This document outlines an IT strategy and architecture plan presented by an IT manager. It includes an agenda covering an overview, IT strategy approach and methodology, framework, implementation strategy, portfolio management, governance, and maintenance. Key sections define an IT strategy as supporting business goals and assessing current IT effectiveness, and define architecture as providing a conceptual blueprint. The approach involves reviewing business strategy, assessing current IT, developing strategies and architecture, and maintaining the plan.

1. Building an Effective
IT Strategy & Architecture Plan
Presented By:
Karthik Chakkarapani
IT Manager
8/15/2008

2. Agenda
Overview
IT Strategy Approach and Methodology
IT Strategy Framework
Implementation & Investment Strategy
IT Portfolio Management & Roadmap
IT Governance
IT Strategy Plan Maintenance
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3. IT Strategy & Architecture Definition
IT Strategy
An “IT strategy” is a company’s long-term strategic plan for managing and deploying IT
investments and resources. An IT strategy supports a company’s enterprise business
processes, strategic business goals, objectives and the customer. An IT strategy includes
the following:
A review of the company’s value chain, business vision, business strategies, CSF’s
and key performance metrics. This drives the IT strategy process.
A baseline IT assessment is conducted to understand effectiveness of current IT in
supporting the company’s business strategy.
A strategic plan is developed to support the company’s business strategy. This plan
includes the enterprise applications portfolio, data management, technology
infrastructure, IT organization and IT investments.
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4. IT Strategy & Architecture Definition
IT Architecture
An IT architecture is the conceptual/physical blueprint that enables a company’s IT
strategic plan. The architectural blueprint is the roadmap for implementing and
integrating the applications portfolio, databases, infrastructure and organization.
IT Strategy Implementation Plan
The IT strategy implementation plan is a high-level plan that defines the implementation
of the strategic and tactical projects over a 2-3 year time horizon. All of the key IT projects
included in the IT strategic plan are defined with priorities, milestones, dependencies,
resources and investments.
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5. Key Reasons – IT Strategic Plan
Key reasons for developing an IT Strategic Plan:
Serves as the roadmap for managing all IT investments and resources.
Provides a uniform vision for managing and deploying IT initiatives.
Provides alignment of IT with business objectives. This allows for a focused and
prioritized investment in IT.
Supports enterprise-wide business processes, value chain and the customers.
IT investment returns are maximized.
IT projects and investments are planned for the next 2-3 years.
The IT organization has a well defined IT vision that can be measured and monitored.
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6. Key Reasons – IT Architecture
Key reasons for designing an IT Architecture:
Provides a cohesive framework for effectively integrating IT components
Provides a conceptual blueprint for managing and integrating the applications
portfolio, data, infrastructure and organization
Global policies, principles, standards are developed and used for managing and
procuring IT assets; provides vendor leverage and reduces costs
Maintenance costs/TCO goes down
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7. IT Strategy Approach & Methodology
Project Initiation with full management support
Prepare an IT Strategy/Architecture to support the business strategy.
Review and confirm business strategy.
Perform IT baseline assessment.
Develop IT strategy & conceptual architecture.
Develop implementation & investment strategy.
Develop IT Portfolio & Roadmap.
Develop IT Governance matrix and guidelines
Develop IT Strategy plan maintenance.
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8. IT Strategy Framework
IT Baseline
IT Baseline Enterprise
Assessment IT Strategy &
Review Business Strategy Assessment
Conceptual Architecture
Strategic Drivers Phase 2
IT Strategies Phase 3
Strategic Objectives & Principles
Strategic Initiatives IT Organization
• Structure
• Skills
Target Architecture
• Practices
• Staffing “Blueprint”
IT IT Infrastructure
Business Processes/ Expenditures
Applications Portfolio • Hardware
• Networks Applications Data
• Business Systems
• Systems Development
• Central IT
• Communications
(Voice/Data) Portfolio Management
• Systems Maintenance
• User department • End-User
• Tools & Techniques
• Telecommunications Computing
Customers
& Business
Data Management
Units
Phase 1 • Data Integrity
• Data Access
• Decision-Support
• Data Repository Technology
• Ad Hoc Query IT Organization
Infrastructure
Phase 4
IT Strategy Implementation Plan,
IT Strategy Implementation Plan,
Maintenance and IT Portfolio Management
Maintenance and IT Portfolio Management
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9. Business Strategy Review – Phase 1
Key Activities: Key Outcomes:
Review and confirm business strategy Business strategy model
Review business balanced score card Mission, Vision, Values
Identify key initiatives (tactical and strategic) Key business strategies
Define the value chain & confirm core processes Core processes
Conduct stakeholder analysis Value Proposition
Identify change management issues Key business initiatives
Critical success factors
Review the role and effectiveness of IT in
Critical business issues
supporting the business strategy
SWOT analysis
Identify strategic IT opportunities that improve
Quick wins
business performance
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10. Business Strategy & Value Proposition
Sales, Publications Operations Customer IT, Finance, Advocacy Solutions Meeting
Marketing & Data Security HR Policy Travel
Relations
Planning Education Audit Govt Relations Services
Unified
Developing a Healthcare Delivery System for the 21st Century healthcare policy
Improved Quality
Optimizing Operational Effectiveness And patient
Safety
Improved
