The Visioning Phase

The Visioning Phase
• After organizing the planning project, the focus of this phase is to

obtain a thorough understanding of the business situation, direction,
and vision of how the business will operate in the future.
Initiate and Manage the Project
• Finalize Objectives, Goals, and Scope
1. Review the current business situation, business needs, business
process improvements, and future business direction.
2. Analyze the business situation and identify how the business affects
the IS situation and direction as well as how IS affects the business.
3. Review the current IS situation, including business applications,
information repositories, technical infrastructure, organization, and
processes.
4. Assess the current IS environment relative to business needs, including
its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as it pertains to the
opportunities and threats faced by the business.
5. Compare the IS situation relative to the industry as a whole.
6. Identify short-term recommendations or quick hits that can be
implemented immediately.
7. Determine the high-level IS direction, including the vision, mission, key
objectives, and strategies.
8. Develop the specific direction for the business applications portfolio and
business process improvements.
9. Identify the required infrastructure necessary to support the business.
10. Identify the IS organizational impact and staff requirements.
11. Determine the IS processes requiring improvement.
12. Formulate the implementation plan, including specific projects,
priorities, and the roadmap.
13. Identify an estimate of costs and business benefits.
14. Develop the communication plan, business liaisons, and governance
necessary to implement planning as an ongoing process.
• Identify Resources, Roles, and Responsibilities; Interview
Participants
• At the beginning of the planning effort, evaluate whether the
organization has the proper resources to complete the IS strategic
planning process successfully and in a timely manner.
• Document the specific roles and responsibilities of everyone involved
in the planning effort. Identify the roles of the business and IS as well
as the consultant.
• Document the responsibilities of the various groups involved in the
planning process, and identify their level of authority and decision-
making responsibility.
• Identify individuals to interview or converse with as part of the planning process.
• In a typical organization, plan to interview the following individuals:
1. The entire executive management team.
2. The level of management immediately below the executives.
3. A few key individuals in the business organization: This could be a master
scheduler, someone in shipping or customer service. Typically, these are the
“go to” people when there are questions in the business, and they have usually
been with the organization for numerous years. It can also be helpful to
interview a few individuals new to the organization because they may have an
interesting perspective.
4. The members of the IS steering committee.
5. The IS management team.
6. A few key individuals within the IS organization
• Confirm Deliverables and Work Plan
• Review the planning methodology to develop the table of contents
for your strategic plan
• Draft Deliverable Templates
• Right at the beginning of the planning process is an excellent time to
draft the deliverable documents. The documents will become a
repository for the planning information as it is developed. Then it can
be reviewed by individuals at each milestone and can be updated
through an iterative process.
• Announce the Project; Conduct Project Orientation
• Next, announce the strategic planning project to those involved in the
planning process and interviews.
• Establish Ongoing Project Governance, Communications, and Status
Report
• Determine who to keep abreast of the planning project and how
often they should receive updates.
Review and Confirm Project Plan
• Understand the Business Situation and Vision
• Review Business Documentation
• Business plan, planning material, brochures, sales and marketing literature,
and product brochures, etc.
• Develop Business Interview Questions, Surveys, and Workshop Structure
• Surveys can be helpful to get quantitative data. If you have properly
established an internal network, most of this work is little more than a
formality, making sure everyone knows what each has already explained
informally.
• Schedule Conduct Document Review and Confirm
Document and Confirm the Business Analysis
• Document Current Business Description, Vision, Values, Goals,
Strategies, Direction, Operating Vision, Business Projects, and
Initiatives
• Document Industry Business Trends, Business, and Customer
Requirements
• Document Business Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
Threats
• Document the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(SWOT) of the business. This is important because these aspects may
have an impact on IS, and there may be opportunities for IS to
improve the weaknesses or capitalize on the strengths.
• Document Business Impact on IS
• If a company has a business strategy of globalization, IS should be
able to handle global requirements.
• If a company has a strategy of acquisitions and divestitures, systems
should be scalable to meet the changing business needs.
• If a business is weak in project management and execution, IS can
utilize project management methodologies and techniques to help
the organization improve.
• IS can assist the business in many different ways. Here are some
examples:
• Provide unique product and service features.
• Reduce product development time.
• Allow the delivery of customized services.
• Open new channels and market niches.
• Produce higher quality results.
• Fill product positioning gaps.
• Block channel access.
• Increase buyer switching costs
• IS and the Business Strategies
• Provide superior product availability worldwide
• Deliver outstanding customer service and support
• Rapidly pursue targeted growth opportunities
• Create high-value, differentiated products for growth.
• Be the best cost producer
• Manage the business globally
• Maintain an environment where people want to work
• IS and the Business Goals
• Achieve financial targets and credibility
• Merge to a common architecture
• Transition selling and servicing organizations to achieve competitive
advantage
• Develop strong third-party relationships
• Develop a strong corporate identity

The Visioning Phase

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• After organizing the planning project, the focus of this phase is to

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