Rapidly Develop an IT Strategy – Manufacturing
Move IT from technology focus to business partner.
- Failure to deliver value is the top pain point for Manufacturing CIOs.
- Manufacturing IT does not do a good job aligning to business goals, with 45% of business leaders feeling that their goals are unsupported by IT.
- Most IT departments need to improve alignment with the business, with only 38% of Manufacturing leaders claiming that IT understands the business goals.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
IT strategic planning for manufacturing organizations is complex:
- Most IT departments lack the skill to develop an IT strategic plan, resulting in a staggering 92% of IT departments surveyed claiming their IT strategies were less than adequate.
- Robotics, AR, IoT, additive manufacturing, etc., are becoming mainstream technologies and need to be introduced without disrupting operations and coexist with legacy equipment.
- New technologies, processes, materials, and distribution channels create new opportunities for manufacturers to optimize and capture new markets.
Impact and Result
- Derive the IT strategy based on Info-Tech’s Manufacturing Reference Architecture to document the value steams for service delivery. Use Info-Tech’s implications framework to discern IT implications from the business context.
- Clearly demonstrate how IT will meet the changing needs of the organization by showing where IT is and where it wants to be with stakeholders.
- Use Info-Tech’s L-M-H Prioritization Tool to help make project decisions in a holistic manner that allows for the selection of the most valuable initiatives to become part of the IT strategic roadmap.
- Ensure timing of project initiatives is aligned with political agendas and terms of office.
Workshop: Rapidly Develop an IT Strategy – Manufacturing
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Identify IT Implications and Strategy Scope
The Purpose
Conduct analysis and facilitate discussions to uncover what organizational needs mean for IT and, based on the business mandate, set out the IT strategy scope.
Key Benefits Achieved
An understanding of what organizational needs mean for IT. Additionally, the IT strategy scope sets out the coverage of the IT strategy.
Activities
Outputs
Review the business context.
- Links between business capabilities/initiatives and business goals
Review links between business capabilities/initiatives and business goals.
- Links between business capabilities/initiatives and business goals
Identify IT implications from the documented business context.
- Implications on IT from the business context
Group the IT implications into themes from seven perspectives.
- Implications on IT from the business context
Confirm the IT strategy scope.
- IT strategy scope
Module 2: Define the IT Target State
The Purpose
Define statements, principles, goals, and target-state maturity. Clearly understand where IT needs to go by defining the target-state IT capabilities.
Key Benefits Achieved
Identifies and documents, at a high level, IT’s target state. Additionally, the list of target-state capabilities defines in more detail and clarity how the target state will look.
Activities
Outputs
Create the IT vision and mission statements and guiding principles.
- IT vision statement
- IT mission statement
Define IT goals and identify IT guiding principles.
- IT guiding principles
- IT goals
Determine the IT goal alignment to business goals.
Indicate the target-state IT maturity.
Identify the target-state IT capabilities required to achieve IT goals.
- Target-state IT capabilities
Consolidate target IT capability map.
- Target-state IT capabilities
Module 3: Assess the IT Current State
The Purpose
Gauge where the IT organization currently stands to get a baseline so that gaps can be identified between the current and target states.
Key Benefits Achieved
Provides an assessment of the current state in terms of capabilities, planned initiatives, factors impacting IT, budget, and current-state maturity.
Activities
Outputs
Review diagnostic results.
- Documented current IT capabilities and the gap to the target state
Assess current IT capabilities.
- Documented current IT capabilities and the gap to the target state
Review current IT budget.
Conduct IT SWOT analysis.
- IT SWOT analysis
Identify current-state maturity.
Assess the gaps between current- and target-state capabilities.
- Overall IT capabilities gap analysis
Module 4: Bridge the Gap and Create the Strategy
The Purpose
Identify the gaps between the current and target states and brainstorm initiatives to address the gaps. Set out next steps to reach IT strategy approval.
Key Benefits Achieved
Identifies the projects needed to reach the target state from the current state. Links how the projects support IT capabilities, IT goals, and the business context.
Activities
Outputs
Map key current IT initiatives to IT and business goals.
- Documented relationship between IT goals, capabilities, and initiatives
Brainstorm initiatives to address the gaps in capabilities.
- List of new initiatives required to reach the target state
Create initiative profiles.
- IT initiative profiles
Prioritize IT initiatives.
- IT strategy prioritization matrix
Create roadmaps for key IT initiatives.
- IT strategy roadmaps
Identify required IT budget.
Summarize the highlights of the IT strategy.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
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Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 3-phase advisory process. You'll receive 6 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Identify the Target State
- Call 1: Identify the business context status and IT implications.
- Call 2: Create components of the IT target state.
Guided Implementation 2: Assess the Current State
- Call 1: Assess current IT capabilities and budget.
- Call 2: Examine additional factors impacting IT and identify the current IT maturity.
Guided Implementation 3: Bridge the Gap and Create the Strategy
- Call 1: Assess the gaps to the target state.
- Call 2: Work toward IT strategy approval.
Contributors
- Dave Brajkovich, Chief Technology Officer, Northstar Digital Solutions
- Jason Farr, Business Systems Manager, Bush Brothers and Company
- David Gamez, IT Director, Honda Mexico
- Peter Shepherd, Director, Information Systems and Technology, Brampton Brick
- Stephen Sinocchi, Director of IT, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas
- Two anonymous contributors also provided their insights in this research