IT Strategic Planning: A How-To Guide

Just as every organization should have a business plan, every organization should also have an IT strategy that supports that business plan.

This article offers an overview of what an IT strategy is, what it does for an organization, and the key components that should go into an IT strategy.

What is an IT strategy? What does IT strategic planning do?

An IT strategy is an organizationally specific plan for how digital technology and assets should be used to meet organizational goals.

IT strategies are formalized in a comprehensive document that details how an organization will apply digital and IT-related assets (including people, partners, processes, data, and technologies) in order to:

• Create and enhance organizational value.
• Meet and help shape organizational goals and objectives.
• Increase IT capabilities.
• Measure and evaluate results.

An IT strategy is a strategic plan, not a tactical plan. It details the IT vision for aligning digital technology with business goals and the principles, costs, risks, organization, and infrastructure for using IT to increase organizational value. IT strategy deals more with the whats and whens of digital technology, rather than the hows.

An IT strategy should include input from all IT stakeholders. You must consider how strategic decisions will affect other organizational components, management, customers, business partners, regulators, and other stakeholders.

IT strategies grow stronger when stakeholder needs are accounted for.

(Related reading: The Chief Product Officer role & CIO vs. CISO vs. CPO.)

Continual review, revision, and publication within reason

An IT strategy is a process that should be continually reviewed and revised. It is not a one-and-done project.

Ideally, your IT strategy should entail a three-to-five-year plan that should be revisited and updated once a year or as business needs change. Continual review will keep your plan fresh and relevant when inevitable technological or business change happens, such as…

• When Covid-19 changed how companies quickly shifted from on-site to remote processing.
• How AI is currently revising customer service processes.

Most importantly, an IT strategy should be referenced and shared as much as possible without divulging trade secrets or confidential information. A strategy puts your IT resources on record as to their intentions, making them accountable for supporting business objectives.

This strategy can also be used as a reference point for all IT-related decisions. Project requirements and plans can be evaluated against the IT strategy to determine if they support the strategy and the business — and modified if they don’t.

Components of an IT strategy

There are many templates and consultants that can help you devise and write an IT strategy. Most strategies will contain the following items in a typical IT Strategy table:

A typical IT Strategy Table of Contents (TOC)

Let’s look at each of these items:

Alignment with business goals and timetables

This component discusses which goals IT assets will support and how IT will help achieve them in the necessary timeframe. This section may be rewritten often as business goals change.

Assumptions, limitations, and requirements

This component identifies what underlying assumptions, limitations, and requirements must support your strategy and how the strategy is molded because of these items.

We already mentioned how the pandemic created new remote work and service options overnight (new requirement). Another set of assumptions/limitations/requirements may involve hardware and technology used in delivering digital services. For example, if your company has a contract with a telecommunications vendor for cellphone technology, a limitation might be that all mobile users must use iPhones to access company systems.

Limitations and requirements may include governmental, regulatory, or insurance requirements, or customer and organizational requirements to move to a zero-trust environment. All IT-related assumptions, limitations, and requirements must be considered and implemented in your IT strategy.

IT Vision

An IT vision is an aspirational forward-looking statement that describes what the IT organization will achieve in the future. It discusses how IT capabilities will be improved to meet business needs and create value for the organization.

Critical IT projects and timelines

What are the critical major IT projects that will be accomplished during the strategy timeframe, and how does each project support organizational goals, create organizational value, or increase IT capabilities?

Projects listed here may include:

• A project description
• Timeline
• Cost
• Risks

Relevant metrics should be defined to help determine success or failure in meeting project goals.

This section may also include:

• A review of the prioritization process
• How major projects will be selected and scheduled for implementation

Resources, important technologies, infrastructure, and processing

What employees, contractors, partners, skills, and organizational structures will be needed to support IT during the strategy timeframe? Detail what resources you anticipate you’ll need to meet strategy goals.

Define what standard technologies, infrastructure, and processing will be used for your IT strategy. Some examples might include:

• Cloud migration for legacy servers
• Integrating AI into everyday processing
• Important programming languages
• Server operating systems
• Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) for programmers

Some of these items may also be included in the assumptions, limitations, and requirements section.

Projected budget costs and risks

What does IT anticipate the cost will be to support the above items? What risks are involved in implementing strategy items? This will be a critical item in obtaining strategy approval.

(Related reading: stats in IT spending and budgets & common IT salaries.)

IT Strategies can be defined but not necessarily controlled

A famous military maxim states that “All battle plans go out the window when the shooting starts.” Key elements of an IT strategy can change quickly and unexpectedly each calendar year, particularly regarding resources and projects.

Having a clearly defined IT strategy can help implement urgent business initiatives and to navigate unexpected changes. An IT strategy provides a road map, vision, accountability, and reference standards for how IT will support the business and create value for the organization.

FAQs about IT strategic planning