IT planning principles and six considerations

For many people It The planning may only involve some figures to work out the IT department's work plan and budget for high-level reference and approval. In fact, for CIOs, the process of planning a complete it plan often needs to consider more factors and require a long
Time-consuming work.
 
Xingan Company CIO Zhang weiliang was deeply touched by this. He felt that IT planning should never be considered as a simple task. It planning can also be made in stages and should be paid attention to in six aspects.

 

Three phases of IT planning
 
Generally, most Enterprise A three-to-five-year long-term business development plan will be developed and implemented along this track: IT planning-planning IT facilities-IT facilities to support enterprise operation-enterprise operation to achieve the goal. From the perspective of this track, IT planning is a tool to implement the company's business development plan, rather than a magic lamp. Zhang weiliang, who personally experienced a happy and painful it planning experience, said: IT planning is to tell enterprises how to apply it technology to cooperate with and support business development; to develop a scientific and rational it plan, follow these three stages:
 
Phase 1: The total expenditure plan and budget of the IT system according to the company's business development plan. Based on Rough forecasts of revenue, expenses, and capital expenditures, the company's top management should formulate preliminary business development plans and budget decisions, and generate corresponding demands and budgets for IT systems.

 

Stage 2: break down the total expenditure plan of the IT system into a certain number of independent IT systems Project And it maintenance projects to check whether the preliminary plan and budget are feasible. The main purpose of this phase is to examine the technical, time, human, and financial resources required by each IT project. With more accurate forecast data, the company's CIO can make suggestions and choices to determine which projects should be invested, which projects should be postponed, the investment amount should be reduced, or the project should be completely canceled. The key is to strike a balance between the predicted it demand resources and the supply resources provided by the company.

 

However, at this stage, people often have misunderstandings: they do not consider resource restrictions, nor do they assess and choose between two competing solutions. In this way, although it was easy to implement at the beginning, there may be two frustrating problems: first, no project or activity has sufficient funds to ensure that it planning may eventually become a castle in the air. The second problem is that the increasing number of practical problems requires constant budget reduction and revision of plans, so that it planning can be shelved.

 

Stage 3: CIOs and Project Manager A specific project schedule and budget with an estimated time and scope should be developed based on the responsible team and project. This ensures that the department responsible for providing resources can meet the resource requirements of all projects and activities in IT planning.

 

Six insights to ensure smooth it planning

 

So how can we ensure the smooth development of IT planning in three phases? The six insights that Zhang weiliang summarized can make it planning more effective and support the implementation of the company's business development plan.
 
① It planning must be in line with the implementation of the Business Plan and be forward-looking and operable. A business plan is a plan developed by the company for long-term development. The company's business plan provides a basic framework for IT planning and provides guidance for IT planning goals and solutions. Therefore, enterprise executives must follow up the IT planning from start to end based on the company's revenue plan and target profit until the IT planning is completed, rather than being controlled by IT personnel only.

 

② Throughout the process, it goals and budget should be divided into layers so that it goals correspond to corresponding costs and resources. This refers to dividing the total annual target cost budget for the next few years into several independent IT planning expense categories, so as to avoid unguaranteed resources and out-of-control budget in the next implementation. For example, Xingan divides the overall IT expenditure goal into three budget categories: IT system R & D, IT system operation, and IT infrastructure. Then, it divides the R & D cost into specific project costs.
 
Xingan initially approved the company's overall IT planning cost target budget and instructed each business department to prepare a business development plan for the next three to five years, however, the cost and budget of each business corresponding to the IT plan were not described to the top management. Therefore, each department lacks the ability to support and implement the IT system when developing a specific business plan. The resulting IT budget exceeds nearly 50% of the target budget. To make it plans for all departments consistent with the company's total IT plan, the company then made four budget reductions. Finally, no one is satisfied with the process and results.
 
Drawing on Zhang weiliang's lessons, CIOs must provide instructions to senior management early in the early stage of IT planning. After the IT budget fee is classified, you must clearly explain to the senior management of each department what IT projects and activities the it cost is invested in. This process requires the senior management to work together with the IT project manager and the business department manager to determine the priority of IT projects and financial issues involved.
 
③ IT planning should clarify the technical status and direction, ensure the loose coupling between the business model and the IT system to a certain extent, and enable the IT system to support changes and adjustments of the business model for a long time.
 
The current situation of enterprises should be analyzed and evaluated in two aspects: Current Situation of business capability and current situation of IT capability. Business capability analysis analyzes the operation modes of various business activities of an enterprise, reveals the gap between the current situation and the company's vision, and determines the key issues. IT capability status quo analysis is a diagnosis Enterprise Informatization The current situation, including the basic network, database, and application system status, analyzes the IT system's adaptability to the future development of the enterprise, and provides IT Capability Assessment. On the other hand, we must consider "Planning redundancy" in the planning content ". The so-called "Planning redundancy" refers to the need to fully consider future situations, especially resource constraints and external changes, and to make various solutions under different circumstances, select a scheme based on the actual situation during execution. Of course, these solutions have different priorities.
 
④ Select the appropriate IT project progress and scope based on the specific business needs. Instead of using a common method to develop IT project schedules and plans, you should develop IT project schedules based on your industry, company, Enterprise Culture To determine the appropriate planning process. When determining the planned time range, we should not only consider the company's business development plan cycle, but also consider the time required for the company to master new technologies and new processes. For example, Xingan has made many trade-offs and changes based on the continuous technological development during its IT project implementation. In this case, setting the planned time range to more flexible helps enterprises clearly predict future resource demands.
 
⑤ Set the conditions for updating it planning. IT planning is a process of continuous adjustment and continuous improvement. The business is constantly changing, and the technology is also constantly evolving. IT planning for integrating IT and business naturally needs to be constantly adjusted and changed. It is necessary to clarify what happens or what boundaries are broken, and the company will be more flexible and take the initiative to modify it planning. In addition, IT project managers should be authorized to make small adjustments to resource configuration.
 
⑥ Analyze the implementation risks of IT planning, and point out how to avoid various risks and improve the degree of assurance for the success of IT planning. There are various predictable and unpredictable risks in IT planning, which will affect the successful implementation of IT planning.

 

Three Principles of successful IT planning

 

When developing it plans, enterprises also have some important principles that can determine the success or failure of IT planning. First, enterprises should realize that an efficient and effective IT plan should be to help the company implement the company's business development plan, and provide IT support to all key departments of the company to improve operational efficiency.

 

Second, when there is a change in the IT planning process, it is best to get high-level support. In addition to CIOs, an authorized senior executive must guide it planning on how to work with the company's business development plan and support those changes. He has established a good relationship with other senior personnel and can persuade other senior personnel to provide support. In addition, we should also be prepared to cope with inevitable negative resistance, as well as the resistance that some people create for the established interests.

 

Third, when the company's important business plans change, it is necessary to develop a communication process and channel for certain businesses and the needs of the IT system to adapt to the changing operation pressure. It is important to provide feedback to the IT planning team for participants of these business changes, in this way, they can feel that it planning actually exists to better assist and improve the company's business operations.
 
Effective IT planning helps you quickly adapt to changing business environments and focuses on improving it measures that support business development plans. Only when the company's business development plan is implemented will it be crucial to assist in IT planning and be worthy of the company's attention.