IT Strategy – Key Methods
The below can be seen as a Guideline that will assist with accomplishing goals as an IT professional.
Key method: The COBIT4 mentions the concept of Plan and Organize as something vital to IT Strategy. The 2007 textbook makes the following statement regarding the mentioned method:
- “The realisation of the strategic vision needs to be planned, communicated and managed for different perspectives. A proper organisation as well as technological infrastructure should be put in place.” [1, page 12]
- At the fundamental level all businesses or organizations tend to have goals. Strategy is essentially the plan of action to achieve a defined goal, and IT Strategy implies that IT will be the vehicle to achieve the defined goal. As the method states, an organization needs to plan and organize so that they know what their strategy is and they can stay honest throughout the journey of implementing strategy to meet their business needs/goals.
Key method: IT Investment, is essentially the key method as it relates to executing strategy which in turn brings value. For COBIT4 I mention the method of planning and organization, and for COBIT5 one could say that IT Investments are the end result of the planning and organization. The COBIT5 mentions the following categories when it comes to IT Investment:
“Transactional investment—Provide the information technology to process the basic, repetitive transactions of the business, e.g., mortgage processing, claims processing or account management. Their main purposes are to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Informational investment—Provide the information for managing and controlling the enterprise. Systems in this category typically include systems for management and financial control, decision making, planning, communication and accounting.
Strategic investment—Usually designed to add real value to the business by increasing competitive advantage, enabling entry into new markets, or otherwise increasing or enhancing revenue streams.
Infrastructure investment—Can be costly and of long duration, but they may not, in themselves, generate any directly quantifiable financial benefits, although the business applications that depend upon the infrastructure will benefit. Examples include implementation of a new or upgraded systems management product or the implementation of a new operating system. Other examples include a new system to support an Internet-enabled banking initiative or a cable TV-enabled insurance marketing channel. “ [2, page 18]
So with these categories we see that COBIT5 expounds and shows us a more complete view on what comes from planning and organizing and that is IT Investment.
Image Courtesy of Rigil Corporation
References:
- IT Governance Institute, IT Governance Using COBIT and ValIT: Student Book, 2ndEdition 2007
- ISACA, Basic Foundational Concepts Student Book: Using COBIT® 5. 2014
Acknowledgement:
IT7833 Exercise 2 – Key Concept Methods
IT Professional Toolkit 