What is the process for identifying technology needs that support business goals?

Assessing the current state of your environment can be done using a variety of tools and tactics, but be mindful of the value derived from bringing in an outside viewpoint to complement your own - as a leader setting strategy, you want to bring the best possible ideas to the table, and additional voices in that initial analysis will provide valuable insight and points of view.

All the steps are correct but there are some challenges that have not been mentioned. "Understand what the business wants, gaps and priorities". In my experience sometimes the business knows what is not working but the IT leader task is to identify what solutions are available in the market that will solve the issue. Otherwise the business tends to replicate their existing application. I always ask the vendors to show me the best practices of their solution based on the understanding of their product and their previous implementations. This is an eye opener for the business that discover new ways of executing their work that they were not aware of. This brings innovation a lot faster and with more impact to the operation.

Few aspects I find very important for assessing current state are a) understanding the user base and their expectations, b) reliability of the systems in terms of accessibility, security, performance, ease of use etc, c) ability to integrate seamlessly and exchange/access to real time data, d) life time of the technologies in use and ability to interact with the latest and emerging technologies and tools and finally e) long term cost associated to manage/maintain the technique eco-system.

This task is multi-faceted, entailing a detailed evaluation of your existing IT infrastructure, applications, processes, governance structures, financial aspects, risks, and the overall value derived from these components. The process is data-centric, hinging on the collection and analysis of relevant information to ensure decisions are grounded in facts and not just conjecture. The overarching goal of this multifaceted assessment is to draw a clear, comprehensive picture of your IT environment’s current state. This involves understanding how well your IT setup aligns with and supports the business objectives and identifying areas where technology can further drive business value.

It’s important to know what exists before you can make decisions to move forward - using the SWOT assessment is a great starting point. The business needs maybe able to leverage existing tooling but technology always needs to be mindful of what future support is required and costs associated with maintaining this

Laying out a target state helps you see how the pieces of what you are building will fit together before you venture down the road of implementation. In this step it is helpful to add guardrails and selection criteria to your process - perhaps you want all tools to have common API frameworks for interoperability, or connect with a particular infrastructure ecosystem. This allows you to bring in more stakeholders later but keep the process on track.

When defining the desired state in technology selection for the business, it's crucial to consider the "buy vs build" context. Clearly articulate whether the preferred solution involves purchasing existing technology or developing a custom solution in-house. Evaluate factors such as time-to-market, cost implications, and the need for specialized features to make an informed decision that aligns with the business's overarching goals and resources. This approach ensures a strategic and well-informed stance on whether to invest in off-the-shelf solutions or opt for in-house development based on the desired technological landscape.

-Align with Business Goals: Clearly define how the desired technology state will support and advance specific business objectives, both short and long-term. - Identify Required Capabilities: Determine the key capabilities that the technology must have. -Benchmark Best Practices: Look at industry standards and best practices to understand what technologies, processes, and systems are being used. -Stakeholders: Engage with various stakeholders, including IT experts, end-users and management. -Create a Vision Statement: Develop a concise vision statement for the desired technology state that encapsulates the goals, expected capabilities, and how it will benefit the business. -How success looks like: Define clear, measurable objectives.

In defining the desired end state it is important to first consider the business process and make sure it is optimized (removal of unnecessary steps for example using value stream mapping) Technological end state can then consider the techniques and tools needed to realize the end state (build vs buy); total cost of ownership etc.

While defining the target state, its imperative to focus on the 'What is the target state' and not focus on 'How to get to the target state'. Once the 'what' is clearly articulated and agreed, the next step should be the evaluation of the options to achieve the 'how' part.

Gone are the days when we seek a business goal and design technology solutions to fulfill that goal. Organizations need to move to a business-technology collaborative effort to drive strategy and direction. Technology is evolving rapidly and the boundaries of the possible are being challenged. It is the responsibility of the technology evangelists to also take a seat at the table to share that perspective for businesses to firm their strategy

Taking your target state work, you can map your current state assessment against the target state to see where you have gaps. A scoring matrix to prioritize those gaps is useful to help guide the next steps. This type of work is best done in conjunction with systems stakeholders teams that can provide valuable insight into aspects of use that you may not be able to see or consider, making the plan more practical but also fostering buy-in for the later steps.

Identifying the gaps and prioritisation is the key step for remediation and next steps . Gaps between the as-is and the To-be is determined not only with the technology trends but also the desired business transformation that is desired not for tomorrow but for a longer term perspective. A prioritisation of each gaps helps to define the remediation plan.

The gap analysis between the current and desired states is a critical phase in IT strategy formulation. It’s where the practicality meets the vision. This involves not just identifying the technological shortcomings but also understanding the organizational readiness for change. Tools like impact analysis and prioritization matrices are indispensable here, as they help in quantifying the gaps and setting clear priorities. This step ensures that the focus remains on strategic initiatives that offer the most significant impact on business goals, ensuring optimal allocation of resources.

Gap closing methods lead into waterfall approaches and risk making too large a bet on a small number of projects. Instead,if you have determined which factors need to be improved start by establishing reliable ways to instrument them. Then encourage continuous experimentation to remove impediments and drive improvements which move the needle.

Evaluation can be done in a variety of ways - asking vendors to provide proof of concepts for packages, or conducting a stack analysis on your own (or with your own team of experts) to help narrow the field of choices. Your earlier work creating the assessment, target state, and gap analysis will feed into this evaluation. As in earlier steps, including stakeholders in the process will help with the future buy-in for the change process that is to come.

