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IT Strategy & Transformation


Cornerstone works hand-in-hand with senior IT and business executives to coordinate and align their strategies for enabling growth and driving operational efficiencies.  Through our IT Strategy & Transformation Framework, a target state of business and IT capabilities are defined and translated into a strategic roadmap.  The roadmap lays out an integrated program of initiatives to close any existing capability gaps and/or to address existing operational pain points for driving new business growth.

 

Cornerstone IT Strategy & Transformation Framework

 

Our framework ensures tight alignment of these initiatives with the overall business objectives and strategies that drive the need for change and capability improvements and, as a result, enables executives to make IT investment decisions that generate value and return on investment. 
We also recognize that not all organizations are created equal nor are faced with the same pressing business challenges.  Relative to their competitive positioning along the value disciplines of customer intimacy, product excellence or operational efficiency, different capabilities are warranted.  This requires a strategy that is custom-fit to their specific needs and situation.  The following questions below serve as a guide for developing a tailored IT strategy.

Business Drivers / Context

  • What is the value chain of the organization?
  • What major changes are taking place in the market, competition, suppliers and business environment?
  • What are key factors for success?
  • What business capabilities are required to succeed?
  • What are its core competencies and how are these likely to change over time?

 

Current State Assessment

  • What is the current state of business and IT processes, information technology and organization?
  • What are the differentiating capabilities of the organization?
  • What are the pain points in business processes, information technology and organization?
  • What are the constraints that need to be considered in designing a future state?

 

Future Sate Development

  • What should be the future state of business processes given organizational constraints?
  • What is the future state of IT architecture, infrastructure and applications?
  • What will be future roles and responsibilities for IT and other functions?
  • What activities will be performed locally versus offshore / nearshore / offsite?
  • What organizational capabilities will be developed in-house?
  • What services will be outsourced?

 

Transformation Program

  • How big is the gap between current state and future state for business processes, information technology and organizational issues?
  • What initiatives are required to bridge the gap between current and future states?
  • What is the business case for each of these initiatives?
  • How should the initiatives be prioritized?
  • How to integrate the new initiatives with existing initiatives?
  • What constraints need to be kept in mind as implementation roadmap is developed?
  • What risks exist and how to mitigate them?

 

IT strategy development is not a one-time event, but rather an iterative process that incorporates the various learning from ongoing plan execution.  A review and refresh of an IT strategy every year will ensure continued alignment to changing business needs and priorities.