Trident University
Information Technology Management:
Module 1 - SLP
Anthony O. Thomas
ITM580: Strategic Planning for IT
Dr. Charul Shah
April 22, 2013
Do the general principles and strategies of strategic planning
apply to IT planning? What may apply, what may not, and why?
Now a days, organizations can use almost
any principle or plan to have a successful organization. There
is surely nothing wrong with having generic strategies. To be
really good, any strategic planning process must be tailored to
the particular organization and circumstances; it will look
different every time.
Some key basic principles, I feel that
are very important elements are – deciding on the goals,
identify the audiences, identify the products to be delivered,
identify the stakeholders and the need and abilities to
contribute, identify the resources you have or will need to get
started.
All planning may be characterized as a
systematic effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions
that can shape and guide a business or organization. The
objective of strategic planning is to develop a solid or
specific plan/road map by which to manage an organization and
the things that are required to start or manage one.
Although some would suggest that strategic planning has lost
some of its effectiveness, most managers continue to recognize
the need for effective strategic planning and implementation.
While strategic planning requires a significant amount attention
and time, vice a general principles one, it can be quite
frustrating as well, if done correctly, it can enable a firm to
recognize its most effective position within its industry.
There are a variety of models and
perspectives approaches used in strategic planning. The
development and implementation of these different tools depend
on numerous factors, such as size of the organization,
nature and complexity of the organization's environment, and the
organization's leadership and culture. For example, an
organization can start out using the same baseline as a McDonald
or Wal-Mart, however at some point in the process, it will have
to make changes and adapt to it’s own strategies. That goes the
same for having general principles applying for IT planning,
general principles will only take you so far.
Conclusion
While the differences between IT planning
and strategic planning are continually narrowing, however it
still have the dual task of cost reduction and continual
improvement of process performance. IT is a critical element in
the strategic planning of any business especially now a days,
with so much technogoly changes so often.