Enabling Hospitals to Better Serve Their Patients and Communities Community
Health
Strengthen
Planning/Infrastructure/Administration Community
Connections
— Core Business Functions —
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11. IT Mission, Vision & Values
Vision: To align people, processes & technology so our customers can achieve
the Organization’s strategic goals
Mission: We support the technology needs of our internal & external customers
by:
Understanding our customers business needs
Maintaining existing technologies
Researching & implementing new technologies
Educating our customers about technology systems and IT services
Values: Proactive…Collaborative…Effective…Consistent…Strategic
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12. Key Strategic Business Initiatives
Finance HR
Online finance report distribution Manager self-service
Restricted online customer access to I-Recruitment
financial information Online professional development plan
I-Expense Web based training, E-Learning
Invoice scanning, integration and Internal online mini-surveys
management Digital employee record – scan and
XML Publisher to publish W2, 1099 store
reports EEO reporting
Additional Financial reports Automation of Kbase, Ceridian, Actuary,
Automation of AP and Payroll interfaces Insurance, 401k and Payflex interfaces
* Do the same for other business areas – Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Operations etc
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13. Critical Business Issues
Managing all the homegrown access dbs – Redundant, labor and time intensive
Lack of enterprise data mart, warehouse and analytical reporting tools and systems
Lack of access/availability of customer, financial and BI reports and tools/systems
Managing web-site content and forms maintenance is labor and time intensive
Lack of e-commerce capabilities in the websites
Inefficient use of resources due to many manual processes and reports
Lack of resources for online content and forms management
Low end-user computing productivity – remote access, desktop refresh
Inefficient HR and Finance systems, periodic upgrades and issues, limited reports
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14. Critical Success Factors
Customer loyalty and growth, world class customer service, developing and engaging
members and increase membership retention
Diversify revenue streams and achieve targeted margin to ensure stability
Leverage the latest technologies to enhance customer’s experience in the websites
Provide Web 2.0 for customer collaboration
Ease of use, access and search of CRM information
Fully automated customer new/renewal application processing
Secure online credit card processing for selling products and services
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15. Opportunities for IT
Recommend technology options to improve, automate and integrate many access
databases and manual processes
Conduct brown-bag sessions to get more information on technology trends and exchange
ideas
Implement IT intranet to know more about the IS&T strategy, services, projects and team
Improve IT support structure by having dedicated resources in IS&T to fix break-fix
issues/service requests and projects
Form a technical resource/council in IT to provide recommendations on many business/IT
initiatives, communication on issues, projects, and upgrades
Provide resources to answer basic PC and software questions/issues
Form an IT Advocacy group – members from IT & Business units
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16. IT Baseline Assessment – Phase 2
Management &
Organization
• Structure
• Skills
• Practices
• Staffing
IT IT Infrastructure
Business Processes/ Expenditures
Applications Portfolio • Hardware
• Business Systems • Networks
• Systems Development • Communications
• Systems Maintenance • Central IS (Voice/Data)
• Tools & Techniques • User department • End-User
• Telecommunications Computing
Data Management
• Data Integrity
• Data Access
• Decision-Support
• Data Warehouse
• Ad Hoc Query
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17. IT Baseline Assessment
Applications Portfolio
Are these the right applications to support the business
strategy?
Do they deliver the required capabilities?
Are they maintainable?
IT Assessment Framework How is the quality?
Are they flexible to support process redesign?
Management &
Organization Data Management
• Structure
• Skills
What is the quality of data?
• Practices
• Staffing
How difficult is it to access & manipulate data?
How is my decision making?
Business Processes/ IT Expenditures IT Infrastructure User Community
Applications Portfolio • Hardware
• Networks
What is their level of awareness?
• Business Systems
• Systems Development
• Central IT
• Communications
(Voice/Data)
Do we understand their needs and concerns?
• Systems Maintenance
• Tools & Techniques • User department
• Telecommunications
• End-User
Computing
What is their ability to participate in planning and
implementation?
Data Management IT Resources
• Data Integrity
• Data Access Are we “right-sized”?
• Decision-Support
• Data Repository Do we have the right infrastructure in place?
• Ad Hoc Query
Do we have the right people? Number? Mix?
Are we acquiring and managing the assets effectively?
IT Management
Is the IT organization configured to meet the needs of
the enterprise?
Are the right performance measures in place? The right
management processes?
Financial
How much do we spend on IT?
What is our investment value?
What are the economies of scale?
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18. IT Baseline Assessment - Deliverables
Key Outcomes:
High-level schematics of IT’s current portfolio.
Applications portfolio observations; technical and functional quality overview
Applications development/integration observations.
E-Business observations.
Observations on IT organization, skills and management practices.
Infrastructure analysis observations.
Data management observations.
Financial analysis.
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19. Application Portfolio Assessment – TQ/FQ Analysis
Sample Technical Quality (TQ) & Functional Quality (FQ) Assessment
ERP Finance Application
