Creating and Evolving a Technology Roadmap

Chapter 23

8-1© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.  Publishing as Prentice Hall

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.  Publishing as Prentice Hall

Why Do We Need a Technology Roadmap?

Without it companies run risk of making sub-optimal technology decisionsPlanning process tells an organization

what they did wherewhere they failedand how to improve

Technology roadmap limits range of technology decisions

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What Is A Technology Roadmap?

Collective vision of opportunities for technology to serve a business

Mechanism for identification, justification, planned evolution & orchestration of technology to enhance business performance

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External Benefits of Tech Roadmap

Achieves business goals by identifying gap between business plan & current technological environment

Reduces complexity by reducing number & variety of technological choices

Enhancesinteroperability of business functionality across lines of business

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External Benefits of Tech RoadmapContinued:

Increases flexibilityIncreases speed of implementation thru common standards, methodologies & technology platformsPreserves investments in new & existing systems basing them on long-term considerationsResponds to market changes by building from an established framework

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External Benefits of Tech RoadmapContinued:

Focuses IT investment dollarsSimplifies response to new legislationReduces difficulties associated with deployment of new technologies by

utilizing fewer technologiescommon platformsand similar development approaches

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Internal Benefits of a Technology Roadmap

Provides common design point that facilitates end-to-end integration of reusable components & applicationsBuilds consistent, cohesive technology base creating critical mass of skills dedicated to select technologiesProvides ability to move forward in planned phases by providing an orderly evolution of each technology thru life cycle approachConsolidates global solutions by synchronizing local technologies into global roadmapLowers cost of development maintenance by increasing reusability of components

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The Process of Developing a Technology Roadmap

Seven Important Activities derived from Gap between Current Technology & Business Plan:1. Guiding Principles2. Current Technology3. Gap Analysis4. Technology Landscape5. Future Technology6. Migration Strategy7. Governance

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The Process of Developing a Technology Roadmap Continued

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Figure 1

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Guiding Principles

Establishstatement of role & purpose of technology within business

Definehow technology supports the businessoverall type of technology support to be delivered with a sense of performance

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Current TechnologyOutline current technologies & their stateAt a minimum

identify business process area vendor, level of support, dependencies, criticalityand life cycle

Assign a technology owner whois responsible for each technology domain including acquisition, maintenance, vendor relationship management, training & documentation

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Gap Analysis

Perform a gap analysis betweencurrent technology & what is needed (future state)

Identify the required technologyBuild technology

in anticipation of business change & growthBridge the gap

between business being driven by innovation and growth & IT benefits being derived from standards & reusability

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Technology Landscape

Firms must invest in R & D to keep abreast of new technologies

The size of this investment should be driven by how critical IT is to the business

The roadmap should articulate how large this investment will behow it will be enactedwho is responsibleand provide guidelines to assist this initiative

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Future Technology

Describe technologies to be adopted in futureShould include logic used to recommend these technologies to

permit constructive input from business managers to challenge these recommendations

Roadmap should include all assumptions

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Migration Strategy

Outline a Migration Strategy to get from current to future technology platform

Two common strategiesgradual evolution and the big-bang

Major challengeto assign priorities to technology components that need to be changed

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Governance

Define established process to determine who is responsible for creating/updating technology roadmap and who approves changes to the roadmap

Distinguish betweenstrategic architecture governance and tactical architecture governance

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Roadmap Consultant Recommendations

1. Be bold & innovative when planning roadmap

2. Align technology with the business3. Secure support for the roadmap4. Don’t forget the people5. Control, measure & communicate

progress

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Migration Strategy Principles

Migrate from production-centric to process-centric applications architecture using service-based architecture

Deploy component-based applications to minimize costs

Utilize components based on industry standards

Utilize middleware to minimize application changes

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Conclusion

Purpose of technology roadmap to guide development of technology in an organization

Technology roadmap communicates role that technology will play in advancing business goals

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