Chapter 3
The Strategy Pillar
Chapter 2 focused on defining and contextualizing how information technology (IT) relates to the rest of an operating business. Chapters 3 to 5 address the relationship between strategy and IT. These chapters are organized according to the IT Pillars Model (IPM) framework and trace the path leading from strategy to delivery of IT services.
This chapter covers the Strategy Pillar, Chapter 4 covers the Project Management Pillar, and Chapter 5 covers the Operational Excellence Pillar. To provide some additional context, Figure 3.1 illustrates the steps involved in optimizing and assessing IT.
Figure 3.1 Steps for Optimizing and Assessing IT
The materials covered in Chapters 3 to 5 relate directly to the second step shown in Figure 3.1: “Assess the Situation,” or assessing the current IT function against the desired end state. As Chapters 3 to 5 address how to assess an IT function against its desired end state, it is assumed that a good understanding of the desired end state exists. In other words, Chapters 3 to 5 assume that the goals for the IT organization are known. My focus in this book is on optimizing and assessing IT; I do not cover topics such as how to create a strategy here.
FROM STRATEGY TO DELIVERY
As a company's strategy represents its mission, vision, and objectives, it is important to understand how, and to what degree, IT supports that ...
