Information technology development strategy at the enterprise. Development of the IT strategy of the company using the example of a glass factory The purpose of developing it strategy

High market competition requires from its participants a high level of organizational structure and information technologies... It is the last part of the organization's development that is capable of achieving maximum economic performance indicators. In order to plan the development of an IT system in the right direction, you should special attention devote to developing an IT strategy.

What is IT Strategy?

Many heads of business companies of various levels are interested in what the concept of "IT strategy" is. In other words, you can define the concept as a developed development project information systems organizations. IN this document specialists must determine for management information resources and technologies that are needed for the functioning of the production process.

The strategy should determine the priority directions of development, the level of importance of the system, its need for individual departments and the business as a whole. Automation will minimize costs and increase production indicators... There is no need to think whether a concept is necessary or not. For any enterprise, this is a necessity that determines the important things of building an information service. The strategy includes organizational components - personnel, specialists, recruiting specialists, and the infrastructure of the department - networks, servers, equipment, and more.

IT Strategy Objectives

An organization's IT strategy includes making the best use of available information technology, which is generally responsible for fulfilling the company's mission.

The main goals of the it strategy include:

compliance with the main priority directions of the organization's development and its tasks;
creating conditions in which resources can be used as efficiently as possible;
using resources appropriately;
taking into account the risks of using technologies.

Types of strategy

In the process of developing an it strategy, the priority factors of the company's activity are taken into account. Depending on the size of the enterprise and the level of their development, there are three main types of this document:

Simple - formed for small organizations with minimal use of information systems.
Average - includes the development of goals and the implementation of the necessary systems for the development of the structure with a small budget project.
Detailed - a comprehensive program with a full description of the organizational part and information technology infrastructure. It is fully based on the stated goals and plans of the organization.

Each of these types consists of:

a short description of the company and its activities,
IT processes,
business information support problems,
basic requirements for ensuring communication between systems and divisions of the enterprise,
functional and technical architecture,
project budget and portfolio.

The need for an IT strategy

The need to develop an IT strategy should not be underestimated. It is very important for an enterprise to understand when exactly the moment comes to accept this part of the management of organizations:

the current informatization system does not correspond to the real needs of doing business;
the emergence of new divisions, expansion of activities, the opening of new offices and branches, general structural and organizational transformations;
direct dependence of business and information technology;
systematic implementation of the strategic objectives and functions of the organization;
the emergence of new technologies on the market that will contribute to the improvement of business operations;
cost optimization;
the problem is in the coordination and principles of the existing IT system;
improvement of corporate governance.

Also, the concept depends on the type of business activity and its size. The stability of the IT department ensures that the enterprise will achieve its main management goals and mission.

Approaches to developing IT strategy

Before starting the development of an IT strategy, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the current proposals of the information technology market and select those components that will maximally solve the problems and needs of the organization. Working with “ancient” equipment is not only difficult, but inefficient, so important system components should be professionally implemented.

In order to properly coordinate the functioning of the unit, you need to adhere to the main approaches:

lack of a concept and strategy is a common problem of government agencies and departments that underestimate the need for this area of \u200b\u200bmanagement;
planning of technical software resources. It is necessary to increase the productivity of funds by at least 25% annually;
avant-garde - gradual and partial introduction of new technologies and developments in the IT field;
focus on the key factors of a successful organization. New technologies must use the criteria for institutional and industry success.

The IT strategy interacts with the core business strategy. The technological side of enterprise development should flow from the main mission and goals of the organization.
"Alignment" - strategic development information systems, which should directly influence the business strategy and redirect it to the correct vector of development.

Stages of developing an IT strategy

The development of an enterprise IT strategy should be carried out in accordance with generally accepted rules and developed approaches.

The project for creating and forming a strategy includes the following stages:

1. Preparatory work: analysis and study of all business processes of the organization, determination of their relationship and improvement of information on the principles of managing it strategy. At this stage, it is important to determine the components of the organizational and production structures enterprises to highlight the role of informatization.

2. Direct development of IT strategy:

information systems audit - carried out to determine the level of compliance of the company's tasks with the systems;
modeling - analysis of the main and additional processes of activity from the side of their information support;
setting goals for the development of technologies and their objectives;
formation of a project to create an information system, in which the integration of operating components is determined;
technical and economic confirmation of the project based on performance indicators;
making a decision on the signing of the strategy and its implementation.

