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IT Roadmap and IT Strategic Plan: How to Build One

An IT roadmap is a time-based plan that shows which technology initiatives an organization will deliver, in what order and why, usually over two to three years. An IT strategic plan sets the goals, principles and budget behind the roadmap. Together they turn business priorities into funded, sequenced projects that leadership can approve and track.

This guide shows how to build an IT roadmap and strategic plan. RockTeam builds and delivers roadmaps through our IT consulting and vCIO services.

What an IT Strategic Plan Includes

SectionContents
Business goalsThe outcomes IT must support: growth, efficiency, customer experience, compliance
Current stateApplications, infrastructure, security, team, spend and known risks
Target stateWhere the technology estate should be in two to three years
PrinciplesGuidelines such as cloud first, standard platforms or security by design
RoadmapInitiatives sequenced by quarter or half year, with owners and dependencies
BudgetCapital and operating costs, savings and funding sources
GovernanceHow priorities are reviewed, changed and reported

How to Build an IT Roadmap

  1. Start with the business. Interview leaders about goals, pain points and upcoming changes.
  2. Assess the current state. Inventory systems, contracts, licenses, skills, risks and technical debt.
  3. Define the target state for applications, infrastructure, collaboration, security and operations.
  4. List candidate initiatives that close the gap, including quick wins.
  5. Prioritize by business value, risk reduction, cost, effort and dependencies.
  6. Sequence and fund initiatives into quarters with owners, budgets and success measures.
  7. Govern and refresh the roadmap quarterly as priorities change.

Prioritizing Initiatives

CriterionQuestion
Business valueDoes it support a stated business goal or revenue?
Risk reductionDoes it reduce security, compliance or availability risk?
CostWhat are the one-time and ongoing costs, and any savings?
Effort and capacityDo we have the people and time to deliver it?
DependenciesMust something else happen first, such as identity or network work?
UrgencyIs there an end of support date, contract renewal or audit deadline?

Sample Roadmap Themes

  • Collaboration: Microsoft 365 migration, Teams governance, or Domino upgrades and application modernization.
  • Security: MFA, conditional access, a security assessment and a security program led by a vCISO.
  • Infrastructure: server refresh, network segmentation, backup and recovery.
  • Cost: licensing optimization and vendor consolidation.
  • Operations: managed services, monitoring and documentation.

Common IT Roadmap Mistakes

  • Starting with technology instead of business goals.
  • Too many priorities for the team’s real capacity.
  • No budget attached, so the roadmap is never funded.
  • Ignoring end of support dates and contract renewals.
  • Treating the roadmap as a one-time document instead of reviewing it quarterly.

Need an IT roadmap leadership will fund?

RockTeam’s vCIO and IT consultants build practical IT roadmaps and strategic plans, then help deliver them with our engineers. Start with a no cost consultation.

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IT Roadmap and IT Strategic Plan FAQs

A time-based plan showing which technology initiatives an organization will deliver, in what order and why, usually over two to three years.

The strategic plan sets goals, principles and budget; the roadmap sequences the initiatives that deliver it.

Review it quarterly and refresh it fully once a year, or after major business changes such as acquisitions.

The CIO or IT leader, or a vCIO where there is no full-time CIO, with input and approval from business leadership.

Typically several weeks, covering discovery interviews, a current-state assessment, prioritization and review with leadership.