Score: 0-70(Unsatisfactory), 65-75(Marginal), 75-85(Acceptable), 85-92(Good), 92-100(Excellent) Score: 0-70(Unsatisfactory), 65-75(Marginal), 75-85(Acceptable), 85-92(Good), 92-100(Excellent)
Technical environment
Documentation
Support resources
Integration capabilities
Ease of upgrades
Security compliance
Test environment availability
Self-service capabilities
Resource Utilization
System availability Enhancements
Attributes
Attributes
Report & query tools Issue Resolutions
Automated processes Performance & Standards
Documentation Quality
Support customer needs
Scalable capabilities
Support business needs
System uptime
Data Reliability
Integration capabilities
Data Integrity & Quality
Security features
Overall Functional Quality Overall Technical Quality
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Functional Quality Scores Technical Quality Scores
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20. Application Portfolio Assessment - TQ/FQ Overview
Application portfolio assessment overview
100
IT Productivity Healthy
90
Loss Zone Zone Systems
F
U
Inefficient & costly to run and maintain A. GL
80 Candidates for technical enhancement
N B. AP
C G
70 C. AR
T D B D. FA
I
O 60 E E. Payroll
N F F. Online Store
A 50
G. HR
L A H
H. Benefits
40
Q I I. Reporting Tools
U
30
A
L C
I 20
T
Y 10
Consumes significant resources
Requires excessive maintenance to upgrade
the functionality and support the business
Candidates for User Effectiveness Candidates for functional enhancement
Replacement Loss Zone
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
TECHNICAL QUALITY
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21. Data Management Assessment
Lack of effective BI reporting system for management and operational decision making
Lack of analytical reporting system to create segmentation and analysis reports
Lack of integration across business critical systems which makes reporting a complex
process for business
Lack of reports for business to effectively share membership information across the
organization to better serve the association’s internal and external stakeholders
Lack of a data mart/warehouse and analytical reporting tools/system
Lack of online reporting distribution and ad-hoc data query capabilities
Business relies heavily on MS Access databases for reports and analytics
Data redundancy across multiple systems
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22. Infrastructure Assessment
No BC and DR for critical business applications
No redundancy in network infrastructure
Legacy applications still runs on obsolete and de-supported versions of O/S and
databases.
Business critical systems run on dedicated servers
Improve the Service Oriented Infrastructure capabilities
* Do the same assessment for other areas – IT Organization, IT Expenditures
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23. Applications Portfolio Principles – Phase 3
Open Standards: Use technology that follows proven, open standards with multiple
interoperable implementations.
Community Driven: Partner with vendors and the technology community to steer the future
direction of technology.
Best Practices: Follow the best practices of the industry and peers, recognizing the unique
challenges faced by other manufacturing companies.
Integrated: Choose technologies that can be reused and built on the existing infrastructure.
Automated: Automation of all routine tasks, deployment and provisioning should be the top
priorities in any technological decision.
Foundational: Focus on deploying technology that is useful across the largest possible set of
users and that is secure, stable, reliable, robust, well-documented, and easy to integrate with.
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24. Applications Portfolio Initiatives & Strategy
Key Strategies
Applications Portfolio Initiatives
Implement Oracle IDM for enterprise SSO and Access
management
AP Invoice Automation,
iExpenses, Manager Self-Service
Implement Oracle SOA Suite to improve, optimize and
automate existing business processes and interfaces
Enterprise Identity Management
Implement Avectra NetForum for CRM
(SSO, Access Manager, Policy Manager)
Implement HR Manager self-service
Web Center Suite Implement Oracle AP Invoice and Document
(Web 2.0 - Networking & Collaboration)
Management
Implement Oracle Web Center Suite for networking and
Customer Relationship Management
(Sales, Marketing, Service) collaboration applications Web 2.0
Implement new applications using Applications
Service Oriented Architecture Implementation Methodology.
(BPEL)
Implement applications on an open-standard platform
and on a VM infrastructure for higher scalability, security,
performance and reliability.
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25. Applications Portfolio Architecture
Customers CxO Process Workers Managers Sales Teams Partners Suppliers
Information Driven Applications
Management & Monitoring Dashboards Embedded Analytics
Core Systems
Web Center Human Capital Finance CRM iStore Portal
Administration & Support Systems / Enterprise Information Model
Decision Support Systems / Middleware – Integration Framework
Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Discover, XML Publisher
DB 3rd party
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26. Data Management Principles & Strategy
Key Principles
Data Warehouse will be the central repository for all
information. All systems should access DW for data
needs.
Reports should be retrieved and distributed
electronically to minimize paper usage.
Physical storage and archiving is the responsibility
of data architecture group.
Data administration and database administration
teams should be properly defined within the IT
organization.
Key Strategies
Develop stringent audit and control standards for all data systems
Implement Oracle BI and analytical reporting tools to access finance, customer and sales information,
operational decision making and segmentation reporting
Implement Oracle data warehouse/mart system to consolidate all disparate data sources and implement ad-
hoc reporting tools
Develop an enterprise-wide data resource management function to safeguard and track the users/usage of
data systems
Implement data encryption technologies to transfer sensitive data to 3rd party vendors 26