The project should be carried out in cooperation with all departments of the organization. This is the only way to comprehensively analyze the current state of both structures and information department... The team should consist of IT professionals, managers, economists and executives. Together, they will achieve an optimally developed strategy and highlight the priority areas of the company's development.

What should be considered in the strategy?

When developing information technologies, an organization needs to correctly compare problems and directions for their solution.

To do this, it is necessary to take into account the main components of the concept:

analysis of IT activities at the moment;
the requirements of the organization's objectives and their relevance to IT;
general vision of the technological side - architecture, management, software;
developed projects taking into account the timing and budget to achieve a full-fledged structure of information technology functioning.

The IT goals and portfolio are the most important parts of the overall vision. Proposals should be predicted on the basis of actual performance and propose concrete methods for solving problems and reducing costs. Business requirements and IT must be in a single relationship to achieve business goals. This is a kind of business plan with specific development directions.

IT strategy is a comprehensive description of the development of the enterprise information system in 3 aspects: current, future and strategic. Each of them positions the state of the system necessary for the normal operation of the company and the full use of all resources.
Information technology for many areas of business is a key unit in the development of an organization. It is important for leaders to identify the systems that need to be acquired and deployed to improve performance. A correctly and competently drawn up strategic plan with a budget and analysis will form common goal business.

Introduction

Today russian business is experiencing one of the most difficult and turning points in its recent history. Competition in the domestic market is intensifying, both from outside domestic enterprisesand with international corporations. The largest foreign players are actively entering the Russian market.

We can confidently assert that those enterprises that will be able to adapt to these conditions in time, enhance their competitiveness, improve the quality of their products and services will become leaders in their fields for a fairly long time.

Is it currently possible to accomplish these tasks without adequate use information technologies? The answer is unequivocal - No! IT in modern world globalization, huge corporations, constantly improving the quality of products and services, shortening the cycle of developing new products, mergers and acquisitions is the tool that binds the entire organization into a single organism, allows you to manage it as a single integral object and ultimately not only survive, but and break out into the leaders and achieve their strategic goals. Of course, IT is not self-sufficient. It is impossible to simply implement the "necessary" IS in the organization and get an increase in the competitiveness of the enterprise. Only competent and thoughtful use of IT can lead to significant results for the business as a whole.

What is the key to strategic alignment of business and IT development? According to the author - the presence enterprise IT development strategies or IT strategies... Of course, just the fact of having a certain document with the name "IT strategy" will not change anything. Only if there is a strategic planning process in the enterprise that involves all divisions of the organization, including and IT servicecan be developed as business strategytaking into account the new opportunities offered by IT, and IT strategyconsistent with the development of the company's business and aimed at achieving the strategic business goals of the organization. Thus, summing up, it can be argued that there is no business strategy for a company without IT strategies, so no IT strategies without a business strategy.

The purpose of this work is to describe the development process IT strategies company on the example of a large plant for the production of glass containers.

IT strategy Is a conceptual design consistent with the business strategy iT development plan... This is a document that defines the role of an organization's IP in the implementation of its strategic plans and describing how this role should be performed.

It consists of the rational use of information technologies available in the organization that meet and support the mission of the enterprise.

Process of creation IT strategies begins with setting goals for the information technology available at the enterprise and determining the initial directions of development. Then measurable performance indicators are found out, the value of which is compared with the desired values. The result may be changes in the activities of the enterprise. After setting goals and a list of measurable indicators, the main task for the management is to achieve these goals, and for the management - to make changes that contribute to their implementation.

I. Business Strategy of the Company

This section describes high-level strategic management objectives that define the context for IT strategies, i.e., Company strategy, Requirements Government agencies or other groups of influence. This description will help the management of the Company and the IT department determine where the Company's Strategy and IT strategy will be able to support and develop each other. These strategic elements are fundamental to all future work.

II. Audit of the current state of informatization of the Company

This section describes the current state of the IT infrastructure of the Company, the information systems used, the organizational structure of the IT service, its powers and tasks.

