How do you define your IT Strategy and align it to the Business Strategy. There is an answer based on the Value Discipline

1. IT STRATEGY GUIDELINES
Saikat Ghosh
MBCS CITP

2. BUSINESS STRATEGY
Any company must choose one of these value disciplines
and act upon it consistently*
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Operational Excellence
 Product Leadership
 Customer Intimacy
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*The Discipline of Market Leaders by Treacy and Wiersema

3. THE VALUE DISCIPLINE
Operational
Excellence
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
Value
Discipline
Product Customer
Leadership Intimacy
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4. OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
 These companies stress on providing a reasonable
quality at a very low price.
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Focus on efficiency, streamlining operations, supply
chain management, no frills, volume centric.
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5. PRODUCT LEADERSHIP
 These companies concentrate on offering products
that push performance boundaries.
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Their proposition to customers is an offer of best
product in the marketplace.
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6. CUSTOMER INTIMACY
 These companies excel in customer attention and
customer service.
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Focus in customer relationship, lifetime value
concept, reliability and customer expectation.
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7. THE TECHNOLOGY DISCIPLINE
Internal
Process
Technologies
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
Value
Discipline
Development Relationship
Technologies Technologies
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8. VALUE BASED TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
Aligned with your business value discipline you
choose your technology focus
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Internal Process Technologies
 Development Technologies
 Relationship Technologies
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9. INTERNAL PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES
 Is concerned with the way the company works
internally and focuses on operational efficiency.
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 It helps to deliver results in performance which is
based on the effectiveness of internal processes.
WORKFLOW AUTOMATION
RFID
MOBILITY
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10. DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES
 Focus on developing new products, new markets
and new business for the company to engage in.
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Helps the company’s opportunity capture and
analysis process, the product development process
and the company’s market opportunity analysis
system
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
DATA WAREHOUSING
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11. RELATIONSHIP TECHNOLOGIES
 the systems a company uses to liaise and to
communicate with its external trading partners: its
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
customers and supplier
 It builds upon the company's internal process capabilities
and take that operational excellence capability out into
the trading marketplaces.
CRM
ANALYTICS
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12. HOW TO DECIDE ?
 Who are your top customers and products ?
 What margin do you make via each of these customers
and products?
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 How reliable is the technology platform on which these
products are based ?
 Is the technology platform translatable into other product
areas ?
 How dependent are your customers on you for the
product they buy ?
 What development programs are you doing for your top
customers ?
 Are commercial operations and technical people all
involved in development programs , and each 12
accountable for the program success ?

13. TECHNOLOGY ENABLEMENT
 Differentiate products and develop new products
 Develop new business opportunities
IT Strategy Guidelines - Saikat Ghosh
 Reduce costs of its operations
 Facilitate strategic change
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