IT Leadership: Strategic Planning

Business executives and IT leaders frequently cite the mantras: "IT must align itself with the business" and "IT needs to be run like a business." Chief Information Officers can only meaningfully connect with the business when IT has a comprehensive and robust roadmap an IT strategic plan that clearly shows how IT will contribute to the organization's strategic business objectives.

A strategic plan can help overcome many perceived shortcomings and misconceptions of IT; it can ensure that IT addresses more than just the operational aspects of technology, and can make sure IT is strategically moving the business forward to help achieve the wider business objectives. SOMOS helps our clients prepare actionable strategic plans that help them become and remain industry leaders.

The Benefits of Working with SOMOS

The Information Technology Leadership consultants at SOMOS can help your organization develop an IT strategic plan that will increase the visibility and value of IT capabilities, clarify how IT fits into your organization's strategy and operations, and capture and evaluate business needs.
In addition, SOMOS can help position IT leaders to increase influence in the decision-making process. By integrating the IT strategic plan and objectives with the wider business, IT leaders can bring more to the executive table and move business objectives forward. IT leaders will be able to harness and drive changes, instead of merely reacting to changes after business decisions have been made.

SOMOS also works with our clients to develop future IT vision and direction that can increase their competitive edge in the industry. Our consultants can conduct a gap analysis to determine the changes needed to realize this vision, including changes to organization, processes, systems, technologies, and skills. We can help develop an IT strategic that will connect this future vision to key performance indicators and initiatives.

SOMOS Strategic Planning services include

• Facilitated workshops
• Coaching for IT executives
• Consulting engagements to prepare strategic plans
• Executive presentations
• Training courses
• Assessments

Success Stories

Business Process Re-engineering
Government Department
Our client needed a bottom-up redesign of its information management and information technology groups to improve workflow, service delivery, and value of service to the wider department. A SOMOS Business Process Improvement Specialist created a baseline inventory of existing processes, including known problems and activities that did not add value, and then conducted a stakeholder analysis. SOMOS consultants subsequently developed a Business Improvement Strategy, which provided recommendations for workflow and business process improvements that would enable the IM and IT groups to improve the level of service to clients. We also evaluated the application of the solution and ensured a complete knowledge transfer to the client.

IT Infrastructure Strategy
Government Department
Our client needed to ensure that its IT infrastructure could meet the evolving demands of the department both at headquarters and at remote sites in a cost effective and timely manner. SOMOS consultants assessed the existing IT infrastructure and met with key stakeholders to better understand the current processes and internal workflows. The consultants then developed an IT infrastructure strategy that addressed the business demands for new IT services, the performance of the existing infrastructure, and the opportunities for new technology. This strategy enabled the client to effectively plan when to add, upgrade, or replace infrastructure components, and how to forecast the costs of doing so.

Business Strategic Plan
Internet Services Company
This organization required some ground level assistance in putting together its strategic plan and in setting up the operational processes and systems that would support the execution of the strategic plan. SOMOS consultants worked with the founding scientists to translate their technical vision into business goals, and helped define the business processes that would be needed to deliver services to the customers. We then led development of a project plan to set up these processes and systems. Ultimately, SOMOS provided services of a project manager to manage the day-to-day activities in executing the project plan.