III. IT strategy of the Company

The third part of the document gives a description of the main vector IT strategies and how this IT strategy supports overall strategy Companies.

IT Strategy should determine not only the technological aspects, but also the principles of the IT Department, as well as its organizational culture... The Guiding Principles provide the framework for rules and relationships that will guide all future actions.

The Vision and Mission underpinning the work of the IT Department ensure the shared values \u200b\u200bof the Company and the IT Department. The Guiding Principles capture these values \u200b\u200bfor the purposeful development of organizational culture.

Also, this section contains a description of the initiatives (projects) to be implemented. They are a logical continuation of the Mission and Objectives of the IT Department and the Company. Initiatives can be of two types. The first is the continuation, curtailment, or development of initiatives (projects) that are currently underway. The second is the preparation and launch of completely new projects. Priorities should be defined for all initiatives, separating those that most support the achievement of the strategic goals, and those that, although necessary, cannot be classified as critical.

IV. Implementation of the Company's IT strategy

This section defines the requirements for organizational structure, distribution of roles and responsibilities of the Company's leaders in the implementation IT Strategies.

Implementation of the above IT strategies is impossible without a significant change in the mechanisms for managing the Company's IT activities. On the one hand, these changes are designed to increase the transparency and manageability of the IT block of the enterprise, and on the other hand, to provide IT managers with real mechanisms to influence the implementation of not only the Company's IT projects, but also business projects with an IT component.

V. Further development of the Company's informatization

Developed by IT strategy The Company cannot be a certain invariable document that is not subject to revision and adaptation to the changing conditions of the Company. IT strategy should be a flexible tool to achieve the strategic goals of the Company in the face of constant changes in both the external environment and the strategic goals themselves.

In this regard, the most optimal design is IT strategies by the "oncoming" wave method, when the general direction of the Company's IT development for the next 4-5 years is set, but at the same time the main (the most priority this moment) investment IT projects are being implemented in the next 1.5-2.5 years.

Revision IT strategies The Company should take place on a regular basis as part of the Company's IT Board meetings. Responsibility for preparing proposals for revision IT strategies The company lies with the IT service and in particular with the analytical department.

Vi. Conclusion

Within the framework of this thesis, the task was to show the development process IT strategies companies by example IT strategies glass factory.

This work can serve as a basis for the development of informatization of the considered enterprise.

Today, many companies are investing heavily in information technology, and the degree of business dependence on them is constantly growing. Typical phenomena in many companies are dissatisfaction with the current state of informatization of the enterprise, low return on investment in IT, the purchase of hardware and software, which will never be used, ordering the development and implementation of applications that no one needs, misunderstanding in which direction the IT infrastructure of the enterprise should be developed, which technologies and when should be implemented, and this despite the fact that there are many in technologies as such (although and not all) CIOs know very well. These problems usually indicate a lack of a sound IT strategy in the company.

What is IT strategy

ABOUT strategic planning in the field of IT in Russia began to think relatively recently. From point of view modern management a strategy is understood as a long-term (usually multi-year) action plan aimed at the development of the company and the achievement of certain results of its activities, as a rule - one or another competitive advantages and financial indicators (that is, some target state of the company). The need for strategic planning usually arises from rapidly changing business conditions.

An IT strategy usually means a long-term plan of action for the development of information technology in a company (that is, its IT infrastructure, information systems, IT department). IT strategy is an important part of corporate strategy, but modern realities are such that usually very little attention is paid to its development, and only after a certain number of mistakes and wasted funds, the company management begins to think about strategic planning in the field of IT.

IT development planning approaches

There are several different approaches to developing IT strategies - from complete absence clear plans and IT financing on a leftover basis until a balanced alignment of IT development plans with business development plans.

The most common approach today is perhaps capacity expansion planning. technical means without a clear definition of the goals of such actions. Not being a strategy in the literal sense of the word, this approach is more or less justified for companies that have stable and unchanging processes and do not face the threat of being crowded out of the market by competitors (for example, for state enterpriseshaving a monopoly on certain activities).

An approach that is also not strategic and based on attempts to implement newest technologies without considering the real need for them and without planning as such. This approach can be very risky and expensive to implement, so few companies can afford it.

