IT SWOT Analysis Template
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Conduct a SWOT analysis on the IT department
Assign team A internal strengths and
weaknesses.
b.
2
Assign team B external opportunities
and threats.
•
Have the teams brainstorm items that fit in
their assigned grids. Use the prompt questions
on the next few slides to help you with your
SWOT analysis.
•
Pick someone from each group to fill in the
grids on the whiteboard.
•
Conduct a group discussion about the items
on the list – identify implications for IT and
opportunities to innovate as you did for the
other business and external drivers.
Harmful
to achieving the
objective
Internal origin
attributes of the
organization
a.
1
Helpful
to achieving the
objective
Strengths
Weaknesses
External origin
attributes of the
environment
• Break the group into two teams:
Opportunities
Threats
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Review these questions to help you conduct your SWOT
analysis on the IT department
Strengths (Internal)
Weaknesses (Internal)
• How does the IT department succeed at supporting the
business?
• What areas of your IT department require improvement?
• Which IT services are known for being the most
effectively delivered?
• Which IT capabilities are the most mature?
• Are the IT department’s people professional,
knowledgeable, and talented?
• If your end users were to provide you with constructive
criticism, what would it be about?
• Is the IT budget sufficient? (This can also be a strength)
• Are the IT processes well documented? Monitored? Are
people trained on performing the processes?
• Is the IT department good at innovating?
• How strong is IT-business communication and alignment?
(This can also be a strength)
Opportunities (External)
Threats (External)
• Are there any vendors or external partners that can help
the IT department deliver better solutions?
• Are there any obstacles external to the IT department that
will impact IT’s ability to achieve success?
• Do cloud solutions provide us with better alternatives?
• Has there been an increase in the frequency of security
breaches in your industry?
• Do we plan on taking advantage of technology trends
such as the Internet of Things, BYOD, and digital?
• Are there any business trends in your organization’s
industry which would need IT support?
• Is Shadow IT prevalent at your organization?
• Have there been regulatory changes that are likely to
drastically change the way IT solutions are delivered?
• Are there any technology trends that your competitors are
implementing or thinking of implementing?
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Example IT SWOT
Example
Strengths (Internal)
Weaknesses (Internal)
• Our help desk staff are recognized as reliable,
professional, and timely in their resolution of issues.
• Our IT budget is getting more and more restricted, and
the business is asking us to cut costs by another 10%.
• The data quality in our organization is very poor, which
also means that our business intelligence capabilities are
not mature.
• Most of the people in our department, outside of help
desk, have little to no interaction with end users or the
business.
• 20% of the employees in our infrastructure group have
left in the last 2 months.
• We have an established PPM practice that facilitates our
discussion with the business and prioritizes the most
important projects.
• We have a talented and dedicated group of software
developers who have achieved a high level of throughput.
Opportunities (External)
Threats (External)
• It is becoming increasingly safer to store data in the
cloud, and we need to consider decommissioning some
of the on-premise storage.
• The business is interested in becoming more innovative
and agile in its market, so we need to consider how we
can enable business-technology innovation.
• There are frequent “Hack-a-Thon” events hosted in our
city, and we could consider sponsoring or hosting one to
increase our brand recognition.
• One of our preferred vendors might be in decline, which
means that we need to create a contingency plan should
the vendor not be able to meet our needs any longer.
• The business is currently a possible target for acquisition
in our industry, which has created uncertainty for the entire
group and our planning horizon.
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IT SWOT Analysis
Strengths (Internal)
Weaknesses (Internal)
• [Insert strengths]
• [Insert weaknesses]
Opportunities (External)
Threats (External)
• [Insert opportunities]
• [Insert threats]
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