Ask the Right Questions, Get to Know the Environment!
We use a visual guide to any thought process about information technology in the context of the enterprise.
The Enterprise
- What are the enterprise’s mission statement and business strategy? (at least; key elements)
- How does the business strategy address Digitalisation and other IT-related concerns?
Information Technology (IT)
- What is the enterprise’s IT strategy?
- How does it relate or contribute to the business strategy?
- What is the IT’s position in the enterprise?
CAPABILITIES AND ORGANIZATION
The Enterprise
- What capabilities does the enterprise have or plan to develop?
- What are the enterprise’s organizational structures?
- What are the ambitions, challenges, trends, disruptors of each business unit?
- What are the IT-related needs and pains of each business unit?
- Which business units or domains are in need of attention?
Information Technology (IT)
- What capabilities does the IT have or plan to develop?
- How is IT organized within the enterprise?
- What are the IT leaders’ ambitions, challenges, trends, disruptors?
- How do the IT leaders rate their relationship with the business units?
The Enterprise
- What are the enterprise’s key products and services?
- What is their importance for revenue and strategy?
- How fit are they in terms of technology?
- How much do they rely on IT capabilities?
- What potential do they have for IT enablement or disruption?
Information Technology (IT)
- What services does IT provide to the enterprise?
- How do the services rate in terms of business value, user satisfaction, technology fitness, and cost?
- How is the IT funded or what is its financial model?
The Enterprise
- What are the main processes or value streams of each business unit?
- How do they rate in terms of business value, reliance on IT (automation), maturity, efficiency?
- What are the main policies of the enterprise and or business unit?
- What KPIs or metrics are collected and used?
Information Technology (IT)
- What are the IT’s main processes or value streams?
- How do they rate in terms of maturity, efficiency, automation?
- What standards does the IT follow?
- What KPIs or metrics are collected and used by the IT, and which of those are shared with the rest of the enterprise?
The Enterprise
- Who are the key stakeholders for this mission?
- What is their level of influence, engagement, attitude towards IT?
- What are the enterprise’s or business unit’s values?
- What are the visible characteristics of the enterprise’s culture?
Information Technology (IT)
- Who are the key people in IT?
- What is their level of influence, engagement, attitude towards business stakeholders?
- How does the IT rate in terms of capacity or staffing and competencies?
- How does IT manage knowledge and staff development?
The Enterprise
- What are the key applications used by each business unit?
- How do they rate in terms of importance, fitness, user experience?
- What are the key data assets used or created by each business unit?
- How do they rate in terms of importance, quality, operating costs?
Information Technology (IT)
- What are the enterprise IT and data assets from the IT perspective?
- How are they documented and managed?
- How do they rate in terms of technology ¬fitness and operating costs?
- How does the changelog or backlog of the key applications look?
INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES
The Enterprise
- What are the main physical resources, facilities, equipment, materials, logistics used by the enterprise or business units?
- How much do they rely on IT capabilities?
- What potential do they have for IT enablement or disruption?
Information Technology (IT)
- What are IT’s current or planned infrastructure assets (on-premise and cloud)?
- How are these assets architected, documented, managed?
- How do they rate in terms of technology fi¬tness, operating cost?
The Enterprise
- What are the enterprise’s key business-led initiatives, programs, or projects?
- How do they rate in terms of business value, size, cost, risk, reliance on IT, and collaboration with IT?
Information Technology (IT)
- What are the enterprise’s key IT-led initiatives, programs, or projects?
- How do they rate in terms of business value, size, cost, risk, reliance on IT, and collaboration with business units?
