IT Strategic Plan, Part 1
Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the "Wobbly Wheels Case Study" and the following chapters in the textbook: Chapters 8, 9, 12 and 14 (as assigned in class).
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to apply the course concepts to begin development of an Information Technology Strategic Plan (ITSP) to support the strategic direction of Wobbly Wheels Distribution Company (WW). This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcomes to enable you to:
- identify, define, and explain the concepts of information technology governance and management IT Strategic Plan for Wobbly Wheels Distribution Company
Carol, the new CIO at WW, has asked you to write an IT Strategic Plan that she can use to guide the direction for her organization. The ITSP will be developed in two parts. This assignment covers Part 1; Part 2 will be covered in the next class assignment. Together, they will form an ITSP that has been tailored to the course material covered in this class. You may work for an organization that has an ITSP, and it would be a good idea for you to take a look at it, but it will likely be structured a little differently from this one. Each organization develops an ITSP that will work for them.
Assignment
You will develop Part 1 of the ITSP for Wobbly Wheels, using the outline below. Each of the topics to be included in your outline is covered in the textbook readings assigned thus far; use the Index to locate specific relevant portions of the text, and to locate additional ideas that may be included in chapters not yet assigned. In addition to the course materials, at least one external resource (resource other than those provided in the class) must be used. Two or more cited references will earn top credit. Use a separate References page to list just the references you have cited. Remember to use the APA formatting rules and correctly cite and reference your sources with APA format. Use the Grading Rubric to be sure you have covered everything. Submit your paper as a Microsoft Word document, or a
document that can be read using Word, with your last name included in the filename.
Please use this outline to build your IT Strategic Plan. Use the numbering and headings shown below.
Part One
1. Business Statement - Summarize in one paragraph the business of WW. Refer to Case Study.
2. Business Strategic Objectives - From the information in the Case Study, list the three strategic objectives. Next add a new strategic objective of your own - one that you consider important to the current and future health of WW's business. It should be a statement of how the management team would improve the business of WW.
3. IT Vision and Mission Statement - Write one paragraph with a vision and mission statement for the Information Technology Department at WW. Use what you learn from the case study to create your own idea for the vision statement; and use the case study situation at WW to write the mission statement for the IT department. Refer to Chapter 9, Step 2 "Define Your Future Vision." If you need help on a mission statement, do a little research on the web; you will find many examples of IT mission statements. 3/29/2015 2
4. Governance - Using the textbook and the case study, describe in two or three paragraphs how the IT governance process should work for WW. Carol wants to engage the other senior leaders,so include: who the participants are, what their roles are (why they are members of the governance body), what governance methodology should be established, what responsibilities the governance body would have, and how they would prioritize IT projects. Refer to the Table of Contents for the textbook, and look in the Index under G - Governance for multiple resources in the textbook.
5. Inventory of Current IT Projects - Using the information in the Case Study, you will use the table provided to describe the current systems in use and the IT resources allocated to their support.
Copy and complete the table below, creating additional rows as needed to cover all current systems at WW, then write a brief introductory paragraph to the table. The paragraph should come first in your ITSP, to explain what the table is providing. Refer to the Index of the textbook, I - IT Portfolio Management/Inventory of Projects.
Current System Function/ Description
Strategic
Goal
aligned to
Business
unit/
department
Business
Benefits
IT
Resources
(people,
equipment)
The "right" and "wrong" answers have to do with whether or not you correctly incorporated the course concepts from the textbook and addressed all parts of the assignment. You need to do some external research on at least one aspect of the assignment - your choice - and incorporate it and cite/reference it in APA format in your response. The content of the mission and vision statements you create is not as
important as that it makes sense in light of the course content and the Case Study. Use the Rubric below to be sure you have covered all aspects of the assignment.