It's time to update your roadmap.
I’ve seen companies achieve great results using strategic IT roadmaps. Regardless of whether the company was trying to blaze ahead of the competition, catch up to the pack, or repay years of accumulated technology debt, the benefits of having a strategic roadmap are undeniable. Companies use roadmaps to rally around big hairy audacious goals with defined finish lines. They use roadmaps to guide and measure continuous improvement with seemingly no end in sight. A strategic IT roadmap leads to greater success by aligning short-term actions with long-term objectives.
It seems so obvious, why is it so hard?
There is nothing fundamentally new about IT roadmap planning. Technology still needs to support, enable, and accelerate your strategic objectives. However, there are some new and non-trivial adversaries that successful roadmap processes need to combat. Rapid change, increased choices, and continuous distractions are a few. These killers can put an end to the best-laid plans by making them stale and irrelevant.
So, what’s a company to do?
To fight back, companies need a roadmap process that is firm in its strategic vision but flexible and adaptable to accommodate changing conditions. Balancing between the extremes of a rigid plan and chasing the latest trends and shiny bright objects is no small feat. It requires a well-defined process to be successful.
Follow a roadmap to your roadmap.
Start with an assessment of your current state, next express your desired future state, then prioritize alternatives to create a roadmap to get there. Don’t forget to rinse and repeat these steps regularly to add the flexibility and adaptability you need to stop the killers.
Simple right? Not really, it takes resolve, vision, and in most cases, more calories than you have available in a day, so don’t hesitate to reach out when you need help.
Construction season is over. It’s time to update your roadmap.
Kevin
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