Volume 8, March 27, 2000

The authors contend that "there are two distinct aspects of strategic technology planning. One is socioeconomic and the other is pragmatic/technical." (p.1) "The differences between socioeconomic objectives—which are essentially strategic—and technical goals—which are primarily operational—are non-trivial: while the former need to be stable and comprehensive, the latter need to be agile and responsive to rapid changes in technology and in users’ needs." (p. 2)

"The motivations for strategic technology planning that were most frequently mentioned [by the 150 technology officers queried by the authors] were the socioeconomic ones of:

• aligning technology with other institutional priorities;
• disseminating knowledge about technology needs and constraints;
• building alliances with key decision-makers;
• lobbing for (and obtaining) financial and other resources;
• addressing existing technology needs; and
• keeping an eye on the leading edge." (p. 2)

"Understanding the non-technological aspects of technology planning can help shed light on why so much of technology planning can be an unparalleled waste of time." (p. 3) Many of the 150 technology officers identified the following reasons for strategic technology planning to fail:

• "failure to tie technology to institutional mission and priorities,
• failure to get the right people on board,
• excessive focus on technical detail, or
• lack of suitable leadership." (p. 3)

"It appears there are some common practices that contribute to healthy technology planning processes, regardless of the size and type of institution." "The first five steps of the method focus on the strategic overview, the latter five on the operational dimension." (p. 5)

• Step 1: Review institutional objectives. (p. 5)
• Step 2: Establish a framework for strategic technology objectives. (p. 6)
• Step 3: Prioritize objectives. "It should be as brief as possible, a memo rather than a tome." (p. 6)
• Step 4: Invite key group review. (p. 6)
• Step 5: Disseminate strategic technology framework. (p. 6) "Steps 1 through 5 should consume no more than six months and be repeated every five years." (p. 7)
• Step 6: Translate objectives into operational goals. (p. 7) "On an annual basis, however, the information technology organization must identify operational goals that ca be used to address the strategic objectives." (p. 7)
• Step 7: Discuss operational goals with key people. (p. 7)
• Step 8: Disseminate operational goals. (p. 7)
• Step 9: Enable continuous input. (p. 7)
• Step 10: Conduct retrospective assessment. (p. 7)

"While it may not be possible to justify future technology needs in detail, good planning should permit an institution to estimate the level of financial resources that it can and should devote to technology for a period of several years." (p. 7) "By allowing unused funds to carry forward across fiscal years, an institution can establish the type of budgetary flexibility that will allow it to maintain technical stability despite the peaks and valleys in user demand, infrastructure modification, and technology innovations." (p. 8) "It is important to focus on process rather than document, and to devise mechanisms that enable funding, staffing, and other assets to be readily allocated and re-allocated, as circumstances require." (p. 9)