Development of IT Strategic Plan - (ISSP)
Outline
of Services Provided
- CBA
Consulting was asked to look at the current ISSP (Information Systems Strategic Plan) and to review this, understand the current 'context', and to provide recommendations to create a robust and up-to-date IT Strategic Plan that would deliver on the IT needs for the organisation over the next 5 years. IT is seen as integral to the way this organisation operates on a day to day basis.
It was important to gather all inputs from key stakeholders to inform the development of the ITSP and the overall IT strategy. The IT strategy needed to be aligned with the overall strategy of the organisation so that the ITSP provides a roadmap to deliver on the strategy. By taking Stakeholder expectations into account any IT strategy developed can be more aligned or integrated to the organisations overall strategy.
An additional
requirement was to ensure current Principles and Drivers were
considered and that the key Goals for the organisation over the
next 5 years were clearly understood in the context of the IT
Strategic Plan.
A Business
Case was then developed covering the organisations needs for a
Data System replacement, determining the ROI and TCO to present
to the Board, and ensuring this was in keeping with the IT strategy.
This led to an Assessment process on the shortlisted solutions
- creating an Evaluation Matrix (weighting factored) for all requirements,
and assisting with the negotiation of contracts.
Business
need  |
The purpose of the "IT strategic review"
was to ensure the continued alignment of IT services
with the Organisation’s strategic aims and goals.
Ensuring that current Principles (amended to support current environment), Trends, and Drivers are supported by the IT strategy to enable the provisioning and brokering of industry training..
Understanding specific key stakeholder needs going forward and how IT would be able to support their needs within the context of the organisations strategy. Maximising efficiency and productivity, providing compliancy, and timely reporting to the governing and financing organisations of NZQA and TEC are key Drivers.
Subsequent to the completion of the ISSP a Business Case was required for the replacement of the Data System (TMS) and the related ROI (Return on Investment) and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) taking into account the IT strategy. This Business Case needed to understand the Business Requirements within the context of how the ITO would operate in the future based on the developed IT strategy and roadmap. |
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Solution
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In
order to complete the ISSP (Information System Strategic
Plan) the the following areas of Trends, Drivers,
Enablers; Goals, Objectives, and Initiatives were
taken into account within the 'Context' of IT for
the business.
The normal process
required input from Key Stakeholders to determine
the Desired Future State and any overarching Principles
or Drivers that would influence the IT Strategy. Once
all the input was gathered, some in-depth analysis
was undertaken to determine the full requirements
against the current state. Only then were the Goals,
Objectives and Initiatives fully determined and developed
as part of the final IT Strategic Plan development. |
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1.
Discovery Stage:
Understand the
current Business Plan and the inputs. Obtaining the
business context. |
2.
IT Vision and Directions:
Determine the Desired
Future state for IT as a whole through consultation
withall of the key Stakeholders. |
3.
Analysis of Needs:
In depth analysis
of overall needs and requirements. This includes
all of the Goals, key Drivers, and Principles. |
4.
Review of Initiatives:
Take into account
all of the initiatives identified for IT going forward. |
5.
Current State Assessment:
Analysis of the
current state. A gap analysis between Desired Future
state and Current state and then determine a Transition
state.
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6.
Develop IT Strategic Plan:
Workshops and brainstorming to
derive the ISSP. Develop the underlying Objectives
and Initiatives for each Goal. Take into account
guiding Principles, Trends, Drivers, and Enablers.
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Customer Profile  |
Industry Training Organisation - New Zealand |
This organisation is one of
the Industry Training Organisations (ITO) in the NZ
market and has IT requirements specific to the ITO
needs. As with most ITOs they have a small IT internal
team and rely on external providers to manage and
support their full IT needs. With changing demands
for industry training, IT is seen as integral to supporting
the ITO function and how the organisation operates.
Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) are recognised by the Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) under the Industry Training Act 1992. They are established by particular industries and are responsible for:
- setting national skill standards for their industry
- providing information and advice to trainees and their employers
- arranging for the delivery of on and off-job training (including developing training packages for employers)
- arranging for the assessment of trainees and
- arranging the monitoring of quality training.
Link to a list of recognised Industry Training Organisations. |
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Customer testimonial 
"The IT Stragtegic Plan review by CBA Consulting provided our organisation with a holistic view of how our IT strategic assets were deployed, and how their function should be integrated to our operational model. We were able to take the recommendations and develop a 'strategic' view for the medium term future. We were also able to fully inform our board on the TMS replacement decision." - CEO |
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Results
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CBA Consulting's recommendations
provided a strategic roadmap for IT for the immediate
and medium-term future (looking out 5 years) taking
account of internal and external Drivers (changing
demands for training with the ITO's specific industry),
and the needs for external support to provide a managed
cost and flexibility to the IT platform and environment
for the organisation.
Once
the strategy had been reviewed and recommendations
made the organisation's internal capability were able
to expand on the key areas of IT Goals, Objectives,
and Initiatives to develop an Action Table and refined
roadmap for IT over the next 5 years.
Having
reviewed internal systems needs as part of the IT
Strategic Plan, the Business Case could be developed
for the replacement of the core TMS/CRM application
system, taking into account Trends, Drivers, and Principles
along with a comprehensive understanding of the real
'Business Requirements'. This understanding led to
gaining a full appreciation of the ROI and TCO and
the appropriate investment for the ITO in a replacement
Data System. This Business Case was provided to the
Board to inform their decision on this major integral
system.
Assessment
of Solutions - CBA Consulting developed a
comprehensive assessment matrix of functional and
non-funtional requirements that fully met the business
requirements. This was weighted in favour of Mandatory,
Nice to Have, Adds Value, or Not Needed along with
assessing less tangible criteria such as Vendor reputation
and software lifecycle and roadmap. Recommendations
were then provided to the ITO in terms of factors
needing to be considered if selecting any of the final
options of each Vendor's solution. This was to aid
and inform the Boards decision.
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Related reports, Whitepapers
& Links |
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