Assignment 2: Required Assignment 2—IT Strategic Planning
Using a company of your choice, determine the strategic business goals.
Develop an IT strategy that aligns to the business goals. You can use the
balanced scorecard approach or you can develop your own method for defining and
aligning the IT strategy to the business strategy. You will need to cite at
least two credible sources that will provide justification for your strategy or
approach.
Finding a company: If you are employed, it is best for you to use your
current place of employment so you can practically apply the concepts in this
assignment. Alternatively, you can use a nonprofit organization or any other
organization you may have ties or access to.
Your IT strategy should include:
·
Business Goals and
Objectives
o
List at least two
or three specific business goals for the next year or two with an explanation
of the business’ rationale for the goal.
o
List an objective
for each business goal to explain what the company needs to do to achieve the
goal.
·
IT Strategies
aligned with business goals and objectives
o
List one or two IT
strategies for each business goal
§
These should be
recommended strategies that would enable the business goals and objectives to
be achieved.
§
If your company
already has IT strategies, you may provide an analysis and justification or new
recommendation for each of the strategies
·
Organizational
Structure
o
Describe the
structure of the organization including:
§
Organizational
design
§
Organizational
culture
§
Leadership factors
(the types of leadership displayed within the company)
§
Business processes
§
Physical layout
(i.e., how many offices, virtual offices, international locations)
·
IT Infrastructure
o
Describe the
current IT infrastructure including:
§
Hardware
§
Software
§
Network
§
IT resources
o
This should be a
high-level overview
·
IT Challenges
o
Describe internal
and external challenges IT faces in meeting the business needs
o
Include social
and/or ethical considerations
·
Risks
o
Describe risks IT
might face when implementing change
As you develop your strategy, you may want to consider the following:
·
An effective IT
strategy will enable the business operations, helping business leaders achieve
business goals more efficiently and effectively.
·
Focus on top
priorities. Take the time to understand organizational issues, how they are
related, and how they affect performance. Determine what will happen if nothing
changes and where IT can have the greatest, positive impact.
·
Identify how IT
supports business processes. The business is relying on their capabilities to
achieve the business goals. The IT strategy should include a plan for
supporting those business capabilities, creating efficiencies, and competitive
advantage for the business.
·
Define IT
priorities and governance for IT. Without priorities and a process for IT
governance in place, progress will be slowed. An agreed upon plan for governing
IT will enable the decision process.
Understand the challenges. Improving processes and increasing
efficiencies through IT implementation also requires behavioral and sometimes
organizational change. With these changes come inherent challenges.
Understanding and planning for those challenges will increase the chance of
success in meeting the business goals.
Write an 8–12-page paper in
Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.