Another approach, much more balanced and less extreme than the previous one, is to identify the most significant areas of the company and to prioritize their automation. With this approach, it is very important to highlight the most important areas (at the same time, the management of the company does not always have full agreement on this issue). This approach has become widespread in some western countries in the early and mid 90s. One of the classic approaches to the formation of an IT strategy is its creation on the basis of an existing business strategy. In this case, for the IT department, just like for other departments of the company, a plan is developed that supports the strategy of the entire company, taking into account that the IT department is a support service that supports the main business processes of the company.

Recently, an approach based not only on considering the IT department as one of the company's departments, but also on taking into account the influence of information technology on business development as a factor that can provide the business with additional strategic advantages... It is this approach that is recommended in the books of the ITIL library (you can read more about ITIL in the article devoted to this topic). As part of this relatively new approach, the development of an IT strategy is an analysis of the company's business processes and the need for their automation, the mission, goals and objectives of the IT department are formulated and, on their basis, the main directions of development in the provision of IT services, IT infrastructure are determined. and business applications, staffing and organizational structure of the information service.

What gives a company an IT strategy creation

The lack of an IT strategy most often leads to the fact that the IT department is mainly engaged in the implementation of projects that are not directly related either to the strategic goals of the company or to each other and solve highly specialized local tasks, as well as "patching holes" (this is what it only takes b aboutthe largest part of the IT budget of many companies), formed as a result of already completed similar projects and formed with their help a "zoo" of technologies. At the same time, the return on investment in such projects, since they are carried out without taking into account the requirements of business development, may turn out to be more than doubtful. In addition, such a situation causes a negative and dismissive attitude of the company's employees towards the specialists of IT departments and their activities, and they themselves, no matter how highly qualified they are, are beginning to be seen as service personnel, and not as full-fledged participants in business development.

The presence of an IT strategy, presented in the form of a formalized document, allows you to effectively develop the IT infrastructure based on the correct representation of the requirements that should be implemented for successful development business of the company, as well as carry out pre-planned steps, moving towards the achievement of the set goals. The strategy should be a tool for making tactical decisions that are consistent with the company's business goals.

Note, however, that in a constantly changing market, the IT strategy can also be modified, while this process is also desirable to formalize.

In such a situation, the IT department should have not only system administrators and developers, but also business analysts who can assess the current state of affairs of the company, predict the development of its business, describe the company's business processes, suggest ways to improve them, and based on this information formulate requirements for future IT projects.

Naturally, to implement an IT strategy, the IT department needs understanding and support from the company's management. The main problem in this case is that the implementation of IT projects is very often perceived as another waste of funds, any mistakes made by IT departments are immediately noticed by other employees, while in the presence of a successfully operating IT infrastructure and business applications, work carried out on their support, usually goes unnoticed. Justifying an IT budget and, more importantly, proving the real return on investment in IT is now considered almost an art that is not available to every head of the IT department. The criteria for evaluating the success of an IT project are often poorly formalized, and this increases their subjectivity - after all, it is not always possible to correctly assess the contribution of information technologies as such to the success of the entire business.

What needs to be defined in an IT strategy

First of all, the document reflecting the IT strategy should formulate the goals and objectives of the company's business, implemented using information technologies, on their basis, the long-term goals and directions of development of information technologies in the company and the functions of the IT department should be determined. The same document should reflect conceptual approaches to the implementation of various strategic tasks (for example, which tasks are outsourced). Finally, based on the analysis current state information technology and IT departments should define a plan to achieve their target state and formulate criteria for assessing the success of the implementation of the stages of this plan.

It should be noted, however, that an IT strategy is a conceptual document that should not contain unnecessary technical detailsbecause its audience is not limited to IT professionals. All technical details of project implementation, description of organizational procedures, specifications of technical means can be contained in annexes to the IT strategy or in other documents.

In conclusion, we note that the costs of developing an IT strategy, regardless of whether it is carried out by the company's employees themselves or by specialists from a third-party consulting firm, are significantly lower than the costs of solving problems associated with its absence. However, developing an IT strategy hardly makes sense without the involvement of the CIO and company management. It is also meaningless in the absence of a business strategy - in this case, it may be worth limiting the approach discussed at the beginning of the article, based on planning the growth of computing power, or choosing the most priority areas of activity for automation.

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