Lesson 4 - Planning Future of IT

Technology roadmap provides external benefits (that is, benefits related to alignment with the biz) resulting in IT effectiveness:

• achieving biz goals and reducing complexity

• enhancing the interoperability of biz functionality across lines of biz

• increasing flexibility

• increasing speed of implementation

• preserving investments in new & existing systems

• responding to market changes

• focusing investment dollars

• responding to new legislation

• reducing difficulties associated with deploying new technologies.

Technology roadmap provides several internal benefits (that is, benefits specific to the IT org.) resulting in IT efficiency:

• providing a common design point

• building a consistent & cohesive technology base

• ability to move forward in planned phases

• consolidating global solutions

• lowering the cost of development &

Internal benefits of having a technology roadmap is said to be ability to move forward in planned phases. 

• abilitiy to move forward is one of the internal benefits of technology roadmap - this means with technologies mapped onto a life cycle, there is an orderly evolution for each technogly with creates synergies
  
  
• technology roadmap gives the IT org. an underst&ing of the planned evolution of the org.al technology. This allows for synergies among technology projects & keeps efforts focused on achieving the plan.

Main elements of a technology roadmap.

• Guiding principles--a first step in developing a roadmap is to establish a set of principles that will guide its development. 
• Current technology--a technology inventory determines what technologies are currently in place.
• Gap analysis--to determine the gap between the current inventory & the guiding principles.
• Technology l&scape--to ensure the roadmap establishes the org.’s position on technology research & development.
• Future technology--to identify the technologies to be adopted in the future & explain the logic of their adoption.
• Migration strategy--to offer a strategy for how the org. will move from their existing state to the desired future state.
• Governance--the roadmap must identify who is responsible for the roadmap, how it will be updated, & who provides approval.

 Categories of guiding principles may be included in a technology roadmap.

• Establish investment boundaries.

• Outline the role of technology for the org..

• Outline the role of technology within the industry.

• Reinforce the role of st&ards.

• Specify the role of support.

• Specify the impact on resident IT skills.

• Outline development preferences (in house vs. buy).

• Establish expectations.

• Adherence to standards.

• Specify time frame.

Importance technology classification scheme in managing technology inventory.

A technology classification scheme allows the current inventory to be assessed against criteria that are important to the organization.

Assessing the technology against these criteria is helpful in determining the actions the org. should take in regards to the technology.

Five different technology classification schemes:

• Application System Asset Management Decision Chart

• Classification is based on biz importance, functional support, & technical support; actions include maintain, renovate, replace, augment, or eliminate.

• Criticality to Biz versus Strategic Importance

• WISE

• Classification is based on strategic value & longevity; actions include watch, invest, support, & eliminate.

• McFarlan Strategic Grid

• Classification is based on strategic dependence versus strategic impact, & technology is classified as either factory, strategic, support, or turnaround.

• Competes & Qualifiers

• Technology is classified either as a qualifier, which allows the org. to do biz, or as a competes investment that gives the org. a competitive edge over other org's.

Two common themes in defining a technology classification scheme

strategic importance & operational importance.

Single technology classification scheme:

Classification schemes are dependent upon org.al context. Various factors such as current org.al strategy & industry affect the elements of a classification & dictate which are the most important to a particular org 

Information about the current technology inventory should a roadmap contain:

A roadmap should document the following information: the biz process area, platform, vendor, level of support, product & application dependencies, critical versus noncritical, & life cycle. 

Priority of migration can be based on the following criteria:

• technology elements that are inflexible

• elements that do not meet the strategic direction

• components that are expensive to maintain

• components that do not meet nonfunctional requirements (these are usually performance related)

• architectural designs built to reflect obsolete biz strategies

Important elements of governance in determining a technology roadmap:

• Who is responsible for creating the roadmap?

• How & on what basis is it updated?

• By whom is it updated?

• Who approves the roadmap?

Advice IT leaders on creating a roadmap.

• Be innovative in planning the roadmap.

• Align technology with the biz.

• Secure support for the roadmap.

• Pay attention to how the roadmap affects people & skills.

• Control, measure, & communicate progress.

Benefits & disadvantages of standardizing the technology infrastructure.

Benefits

• avoids cost increases associated with heterogeneous environment

• avoids complexity & risk increases associated with heterogeneous environment

• increases flexibility in making changes to systems

Disadvantages

• challenges in enforcing the st&ard

• reduction in personal & biz unit choice

• challenges to IT-biz relationship because biz units perceive IT as a barrier

3 paths to standardization:

• Voluntary Compliance

• Educate biz unit managers on the importance of st&ardization but then allow unit managers to make their own technology choices.

• Strict Enforcement

• IT sets the infrastructure st&ard & has full authority to enforce it.

• Gradual Migration

• Technology is put into org.ally defined categories such as IVK’s emerging, declining, & st&ard. St&ard technologies are those that the org. supports as its st&ard. Emerging technologies are those that may become a st&ard & can therefore be purchased, possibly subject to a justification process. Declining technologies may not be purchased.

References

Austin. R.D., Nolan, R.L. & O'Donnell, S. (2009). The Adventures of an IT Leader. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. 

McKeen, J.D. & Smith, H.A. (2012). IT Strategy: Issues and Practices (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.