Strategic analysis and planning

Strategic planning for IT aims to establish a long-term view of the development of the IT environment at Deakin based on the University's anticipated responses to trends in society, education and technology. Deakin eSolutions (DeS) works in collaboration with the University community to define the strategic direction of the IT environment over a 10-year period, as well as developing plans for the program of IT work that will achieve this future state. Planning for IT at Deakin is driven by the University's strategic plan and its underlying information and communication technology requirements, as well as the University's Strategic Asset Management Framework.

Planning process

Broadly speaking, the process covers the following major activities:

• Identification of key trends and requirements associated with the ICT environment at Deakin.
• Prioritisation of ICT solutions in order to best achieve the requirements.

In order to ensure alignment of initiatives with the long-term plans, as well as integration between initiatives, IT planning is undertaken for each service domain and the technical domain, in the following four stages:

1. Identification of long-term objectives for the domain: Consultation with the Senior Responsible Officer to ascertain the broad vision and strategic objectives. The scope of these discussions spans the long-term (10+ years), and sets the scene and boundaries for ICT initiatives delivered in future years.
2. Domain workshops: Focussed workshops for each domain, including key representatives from across the University community, to identify and discuss organisational changes that will enable Deakin to achieve the long-term objectives identified previously. The scope of these discussions will span the mid-term (~5 years).
3. Initiative identification and definition: Consultation with relevant FIOA representatives to define the initiatives (both ICT- and business-related) required to achieve the organisational changes identified in the workshops. These activities will span the short- to mid-term (1-5 years).
4. Programme planning: Development of detailed plans for each of the domains, based on the output from all preceding activities.

Further information

Please contact Arnie Phillips if you have any questions about strategic planning for IT at Deakin, including:

• Deakin's planning timeframes
• roles and responsibilities, and
• resourcing and funding