27. Data Conceptual Architecture
Business Decisions Operational Tactical Strategic
Low Cost Provider & High Value Provider Market Innovation
Product Innovation
Value Levers Market Share Leadership
Geographic Reach
Business Portfolio
Channel Innovation
Market Assessment
Data Value Chain
Data Information Intelligence Insight
Static Reports Dynamic Reports
Static Reports Dynamic Reports Knowledge Discovery
BI Capability Analytics Discovery 360° Insight
Continuum
BI Process Structural Analytical Free-Form
Enablement
Functional Enterprise Data Warehouses Real-Time
Technology
Reporting Intelligence
Enablement Global Data Access by Portals Systems
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27

28. Technology Infrastructure Principles & Strategy
Key Principles Key Strategies
Implement redundant networking infrastructure
Business Driven: Current and future
using MPLS solution to increase network reliability,
business needs and strategic priorities are
the main drivers for the technology stability, performance and flexibility
infrastructure and architecture. Develop and implement BC and DR for business
critical applications
Standardization: Standardization of
Implement failover and backup systems for business
technology infrastructure to drive
efficiencies, economies of scale, critical applications based on DC plans
supportability and simplicity. Consolidate the existing blade servers into VM
machines to reduce TCO and to improve maintenance
Cost Effective: The focus to be on the
capabilities
total cost of ownership (TCO) not only the
cheapest to acquire. Implement email and file archival and storage on
hosted environment
Independence: Use non-vendor
Implement robust and ease of use FTP service
dependant platforms and solutions
whenever possible. Implement robust file compression technology to
transfer rich media documents and to decrease storage
space
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29. Technology Conceptual Infrastructure
Architecture
29

