What's your IT vision and mission?

1 What is an IT vision?

An IT vision is a clear and concise statement that describes the desired future state of your IT function. It answers the question: What do you want your IT to achieve or enable for your business in the long term? An IT vision should be aligned with your business vision, inspire and motivate your IT team and stakeholders, and reflect your IT values and culture.

2 What is an IT mission?

An IT mission is a brief and specific statement that defines the purpose and scope of your IT function. It answers the question: What does your IT do or provide for your business in the present? An IT mission should be aligned with your business mission, communicate your IT value proposition, and focus on your IT core competencies and capabilities.

3 Why do you need an IT vision and mission?

An IT vision and mission are essential for creating and executing an effective IT strategy, as they help to set clear and realistic IT goals and objectives that support your business strategy and outcomes. Additionally, these documents can be used to prioritize and allocate your IT resources and investments, measure and evaluate your IT performance, communicate and align expectations with business stakeholders and customers, as well as foster a shared IT identity and culture that drives collaboration and innovation.

4 How to create an IT vision and mission?

Creating an IT vision and mission is not a one-time or top-down exercise, rather it requires a collaborative and iterative process between your IT team and key business stakeholders. An IT assessment should be conducted to understand the current IT situation, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Additionally, your business vision and mission should be reviewed to ensure alignment with your IT vision and mission. Brainstorming and drafting the statements with clear, simple, and positive language is essential. It is also important to validate and refine the statements with feedback from the IT team and business stakeholders. Communication and promotion of the statements to the IT team and business stakeholders should follow. Lastly, review and update the statements periodically to reflect changes in your IT and business environment.

5 Examples of IT vision and mission statements

To give you some inspiration, here are some examples of IT vision and mission statements from different industries and organizations. For instance, one organization's IT vision is to be the trusted partner and enabler of digital transformation for their business, while their IT mission is to deliver secure, reliable, and innovative IT solutions and services that support their business goals and enhance their customer experience. Another organization's IT vision is to empower their employees and customers with cutting-edge IT capabilities, and their IT mission is to provide high-quality IT infrastructure, applications, and support that enable productivity, collaboration, and satisfaction. Lastly, an organization may have an IT vision to leverage IT as a strategic asset and a competitive advantage for their business, with a mission to optimize IT performance and value through continuous improvement, automation, and integration.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?