For the sake of brevity, we cannot delve into all that issues affecting IT strategy, so let’s look at some key reasons why IT strategies fail to, well, sizzle:
Alignment. IT strategy and alignment are such very nebulous terms that most people have difficulty defining them in a manner that is actionable.
It is fine to say that a strategy is going to align IT with business but it is another matter to prove this alignment. Most CIOs cannot say for sure if their IT is aligned with business.
Value. Another area of concern is whether an IT strategy will create verifiable and sustainable results. One of the reasons for business leaders’ dissatisfaction with IT in general, and IT strategy in particular, is results are hard to verify.
We know that IT/business alignment creates shareholder value. However, if you cannot verify alignment itself, you cannot expect to be taken seriously, when you claim, that it has resulted in shareholder value creation.
Change. An IT strategy is not an end in of itself. Organizations’ need to keep it updated. For example, unanticipated events require a response that might not have been considered in the original strategy.
It is critical to understand how these decisions, in response to events, affect the IT strategy. The IT strategy framework must seamlessly traverse the business and IT boundaries to quickly assess the impact of an event across the entire organization.
It should allow for quick decision making in response to these events by assessing the impact on of each decision on shareholder value.
Baby steps. Often is a multi step process, especially in uncharted territory. IT strategy success is no different. Your first foray might result in some problems.
You should be able to know when you have faltered, if it is a glitch or a blunder, and quickly assess the reason for the stumble. You must also be able to quickly devise a response.
Learn. The classic definition of insanity is repeating the same steps expecting different results.
Why do IT organizations behave insanely? Because most organizations do not spend the time to analyze, document, incorporate, disseminate or teach lessons learned.
Best practices are not disseminated from one part of the organization to the other. Failures are hidden. New team members are not taught what works and what doesn’t. Processes are not modified to incorporate lessons learned.
If this is your company, your next IT strategy is bound to deliver the same results and this one — nothing less, nothing more.
Steer the committee. Often, IT strategy is delegated to a steering committee comprised of participants from different functions. Each participant brings excellent, relevant and complementary skills to the table. However, this is a great idea that often fails during execution.
A successful team must have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Each member of the team must understand how the different pieces of the puzzle fit together. Each member must deliver something. Together, then, the team delivers results.
Steering committees result in the right people showing up for all the right meetings. However, they do not focus on role definition. They also fail to assign responsibility for deliverables.
More often than not, these committees turn into debating societies where a lot of good stuff is discussed but very little, if anything, of value is ever delivered.
Rolling heads. Accountability is critical to the success of an IT strategy. You can create a very good IT strategy that either stays on the shelf or fails miserably when executed.
Until success or failure is linked to executive compensation and/or career advancement, such failures will continue to occur.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. However, addressing these issues can take you many steps closer to the solution.
Sourabh Hajela is a management consultant and trainer with over 17 years of experience creating shareholder value for his Fortune 50 clients. His consulting practice is focused on IT strategy, alignment and ROI. For more information, please visit www.StartSmart.com. Or feel free to contact Sourabh at [email protected] or post your questions atwww.StartSmart.com/forums/index.asp.