PO01 Process Description

PO01: Strategic Planning

1. Description

A strategic planning process undertaken at regular intervals giving rise to long-term plans; the long term plans should periodically be translated into operational plans setting clear and concrete short-term goals.

2. Control Objectives

Information Technology as part of the Organization’s long- and short-range plan - Developing and implementing long- and short-range plans that fulfill the mission and goals. Ensure that information technology issues as well as opportunities are adequately assessed and reflected in the long- and short-range plans
Information Technology Long-Range Plan - regularly developing information technology long-range plans supporting the achievement of the overall missions and goals. Implement a long-range planning process, adopt a structured approach and set up a standard plan structure
Information Technology Long Range Plan Changes - establish and apply a structured approach regarding the long-range planning process. This should result in a high-quality plan which covers the basic questions of what, who and how. Aspects which need to be taken into account and adequately addressed during the planning process are organizational changes, technological evolution, regulatory requirements, business process re-engineering, staffing, in- or out-sourcing, etc. The plan itself should also refer to other plans such as the organization quality plan and the information risk management plan
Short Range Planning for the Information Services Function - ensure that the information technology long- range plan is regularly translated into information technology short range plans. Such short-range plans should ensure that appropriate information services function resources are allocated on a basis consistent with the information technology long-range plan. The short range plans should be reassessed periodically and amended as necessary in response to changing business and information technology conditions. The timely performance of feasibility studies should ensure that the execution of the short range plans is adequately initiated
Communication of IT plans - Communication/awareness business process owners
Monitoring and evaluating of IT Plans - Feedback on quality and usefulness
Assessment of Existing Systems - assess the existing information systems in terms of degree of business automation, functionality, stability, complexity, costs, strengths and weaknesses, in order to determine the degree to which the existing systems support the organization’s business requirements.

3. Key Goal Indicators

Percent of IT and business strategic plans that are aligned and cascaded into long- and shortrange plans leading to individual responsibilities
Percent of business units that have clear, understood and current IT capabilities
Management survey determines clear link between responsibilities and the business and IT strategic goals
Percent of business units using strategic technology covered in the IT strategic plan
Percent of IT budget championed by business owners
Acceptable and reasonable number of outstanding IT projects

4. Key Performance Indicators

Currency of IT capabilities assessment (number of months since last update)
Age of IT strategic plan (number of months since last update)
Percent of participant satisfaction with the IT strategic planning process
Time lag between change in the IT strategic plans and changes to operating plans
Index of participants involved in strategic IT plan development, based on size of effort, ratio of involvement of business owners to IT staff and number of key participants
Index of quality of the plan, including timelines of development effort, adherence to structured approach and completeness of plan

5. Critical Success Factors

The planning process provides for a prioritization scheme for the business objectives and quantifies, where possible, the business requirements
Management buy-in and support is enabled by a documented methodology for the IT strategy development, the support of validated data and a structured, transparent decision-making process
The IT strategic plan clearly states a risk position, such as leading edge or road-tested, innovator or follower, and the required balance between time-to-market, cost of ownership and service quality
All assumptions of the strategic plan have been challenged and tested
The processes, services and functions needed for the outcome are defined, but are flexible and changeable, with a transparent change control process
A reality check of the strategy by a third party has been conducted to increase objectivity and is repeated at appropriate times
IT strategic planning is translated into roadmaps and migration strategies

6. Service Maturity Variations

0 (Non-existent)	IT strategic planning is not performed. There is no management awareness that IT strategic planning is needed to support business goals.
1 (Initial/Ad Hoc)	The need for IT strategic planning is known by IT management, but there is no structured decision process in place. IT strategic planning is performed on an as needed basis in response to a specific business requirement and results are therefore sporadic and inconsistent. IT strategic planning is occasionally discussed at IT management meetings, but not at business management meetings. The alignment of business requirements, applications and technology takes place reactively, driven by vendor offerings, rather than by an organisation-wide strategy. The strategic risk position is identified informally on a project-by-project basis.
2 (Repeatable but Intuitive)	IT strategic planning is understood by IT management, but is not documented. IT strategic planning is performed by IT management, but only shared with business management on an as needed basis. Updating of the IT strategic plan occurs only in response to requests by management and there is no proactive process for identifying those IT and business developments that require updates to the plan. Strategic decisions are driven on a project-by-project basis, without consistency with an overall organisation strategy. The risks and user benefits of major strategic decisions are being recognised, but their definition is intuitive.
3 (Defined Process)	A policy defines when and how to perform IT strategic planning. IT strategic planning follows a structured approach, which is documented and known to all staff. The IT planning process is reasonably sound and ensures that appropriate planning is likely to be performed. However, discretion is given to individual managers with respect to implementation of the process and there are no procedures to examine the process on a regular basis. The overall IT strategy includes a consistent definition of risks that the organisation is willing to take as an innovator or follower. The IT financial, technical and human resources strategies increasingly drive the acquisition of new products and technologies.
4 (Managed and Measurable)	IT strategic planning is standard practice and exceptions would be noticed by management. IT strategic planning is a defined management function with senior level responsibilities. With respect to the IT strategic planning process, management is able to monitor it, make informed decisions based on it and measure its effectiveness. Both short-range and long-range IT planning occurs and is cascaded down into the organisation, with updates done as needed. The IT strategy and organisation-wide strategy are increasingly becoming more coordinated by addressing business processes and value-added capabilities and by leveraging the use of applications and technologies through business process re-engineering. There is a well-defined process for balancing the internal and external resources required in system development and operations. Benchmarking against industry norms and competitors is becoming increasingly formalised.
5 Optimized	IT strategic planning is a documented, living process, is continuously considered in business goal setting and results in discernable business value through investments in IT. Risk and value added considerations are continuously updated in the IT strategic planning process. There is an IT strategic planning function that is integral to the business planning function. Realistic long-range IT plans are developed and constantly being updated to reflect changing technology and businessrelated developments. Short-range IT plans contain project task milestones and deliverables, which are continuously monitored and updated, as changes occur. Benchmarking against well-understood and reliable industry norms is a well-defined process and is integrated with the strategy formulation process. The IT organisation identifies and leverages new technology developments to drive the creation of new business capabilities and improve the competitive advantage of the organisation.