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How to Plan an IT Strategic Plan [5+ Templates to Download]
If you are running a business, then you should know how important it is that everything concerning its information technology is updated and effective. To make sure that it is, you will need to come up with an IT strategic plan and this article will teach you all that you need to know in order to make one.
6 Steps for Creating an IT Strategic Plan
If you are going to start making an IT strategic plan, then you’ll need to learn how you should go about in doing so. To help you out with that, here are the steps that will definitely help you create the plan your business will need.
Step 1: Create Your Team
If you are going to come up with a strategic plan, this means that you will need to pick the people that will help ensure that it goes smoothly. You won’t be doing all the work yourself as that just wouldn’t be feasible. Think of the people that have the skills, qualifications, and sense of responsibility that can actually aid you in carrying out the plan.
Step 2: Align the Plan With the Business Objectives
Whatever plans you have for your business’s IT operations must fall in line with the objectives. That way, you can ensure that the plan you make is actually able to help you and everyone else meet those business objectives. For example, let’s say that one of the things that need to be developed is communication within the workplace. Developing your IT strategic plan around that objective is something you’ll want to do.
Step 3: Assess Your Business’s Current IT Situation
What you are going to do here is to break down your IT department into three different sections so that you can do an IT assessment on each of them. Be sure to divide them according to organizational infrastructure, hardware and software infrastructure, and current IT projects.
Step 4: Think About the Ideal IT Situation for the Business
If your current IT department and plan is not benefiting the business at all, then what should be changed in order for it to do so? This is where you will need to completely understand your business’s IT environment by performing a PEST and SWOT analysis and documenting what can be done for improvement.
Step 5: Develop the Strategy
Once you have identified your business’s ideal IT situation, then the next thing that you are going to have to do is to develop a strategy that will help you reach it. Make sure to outline the employee’s responsibilities, the task dependencies, the starting and completion date, expectations that need to be met and so on.
Step 6: Communicate Your Strategic Plan
Once you are done making the strategic plan, then the next thing to do is to share it with those that need to learn about its creation. It is imperative that you revisit your IT Strategic Plan quarterly at a minimum and make any updates whenever there is a need to.
5+ IT Strategic Plan Templates
If you are looking for an easy way to make an IT strategic plan, then you will want to download the template that can help you make the one your business needs. The following examples of templates are ones that you can choose to download should you wish to make an IT strategic plan.
1. IT Strategic Plan Template
Should you ever find yourself in a situation wherein you will need to come up with an IT strategic plan, then you will want to download this template. Once you have it, you can then use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Apple Pages to open and then edit it until you have made an effective IT strategic plan.
2. IT Strategy Plan Template
Making sure that the IT department in your business is capable of performing to meet expectations will require you to consider how they should go about in doing so. Once you have managed to come up with an effective plan, you will then want to download this template so that you can make the document where you can showcase it.
3. Sample IT Strategy Plan Template
If there are ways that you know can help improve your company’s or organization’s information technology, then what you will want to do is to get this particular plan template. With it, you can make a document where you can point out how these improvements can be made and how they can help meet specific objectives.
4. Four Year IT Strategic Plan
There are some people who want to plan all of their IT-related tasks and responsibilities well into the future. If you are planning on making an IT strategic plan that covers a span of at least four years, then this particular template can help you with that. Get it so that you will have an idea as to how you should go about in making a plan that covers four or even more years.
5. University IT Strategic Plan
Even universities need to make sure that their IT-related aspects are functioning and performing as well as they are supposed to. If you are the person that has been given the task of coming up with an IT strategic plan for a specific university, then you will find this particular template to be very useful. Get it so that you can get started on making an IT plan that any university will want to have.
6. Simple IT Strategic Plan
If you are looking for an easy way for you to be able to come up with an IT strategic plan, then this is the template for you. All you have to do on your end is to download it, open it with the right program, and then put in whatever information it needs to become an effective strategic plan.