30. End- User Computing Strategy and
Architecture
Key Strategies
Develop/maintain Configuration Management system to maintain assets
Develop/maintain IT Service Catalog with policies, procedure and SLAs
Communicate IT End user computing services catalog to all users
Establish workflow process for adding new applications in Citrix
Provide training and self-help resources for end-users to maximize productivity
Refresh and recycle all desktops and laptops every 3 years to maximize productivity
Provide and maintain world-class IT support by following ITIL practices
30

31. Organization Principles & Strategy
Key Principles
Business unit and IT to develop joint ownership
and management of business systems.
Decisions will be taken at the corporate level,
local IT needs to have buy in from corporate.
IT organization should strive towards maximizing
benefit to the enterprise.
All organizations in the enterprise participate in
information management decisions needed to
accomplish business objectives.
Key Strategies
IT Steering committee needed to provide strategic direction by checking all requests.
Need for a joint business unit & IT team structure for implementing projects.
Keep IT application development, DBA & Infrastructure teams separate.
Implement strong project management expertise (PMO).
Implement aggressive training program to keep up-to-date with latest technologies.
Consolidate multiple functions, e.g., establish single Help Desk. 31

32. Enterprise PMO & Dashboard
Enterprise PMO
Create & maintain Executive
Dashboard.
Define & train Team-Program
Level Processes.
Facilitate Program Level
Communication, including status
reporting & meetings.
Report & track Program level
issues & action items.
Dashboard Purpose
Provide a concise & balanced view of Organization enterprise-level measures.
Focus entire organization on key strategic metrics.
Support senior management decision-making & status communication.
Provide a consistent measure of success to all levels of management.
Establish a consistent measure of success for performance review / appraisal / compensation behavior
consistent with strategic objectives.
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33. Enterprise Architecture Framework
Business
Business Strategy
Business Architecture
Application Architecture
Data Architecture
IT
Infrastructure Architecture
33

34. IT Investments Strategy Framework
Current Condition Business Risk
IT Investments
Impact on Business Processes &
Strategic Business Benefits
Customer
Prioritized List of IT investments
34

35. IT Project Prioritization Framework
Business Strategy
IS&T Strategy, Roadmap
Identify Projects
Identify Project/Investment Bucket
Discovery Project Assets
Rank and Prioritize Projects – IT Governance
Financial Management, Resource Management
Change Management, Risk Management
35

36. IT Portfolio Strategy Framework
IT Discovery Portfolio (10%)
Opportunity fit with strategic objectives
Long-term, Basic Research
Feasibility
AFTER NEXT
Strategic
IT Project Portfolio (25%)
Future Strategic
Medium/short-term, New Development
Mandatory
NEXT
Factory/Lights On
Service
IT Asset Portfolio (65%)
Quality
Operational, Apps/Data/Infrastructure
TCO
Existing
Business Alignment
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37. IT Portfolio Strategy Framework Metrics
Score projects based on weighted average metrics
IT Discovery Portfolio (10%)
Total Cost, Business Value, Technology Innovation
IT Project Portfolio (25%)
Business Alignment, Strategic fit, User Needs, Risk, Revenue, Timeframe
Costs, HR capabilities, Constraints, Dependencies, Feasibility, Value, Quality, Scope
Productivity, Life cycle, ROI, Payback, Architecture Impact
IT Asset Portfolio (65%)
Key business processes enabled, Overall business value, User Satisfaction
Technical Quality, Functional Quality, Operational Quality, Replacement Costs, Issues
Annual Costs, Risk, Strategic Alignment, SLAs, Skill Availability, Risk, Effectiveness
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38. IT Portfolio – Project Scoring Template
Project Scoring Template to Prioritize Projects
38

39. IT Roadmap Framework
39

40. IT Governance Framework
What decisions should be made to efficiently use the IT services?
Who should make these decisions?
How will these decisions be made and monitored?
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41. IT Strategy Plan Maintenance
The IT strategic plan should be kept as a living document and be made available to
its stakeholders
A formal IT steering committee should be established to provide guidance and steer
the IT strategic plan to meet the business strategy
The IT steering committee members should be formed from key representatives of
the main business units.
The IT strategic plan should be prioritized and updated to stay effective in
supporting the business strategic priorities.
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42. Questions
Contact Info
Karthik Chakkarapani, chakraj@yahoo.com
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