Stage 4
Align your council's long-term goals with your IT strategy
The last step of your preparation
Why do I need to align my IT strategy?
Just as your digital transformation strategy should be linked to your council’s long-term goals, the IT strategy should be a supporting strategy that enables the overall digital transformation. This is necessary because there will be a significant amount of work to be carried out in the IT space and it needs structure and focus. Failure to align these strategies will cause unnecessary headaches, roadblocks, and delays throughout your implementation project.
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How do I align my IT strategy to support digital transformation goals?
Simply focus on delivering quantifiable and qualitative IT services that clearly align with your council’s digital transformation objectives and KPIs. Start by reviewing existing systems, platforms, networks and information management—such as spatial and reporting data—to see how they impact the overarching strategic direction.
Look for synergies that indicate you’re on the right track to improve the business value of IT. Are all investments and resourcing approaches contributing to a positive customer experience, improved operational efficiency and an optimised lifecycle of strategic assets? If not, make adjustments to ensure the IT strategy underpins broader transformative efforts.
How can I evaluate my current IT landscape?
It’s important to recognise that agile practices are the new normal. Traditional IT Service Management frameworks are becoming redundant, replaced by a more responsive IT landscape.
The future for councils is to optimise IT service delivery for different circumstances; you need to meet customer demand for better digital experiences, and meet council objectives to reduce costs, maintain stability and improve resilience and security.
Remember too, that your customers are heavily influenced by their experience of consumer technology. They want digital services that offer speed, immediate feedback, and 24/7 availability - these expectations should be front of mind for councils as they evaluate their current IT landscape.
What makes up an IT strategy?
An effective IT strategy is aligned to the council's vision and digital transformation strategy. Typically, that means it should: enable a modernised back-office, provide customers with a seamless digital experience, provide a strong foundation of data security and privacy, and assist Council to make highly-informed decisions.The IT strategy should also be flexible enough to continually adjust to changes in Council’s goals for digital transformation.
What should I measure?
Measure the business value of IT as a result of cost optimisation and improved service delivery to customers. An IT strategy aligned with strategic digital transformation objectives should also be measured on similar KPIs as executives report to Council and ratepayers.
Digital Transformation Hub
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