So what are we looking for in a technology roadmap? A good technology roadmap begins with the business side of things. There is no point in talking about changing technology simply for the sake of changing things. There is of course the “cool” factor of playing around with the latest and greatest. But then, mention that to any half-sane CEO and I would be surprised if you are not kicked out of the office.
Therefore, let me begin with the components of a good technology roadmap. Obviously, there is the perfunctory introduction detailing some background information. Once you get past that, you will need to define the scope of the expected change. You will also need to explain what the organization can expect to get out of implementing the roadmap.
A well documented roadmap will have a clearly defined section of business drivers. What is driving the business to ask for change? Is the technology antiquated and not able to satisfy the business need? Has the business significantly changed so that the technology assumptions made earlier are no longer valid? These and other questions will need to be answered in the roadmap.
Next come the technical drivers that are driving the roadmap. It could be that there is a significant paradigm shift that necessitates a complete overhaul of the technology inventory. It could also be that most of the infrastructure is so significantly outdated or out of warranty that it makes financial sense to look at a complete refreshment of infrastructure.
Closely related to the technical drivers are the technology enablers that compel a strong argument for change. For instance, if the company’s model has moved from a “brick and mortar model” to a “click, brick and mortar” model, then it makes sense to look at infrastructure in the form of web servers, application servers, firewalls, load balancers, etc.
A good roadmap has a clear section assessing the current state of affairs. If you do not know what you have, then you do not know what you lack. With the rapid proliferation of dynamic discovery and probing tools, it is usually a matter of setting up auto-probes that do most of the work for you. Once you have the current state well assessed, focus on the vision of desired state both from a business as well as from a technical perspective.
The gap analysis between the current state and the desired state of the enterprise will form the basis for a cost benefit model. I can assure you no senior executive will consider your request seriously if your roadmap does not include a solid cost benefit analysis.
Of course, no roadmap is complete without including the timeline of proposed change, the resources needed to accomplish the task and other mundane administrivia.
Having a well laid out technology roadmap provides many advantages. Not only does it force you to think of things in a structured fashion, it also provides a compelling case to the folks holding the purse strings.
About Me
- Sree Sundaram
- Sree Sundaram is currently a Sr. Director of Enterprise Architecture at a major global technology firm. He is currently engaged at two major international biotechnology firms in optimization and migration of infrastructure from their current platform to a newer technological platform that is in line with their current and future business needs. Sree has solid experience in understanding the needs of both middle and top level management and has the ability to communicate at both levels. He is fundamentally aware that the transactional and short-term needs of middle level management are different from the long-term vision of top-level management. He has successfully dealt with such issues by providing an IT framework that meets both the short term and long term needs. In general, Sree helps to prioritize competing initiatives using a combination of his acumen, communication skills, strategic and operation plans.