TABLE OF CONTENTS What are the processes to introduce and execute IT performance management? We use a four-step approach to manage the IT performance cycle (see Figure 6.12) involving:
Strategy planning and implementation (steps 1 and 2).
Tactical planning and control (step 3).
Operational planning and control (step 4).
The strategic, tactical and operational planning and control cycles go at a different pace; however, the content is deeply related.
The usual strategic planning and control cycle covers a three-year forward-looking timeframe which is updated once every year. There is a lot of business unit-related activity that consolidates in the strategic masterplan (introduced in section 6.2). This strategic masterplan becomes the basis for verification/control of every management decision with a strategic impact for the next years. Within this masterplan the configuration of IT is described, resulting in the IT performance management grid. This grid is the instrument for directing and controlling the flow of money that is involved in IT.
(Re-)design of the strategy is triggered by:
changing requirements/demand from the environment in which the business operates;
new technology enabling new strategies.
A clear distinction between business strategy and IT strategy is not needed. The two go hand in hand and are two flipsides of the same coin. Whether we consider this to be redesign or design is irrelevant. In this step we need to be...
