Publisher's Synopsis
This book is written for the strategic planner who, if they do their job right, makes it possible for the rest of us to stay employed. Their ability to clearly envision the future of the marketplace, the competition and the enterprise means the difference between long term success and failure. The strategic planner's skill is vital and their decisions may be of broader consequence than those of most others in the organization. Their ability to put all this information into a concise, clear, energizing, action oriented Vision Statement can make the difference between organizational success or failure over the long term. The purpose of this book is to pass along the result of a series of business and personal experiences and the teachings and guidance of some great mentors. Those experiences and mentors combined over time to provide a set of skills and knowledge about how to develop simple, clear information technology strategic plans supporting long term enterprise objectives. Along the way I've developed a set of rules that are useful for strategic planners and leaders. This book presents a streamlined planning tool for the information technology strategic planner that can be used effectively in any type of organization whether it is a corporation, non-profit or government enterprise. Through a series of logical steps it requires the technology planner to first understand the vision, infrastructure and operation of the enterprise they are supporting. Using this information a complementary vision and infrastructure are developed for the IT group supporting the enterprise. The desired objective is an IT plan that not only supports, but also enhances, the ability of the enterprise to achieve its business or competitive objectives. An excellent tool that results is a one page Guiding Document that states in clear terms the Strategic Target, the Benefits provided by the Strategic Plan, and the Action Items that will be taken by the team to achieve those Benefits. This planning methodology has successfully been used by the author for more than a decade.