Evaluation needs to go beyond the tick boxes on features, it requires enthusiastic participation from the business teams (across the layers) - the people who will be impacted directly. They need to own the final solution; IT will implement, handhold and support, but unless there is clear ownership of the final product along with its processes, even the best solution will not deliver.

Often when being asked to deliver or contribute to an evaluation need to ensure there is a clear and concise recommendation - including do nothing option. Expect the recommendation to be challenged with a mindset of being open to be persuaded based on data, technology patterns or teams/stakeholders perspectives. Always be ready even with the analysis as stated maybe incomplete on wrong and adapt or even missed - a blind spot. Found recommendations with justifications sets out a healthy discussions and a conclusion.

(1) Identify the benefits of new technology that will help in achieving business objectives and business end users. This can aid in planning for their training and adoption of new technology. (2) Conduct ROI analysis for both short-term and long-term goals and objectives. Technology needs and ROI must encompass both short-term and long-term objectives. It is integral to strike a balance between immediate requirements and broader strategic business objectives. Overspending or underspending could both be problems for growth and staying in line with competition.

Effectively evaluating technology alternatives involves defining clear criteria, researching features, and considering long-term viability. Assess integration compatibility, conduct thorough cost analysis, and prioritize cybersecurity to make an informed decision aligned with business goals. Piloting or trial periods provide practical insights, ensuring the selected technology supports innovation and long-term success.

This step is where the pieces come together. You now have the tools available to make a repeatable and defensible selection of your solution. In this step you should be striving to seek proposals from vendors that you know will fully meet your needs and allow them to add color to your evaluation work that you may not have been able to know or consider previously.

I think this should also factor in affordability. The best may not always be affordable. Fiscal prudence is important when taking a decision, not just the cost of acquisition, but sustained costs and growth year-on-year.

Keeping a pulse on evolving technologies, fostering seamless integration, and fostering effective stakeholder communication are essential. It's this equilibrium that fuels innovation and lays the groundwork for sustained business growth.

Progress over perfection is the guiding principle for Agility. In aiming for the best solution, too much time is spent deliberating and evaluating, leading to delays in delivering a solution. One should balance the concept of best vs what works and adopt an iterative approach to refining the solution using Agile principles.

Not only look at your own requirements in this face also look at Solutions that are available of the shelf. Why would you not be able to use it ask yourself that question, using a standard solution will have many Benefits

The hard work now pays off as you implement a solution - if you have engaged stakeholders in the earlier steps of this process, they will become champions of the change that will come from implementing the solution. To measure the effectiveness, creating measurable KPIs and benchmarking satisfaction are useful to understand perceived and measurable success.

Les besoins technologiques reposent en fait sur les besoins en USAGES des technologies. Le processus d'analyse passe en l'espèce par une analyse des comportements des utilisateurs. Et le plus souvent, la meilleure méthode c'est l'étude qualitative approfondie.

I would suggest involving the the stakeholders at every stage of the process so that they drive the change within their teams. Rewarding people who quickly adapt to changes can also be an effective way to implement the solution and managing change. Regular reviews on adoption is to be done with the teams impacted and document the concerns raised during such reviews and track it to closure to give confidence to the teams.

Don't try to implement a complete and 100% solution on day 1. After you have the first face Running you will only understand what you really need.

Comprehensive planning, structured implementation phases, clear and open communication, targeted training, meticulous testing, continuous monitoring, feedback integration for improvement, adept change management, meticulous documentation, and periodic audits constitute the essential elements contributing to successful technological implementation.

The biggest risk in this topic is that too many companies stay for too long on the status quo. A full process like described here takes a lot of time & effort. Continuous measurement, benchmarking and continuous improvement can help to reduce these efforts in the long run.

Es importante entender que la mejor solución tecnológica no necesariamente es la mejor solución para el contexto y la estrategia de negocio. Por lo que y un buen CIO, deberá definir la mejor estrategia tecnológica para facilitar la estrategia de negocio. Desarrollando las capacidades tecnológicas que el negocio necesita para diferenciarse

When selecting technology for business, beyond defining the desired state, consider factors like alignment with business strategy, prioritizing user experience, evaluating scalability, assessing interoperability, considering vendor support, emphasizing security and compliance, analyzing total cost of ownership, mitigating risks, planning for adoption and training, recognizing innovation potential, establishing feedback loops, and assessing environmental impact. This comprehensive approach ensures a strategic and well-rounded decision-making process for technology adoption that aligns with business objectives.

One important step to add is WHEN to implement the solution. Especially for plans that include target architectures or aspirational goals, companies rarely will allocate the budget needed to fully implement a large change all at once - nor should they. Breaking down those large plans into a few steps can increase the probability of success. Specifically, break into 3 groupings: 1) projects that justify themselves as a standalone - incorporate into annual budgeting and prioritize, 2) must/should do but benefit is long term - do these as part of other projects that impact the same code base - so do that architecture update with a business project and 3) opportunistic projects - good to do but not critical.

First, the CIO and CTO align with business units to understand strategic objectives, akin to aligning stars in a constellation. They analyze market trends and competitive landscapes like preparing for a chess game. Engaging stakeholders is crucial, ensuring a chorus of voices is heard. Then, they conduct a gap analysis, comparing current capabilities with desired future states, like matching puzzle pieces. This leads to a technology investment plan, carefully balancing innovation, operational efficiency, and security. Think of it as navigating a ship through uncharted waters, with the CIO, CTO, COO, and CISO as navigators, charting a course towards a tech-empowered future.