Pete Welcher of NetCraftsmen comments:

Your IT team probably has an IT strategic plan, and updates it annually. If not, I have some homework for you…

Let’s start with the obvious: An IT plan needs to align with your strategic business plans, so begin with the big questions:

• What are your organization’s top strategic business initiatives, plans, and needs?
• What are you trying to achieve, short- and long-term, by pursing those initiatives? Added revenue? Increased efficiency or lower costs? A more collaborative work environment? A better product or service?
• What are the biggest gaps and problem areas in IT related to achieving your objectives via those strategic business initiatives?
• What new technologies and steps can IT take to make the business more profitable, provide new services, and satisfy customers?
• How can we do it within our budget, or even while reducing IT costs?

Pete has some great thoughts here about looking at things on a longer timeline in IT.

Read More: The Most Common Gaps In IT Strategic Plans