🎯Objective:
Gain a clear and honest understanding of the current IT landscape—its strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and opportunities—so you can build a grounded and achievable future-state strategy.
📌 Why It Matters
Before planning the future, you must understand where you stand today. A current state assessment:
- Reveals inefficiencies, redundancies, and risks
- Identifies foundational capabilities to retain or upgrade
- Helps prioritize transformation efforts realistically
- Prevents overestimation of capabilities or readiness
🧭 Key Assessment Areas & Questions
| Domain | What to Assess |
|---|---|
| Technology Capabilities | Which business capabilities are currently enabled by technology? Are there significant gaps? |
| IT Process Maturity | How standardized, documented, and optimized are ITIL, DevOps, Agile, and SDLC processes? |
| Application Portfolio | What systems exist today? Which are redundant, legacy, or misaligned with future goals? |
| Methods, Practices & Tools | What methodologies (e.g., Agile, SAFe), and tools (e.g., Jira, GitHub, Jenkins) are in use? |
| IT Org Structure & Operating Model | Centralized vs. decentralized? Role clarity, delivery model, demand intake process? |
| Skills & Talent | Does IT have the right skill mix (e.g., AI/ML, cloud, data engineering)? Any skill gaps? |
| Infrastructure | On-prem vs. cloud ratio, scalability, latency, cost-effectiveness |
| Security, Stability, Performance | Frequency of incidents, outage history, threat detection, recovery time, patching compliance |
| Governance | Decision rights, architectural oversight, funding controls, compliance, vendor governance |
🧰 How to Conduct the Assessment
Step 1: Collect Existing Documentation
- IT Org charts, runbooks, service catalogs
- System architecture diagrams, CMDB records
- Process documentation (e.g., ITIL, Agile, DevOps practices)
- Previous assessments or audits (e.g., ISO, SOC, NIST)
Step 2: Run Interviews and Surveys
- Conduct interviews with IT and business stakeholders to understand pain points and aspirations
- Use maturity model assessments for processes (e.g., CMMI, Gartner Pace-Layered App Strategy)
- Survey IT staff for tool usage, productivity blockers, talent gaps
Step 3: Perform Portfolio & Capability Analysis
- Map systems to business capabilities
- Identify duplications (e.g., multiple ERPs), obsolete systems, unsupported platforms
- Evaluate technical debt and modernization needs
Step 4: Evaluate Metrics & KPIs
- Pull and review operational metrics:
- MTTR (Mean Time to Resolve)
- System uptime / availability
- Deployment frequency
- Incident rates (e.g., Sev1s/month)
- Ticket backlog trends
- % projects delivered on time/budget
Step 5: Benchmark (Optional)
- Compare your IT performance and architecture maturity with industry benchmarks or peer organizations
📈 Tools & Techniques You Can Use
- Application Rationalization Tools (LeanIX, ServiceNow APM)
- IT Maturity Models (CMMI, COBIT, TOGAF readiness)
- SWOT or Heat Maps for portfolio visualization
- Org & skills heatmaps to identify resource gaps
- Capability mapping platforms (e.g., Ardoq, BizzDesign)
📝 Deliverables from This Step
- 🧩 IT Capability Heatmap (Current Maturity vs. Desired)
- 📊 Application Portfolio Map with recommendations
- 🔍 Skills Gap Assessment and training needs
- 🧱 Infrastructure & Tooling Landscape
- 🚦 Stability, Security, and Performance Dashboard
- 📋 Summary of Key Issues & Opportunities
- IT Strategy and Planning: A Practical Framework with Real-World Detail
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 1: Assemble a Cross-Functional Team
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 2: Understand Future Business Strategy
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 3: Assess the Current State of IT
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 4: Scan External Factors and Technology Trends
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 5: Envision the Future State of IT
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 6: Conduct a Gap Analysis
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 7: Analyze Scenarios and Strategic Options
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 8: Craft the IT Strategy Blueprint
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 9: Define the future IT Operating Model
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 10: Analyze IT Initiatives and Define the Realization Roadmap
- IT Strategy and Planning Step 11: Socialize, Success Metrics, Monitor, Measure, and Refine IT Strategy on an Annual Basis
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IT Strategy and Planning Step 6: Conduct a Gap Analysis
IT Strategy and Planning: A Practical Framework with Real-World Detail
IT Strategy and Planning Step 5: Envision the Future State of IT
IT Strategy and Planning Step 11: Socialize, Success Metrics, Monitor, Measure, and Refine IT Strategy on an Annual Basis
IT Strategy and Planning Step 8: Craft the IT Strategy Blueprint
IT Strategy and Planning Step 9: Define the future IT Operating Model
IT Strategy and Planning Step 7: Analyze Scenarios and Strategic Options
IT Strategy and Planning Step 2: Understand Future Business Strategy