Rational IT’s SureView IT Planning Services provides senior business and organization management with exactly what they need: a clear view of and framework for managing the portfolio of IT initiatives and projects necessary to support successful execution of business strategy.
 
It is fast, affordable, streamlined and highly useful.
 
Essential to maximizing IT ROI, SureView is typically delivered as an integrated part of Rational IT’s R/One IT Program Management Service. SureView helps management align IT investments with company direction and achieve an optimal balance of alignment, return, and risk, so that management can focus energy and resources where it makes sense.
 
Each IT initiative must be supported by a business case defining its strategic purpose and priority, target ROI, budget and resource requirements, timing and relationship to other initiatives and projects, risks and essential deliverables.
 
This is as true for small businesses as it is emerging and mid-market companies … every investment and every risk is relative.

SureView IT Planning Services are adapted to meet the unique needs of companies in targeted vertical markets.
		Emerging companies – high technology and biotechnology
		Mid-market enterprises – manufacturing, commerce, finance and banking, real estate
		Architectural, engineering, and construction firms
		Public education and local government
		Small and family-owned business
		Non-profit organizations

A common sense approach to planning is the key to SureView’s success in guiding IT investments and initiatives. Another “Lesson from the Learning Curve.”
 

Encyclopedic completeness is counter-productive – the plan should be just long enough to answer fundamental questions … Where to invest? How much? Why? When? In what sequence?
 

It is more important to get started than to get it absolutely right – there will be time to improve. And, as regular review turns IT planning into standard practice, the quality of the plan will improve, as will accountability and outcomes.
 

Short and simple does not equal easy – especially true in the early going. Tying IT initiatives to business strategy can be tricky and scrutinizing and changing legacy practices can be painful.
 

There are many high quality analytic tools available to support IT planning – use them. They help surface and clarify issues and expedite rational decision-making.
 

A rapid regular feedback cycle between planning and execution is critical to overall success – especially with something as dynamic and complex as IT.
 

As long as the commitment to constant improvement is solid, then some bad news and a few surprises, especially in the early going, are to be expected and should be welcomed – they provide an opportunity to learn and improve.
 

With many clients, this role is filled by a Rational IT “Virtual CIO.” Managing the overall SureView planning process and project team the Project Lead, or Virtual CIO, is the final point of accountability for all aspects of plan development and delivery.
 

SureView begins with a review of current and planned IT deployments, policy, personnel, and commitments. Budgets, risks, performance and effectiveness are assessed. This process may surface “below the radar” projects, hidden operational risks, and present a picture of an IT portfolio spread to thin supporting peripheral projects or legacy projects while projects of strategic importance go “undernourished
 

	Review of current and planned IT initiatives and projects (risk, return, cost)
	Network performance and security audit
	System performance and security audit
	Policy and personnel review
	Matrix analysis
	MILESTONE: Current status review complete

  

Working with management, the SureView team aligns planned IT deployments with business direction and focuses attention and resources on key projects. An “Ideal IT Portfolio” is developed to serve as a benchmark for the Company IT portfolio.
 

	Review business direction with company senior management
	Review current IT deployments and planned IT initiatives for alignment to business direction
	Develop “Ideal Company Portfolio” to serve as a benchmark standard
	MILESTONE: Current and Ideal Portfolios Complete

 

Quarterly reviews are essential, but so are “spot-reviews.” Business conditions and needs can shift quickly and when they do, it makes no sense to wait for a calendar event to review the IT plan. In fact, the failure to incorporate shifting needs into the IT plan, on a timely basis, is a primary cause of “plan failure.”