IT Capabilities

1. 1. Consider validated emerging technology or innovation ideas.
   2. Identify threats from declining, current, and newly acquired technologies.
   3. Define high-level IT objectives/goals and how they will contribute to the enterprise’s business objectives.
   4. Define required and desired business process and IT capabilities and IT services and describe the high-level changes in the enterprise architecture (business, information, data, applications and technology domains), business and IT processes and procedures, the IT organization structure, IT service providers, governance of IT, and IT skills and competencies.
   5. Align and agree with the enterprise architect on proposed enterprise architecture changes.
   6. Demonstrate traceability to the enterprise strategy and requirements.

Conduct a Gap Analysis

1. 1. Identify all gaps and changes required to realize the target environment.
   2. Consider the high-level implications of all gaps. Consider the value of potential changes to business and IT capabilities, IT services, and enterprise architecture, and the implications if no changes are realized.
   3. Assess the impact of potential changes on the business and IT operating models, IT research and development capabilities, and IT investment programs.
   4. Refine the target environment definition and prepare a value statement with the benefits of the target environment.

Define the Strategic Plan and Roadmap

1. 1. Define the initiatives required to close gaps and migrate from the current to the target environment, including investment/operational budget, funding sources, sourcing strategy and acquisition strategy.
   2. Identify and adequately address risk, costs and implications of organisational changes, technology evolution, regulatory requirements, business process re-engineering, staffing, insourcing and outsourcing opportunities, etc., in the planning process.
   3. Determine dependencies, overlaps, synergies and impacts amongst initiatives, and prioritize the initiatives.
   4. Identify resource requirements, schedule and investment/operational budgets for each of the initiatives.
   5. Create a road map indicating the relative scheduling and inter dependencies of the initiatives.
   6. Translate the objectives into outcome measures represented by metrics (what) and targets (how much) that can be related to enterprise benefits.
   7. Formally obtain support from stakeholders and obtain approval for the plan.

Communicate the IT Strategy

1. 1. Develop and maintain a network for endorsing, supporting, and driving the IT strategy.
   2. Develop a communication plan covering the required messages, target audiences, communication mechanisms/channels, and schedules.
   3. Prepare a communication package that delivers the plan effectively using available media and technologies.
   4. Obtain feedback and update the communication plan and delivery as required.