Assuming a well-executed Planning Phase, you would have identified who will be affected, what will change, and how they will change.  Move forward with these steps, to make the change:

Communication

•  Communicating about the “Case for Change” and following the Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Plans,

Measurement

•  Tracking, Measuring & Communicating the progress of the change (using KPIs, gap analyses, Dashboards),

 Managing People/Skills Issues

•  Working with HR to make sure that job descriptions are updated, hiring plans are developed, and training is arranged.

 Continuous Improvement

•  And finally, it is critical to ensure that any feedback is funneled to the right individuals that can resolve issues or tweak the change effort…(an example of a tweak might be around training needs – more or less training than originally planned).

This phase is typically the longest and needs to be executed repetitively throughout the effort to ensure consistent communication, measurement and improvement.  Note that making the change is necessary but not sufficient, you will need to continue to reinforce the change to ensure adoption. 

What elements are most critical to you when your organization is in the throes of making a change?

In the last blog in this series, we established that IT Strategy is the set of objectives, principles and plans that IT must use to support the company’s business strategy.  Therefore alignment with business strategy is key to ensure that IT Strategy is moving in the right direction.  The question is how do we achieve alignment?

Aligning with business strategy involves a few key steps:

1. Identify Strategic Drivers:  These may include business drivers, technology drivers, regulatory drivers or other external drivers within the business strategy
2. Understand Strategic Objectives:  These are the key critical objectives set within the business strategy.  They may be about targeting new customers segments, competing on new products, revenue objectives etc.
3. Document Initiatives:  See what strategic initiatives are already in flight and what IT’s role is in supporting these initiatives.
4. Define IT Capabilities:  What capabilities does IT need in terms of organization, process, technology etc. to address these strategic objectives.
5. Identify the IT Vision:  Establish the vision for IT in terms of capabilities that are needed to address the business strategy.

These few steps will ensure that IT capabilities will align with the needs of the business.  It must be noted that business strategy may change periodically as the company monitors the competitive landscape.  Therefore the IT organization must keep their eye on business strategy to ensure that they are responsive to any changes. 

It should also be noted that technology might from time-to-time provide some competitive advantages.  As an example, the automated reservation system Sabre, gave American Airlines a competitive advantage when it was first introduced.  Since then, all airlines have developed or adopted automated reservation systems and now there is no significant competitive advantage from this technology.  The point is that if the IT organization can build technology that provides a competitive advantage for the business, it should be included in the company’s business strategy.

In summary, IT strategy reflects the IT organization’s capabilities in support of the business strategy.  Therefore alignment with the business strategy is paramount for the development of the IT strategy.  Once IT and the business objectives are aligned, the next step is to look at the gaps in IT capabilities to deliver the business vision.  We will discuss this in more detail in our next blog in the series.
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How do you go about aligning your company’s IT and business strategies?

​IT personnel are very familiar with computer rooms, data centers, call centers and network operations centers (NOCs).  However, typically only a few IT personnel are charged with the responsibility of actually selecting or assessing such a facility.   This may become necessary due to company growth, acquisition of another company or to ensure that a provider’s facility is adequate to provide services to their customers.  Following a thoughtful approach to performing a site assessment will minimize the risks of having mission-critical systems operate out of a sub-standard facility.  In order to perform a thorough, quality assessment of a technical facility, there are a few key things to consider:

1. Prepare for Site Visits

• Identify point of contact at each facility and have all their contact information
• Obtain clearance to enter each facility ahead of time
• Collect all known records of each site including floor plans, rack layouts, known equipment inventory, etc.
  

2. Conduct the Site Assessment

• Perform a physical inspection of the surrounding area and take photographs
• Conduct an electrical and mechanical inspection including the generator, fiber and power access and egress facilities, chillers, etc.
• Document the physical security protocol, devices and obtain any local procedures or documents pertaining to securing site access
• Inside the facility, sketch the layout of the facility and storage areas, identify fiber and cable entry and exit locations, and perform physical inventory of all equipment, cooling units etc.
  

3. Develop Site Report

• Notate overall risks and gaps including inventory gaps, security gaps, local area risks (theft, parking facilities etc.), maintenance records, etc.
• Summarize external assessment of facility, access and egress, site security and road conditions
• Summarize mechanical/electrical rooms including generators, chillers, cables, cleanliness of area, maintenance records etc.
• Summarize internal facility including equipment layout, obvious structural issues, cabling and fiber runs, environmental conditions (humidity, temperature), security and facility access etc.

Using such a structured approach will ensure that your site assessments are well orchestrated with your site assessors producing the same thorough, quality of end results with minimal need for last-minute decision-making.  What other tips would you suggest to ensure a smooth site assessment?

A comprehensive PMO Framework is critical to seeing a project successfully through; a Framework we have used with clients includes 4 phases: Concept, Initiation, Delivery and Close. 
The initiation phase, the second of four phases, is critical because it is the phase in which you set yourself up for success!  You finalize your goals, your team, your schedule and budget.  In order to make sure you don’t miss any key activities during this phase, we have provided you with our PM Checklist below.

Initiation Phase:

• Finalize Project Scope Statement
• Finalize Project Team & Resource Plan
• Finalize Project Schedule & Milestones
• Finalize the Communication Plan
• Finalize the Risk Management Plan
• Define the Integrated Change Control Process
• Finalize the Project Budget
• Define the Acceptance Authority & Criteria by which to conclude the project
• Draft Document to present to the Governance Team for Go/No-go Decision

The activities undertaken during the Initiation phase ensure that you and your team are set up to succeed; you will confirm and finalize your goals and determine how you will achieve them.  This phase prepares you to launch your project with a realistic timeline and budget. 
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Are there any additional steps or suggestions you have for activities during the initiation phase?

​Before we understand IT Strategy we need to understand strategy itself.  Strategy is a word that is used often incorrectly or at least ambiguously.  This may be because of varying definitions that are provided by various sources.  Let’s demystify it.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, strategy is: A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. In plain English, strategy is nothing more than a plan to achieve a long-term goal.  Military leaders know that a strategy is a means to outflank and outwit an opponent by outthinking, out-planning and out-executing them.  This definition of strategy has more relevance to a business.

Professor Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business School provides great insights about what a strategy is for a business.   According to Porter, Strategy is about doing something unique that is of value, uniquely.  Porter’s view is that by doing this, businesses can differentiate themselves and maintain a competitive advantage.
So, what is IT Strategy and can IT have its own strategy?  In a word, no.  By Porter’s definition an IT organization cannot have its own strategy, as it is not trying to differentiate itself from other technology groups.  Rather, it is supporting and enabling the strategy of the business as a whole.

So what then is IT strategy?  According to Gartner’s IT Glossary, IT Strategy is the discipline that defines how IT will be used to help businesses within their chosen business context.  In this perspective, the IT Strategy must ensure that IT has the capabilities to support the business strategy in terms of people, processes and technology.

Defining the elements of IT Strategy is a difficult exercise.  Here is an overview of how we recommend developing an IT Strategy:

1. Establish the Business Context: Ensure that there is clear alignment between strategic Business and IT goals and document IT’s vision based on these goals
2. Perform a Current State Assessment:  An assessment of the current state of IT will reveal gaps in capabilities against the strategic goals and the vision articulated
3. Develop the Framework:  Based on the assessment, identify key initiatives to improve IT capabilities
4. Develop the IT Strategy:  Prioritize the key initiatives and develop a roadmap to execute the strategy

We will continue to flesh these out more fully in future blogs.  Stay tuned!  Please tell us how you might go about developing IT Strategy.