1. What triggered the need for a new IT strategy?

2. Who is performing the IT strategic planning for this company?

3. What steps are they talking to do IT strategic planning? Show evidence from the case and relate it to the steps that were covered in class.

4. Among the different steps needed to implement Business/IT alignment. Which of these steps, other than IT strategic planning was done if any?

5. List the IT governance scope elements; were any of them mentioned in this case? Specify.

A leading U.S. company took a deep look at its IT organization and refreshed its strategy to fit shifting business goals.

Situation

Three years ago, an automotive company’s IT organization had undergone a major transformation based on an IT strategy and roadmap that A.T. Kearney had helped define. Now, business priorities had changed, and the company was planning a geographic expansion. The company turned to us to review the current state and refresh the IT strategy to align with business objectives for the next five years.

Approach

A.T. Kearney conducted collaborative workshops, interviewed stakeholders in the IT organization, and facilitated discussions with teams from related business groups to map out the road ahead for the IT department. Our assessment included five dimensions:

• Review the business strategy and priorities to formulate an IT strategy that meets business needs.
• Review emerging trends in technology and IT management, and determine focus areas for future investment.
• Assess the current state of IT functions across key quantitative and qualitative elements.
• Determine adjustments to strategic pillars based on emerging business and IT priorities.
• Define key initiatives, and create an implementation roadmap.

Synthesizing information from the workshops, interviews, and team discussions helped define a new IT strategy and generate an implementation roadmap.

Impact and Advantage

Our approach helped define a clear and compelling strategic initiatives roadmap that had a minimal impact on operations. This was complemented by a strategy for change and implementation management along with a process model with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Outside-in perspectives on emerging IT trends and specific recommendations on setting up a two-speed IT organization—with both a digital workforce and an assessment framework to define a regional IT support model—was well-received and helped the company visualize its future and identify investment opportunities to support its journey.