Produce an inventory of the enterprise’s current hardware, software, and system assets. Consider its life expectancy within the enterprise (hardware is normally far less than software and systems, and consumes far less of the budget).

Produce a skills matrix of the people the enterprise has to support these assets.

Review this against the enterprise’s future requirements, aligned to its business growth objectives. Then determine how closely the strategy meets those needs and objectives.

Define the gap between what the enterprise currently has (the “AS IS”) and the systems, resources and people that it needs (the “TO BE”).

Decide on the general technology standards and architectures that the enterprise will use – e.g. the hardware platforms, operating systems, the development languages, and any of the methodologies that it intends to use.

Review the ICT infrastructure and support that will be needed to fill the gaps identified.

Determine and agree on the key partnerships and vendor relationships the enterprise has, or will need, to execute on this strategy.

Define a programme of prioritised implementation projects, with defined start and end dates, to close the gap between the enterprise’s current ICT provision and what it aims for at the end of the plan.

Produce budgets and cost estimates to know how much spend is needed, and when.

Check that this ICT strategy will fit in and strongly support the enterprise’s overall business plan.

Finally, ensure a benefits harvesting program is in place to ensure the investments yield the promised results of any business case.