ICT Strategy
Process Guidelines and Templates Project
Process Guidelines v1.0
March 2013
MAV Technology (formerly Local Government Information and Communications Technology Group)
Municipal Association of Victoria | Level 12, 60 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000 | GPO Box 4326, Melbourne 3001
(03) 9667 5509 | Mob: 0412 992 005 | Email [email protected] | www.mav.technology
Table of Contents
1.0
Background ................................................................................................................................. 3
2.0
Project Scope .............................................................................................................................. 3
3.0
How to Use these Guidelines ...................................................................................................... 3
4.0
Definition of an ICT Strategy ....................................................................................................... 4
5.0
Purpose of an ICT Strategy .......................................................................................................... 5
6.0
Advantages of Having a Current ICT Strategy ............................................................................. 5
6.1
Demonstrates the value of ICT to the business ...................................................................... 5
6.2
Supports engagement with the business and ICT................................................................... 5
6.3
Supports requests for budget and people resources ............................................................. 6
6.4
Minimises risk ......................................................................................................................... 6
6.5
Meets compliance and regulatory requirements ................................................................... 6
7.0
The ICT Strategy Document ........................................................................................................ 6
7.1
Style......................................................................................................................................... 6
7.2
Document Hierarchy ............................................................................................................... 6
7.3
Duration of Strategy and Regular Review ............................................................................... 7
8.0
Planning the Process for Development....................................................................................... 8
8.1
Timing...................................................................................................................................... 8
8.2
Resourcing............................................................................................................................... 8
8.3
Identify your Key Stakeholders ............................................................................................... 9
8.4
Establish an ICT Strategy Project Working Group ................................................................... 9
9.0
Development Framework ........................................................................................................... 9
Phase 1 – Planning .............................................................................................................................. 9
Phase 2 – Organisation-wide Consultation ......................................................................................... 9
Phase 3 – Writing .............................................................................................................................. 10
Phase 4 – Review and Approve ......................................................................................................... 10
Phase 5 – Communicate the Strategy ............................................................................................... 10
Appendix A – Research ......................................................................................................................... 11
Appendix B – Compliance and Regulatory Requirements .................................................................... 12
ICT Strategy Process Guidelines v.1.0
March 2013
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1.0
Background
ICT Strategy sets the pathway to deliver Council business objectives. As Strategy development can
be a time consuming and expensive process, LGICT member Councils have identified a need for a
common approach.
The LGICT believe that Council ICT Strategies:




Must be reviewed, assessed and revised to ensure alignment with Council business plans
Should align with sector-wide (MAV and LGICT) technology strategy
Should not include a detailed Action Plan
Should be approached consistently by all Councils to assist in generating opportunities for
collaboration in procurement, system development, implementation processes, knowledge
sharing and skills benchmarking
No two Councils are expected to adopt the same ICT Strategy. However, the LGICT Committee
believes that there is sufficient requirement in common to support a collaborative approach to
developing a suite of Strategy templates and associated procedural guidelines that could be
modified to suit local circumstances.
This sector wide approach to ICT Strategy development will complement established LGICT
collaborative approaches to a range of technologies being adopted by a growing number of Victorian
Councils.
2.0
Project Scope
The Guidelines and Templates have been developed after consultation across the sector with Senior
IT personnel responsible for the development of ICT Strategy. The documents are based on a series
of lessons learned in ICT Strategy development by a range of metropolitan, interface, regional and
rural Councils.
Research to support best practice was also done with Councils interstate, other Government bodies
and a range of specialist research and consulting companies. See Appendix A.
Project Scope specifically excluded the development of ICT Strategies for Councils and documents
for Strategy implementation or evaluation. Also excluded are detailed guidelines for governance of
IT Departments and detailed guidelines for stakeholder and project management.
3.0
How to Use these Guidelines
Having regard to the diverse demographics of the sector, these Process Guidelines are not intended
to be a “one-size-fits-all” approach but are designed to be used where they are most relevant to
save time and resources.
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The processes suggested in these Guidelines and the supporting Templates provide a framework to
support the task of effective ICT Strategy development.
Some of the terms used in these Guidelines eg. Council Business Plan (rather than Council Corporate
Plan and Council Community Plan) have been used for clarity and brevity, but there are a range of
terms and document names being used in ICT which vary between Councils. Increased collaboration
and time savings could be achieved and maximised if document names and some terms were
standardised.
4.0
Definition of an ICT Strategy
The term Strategy is used often in a business context and is a broad term. There are many and
varied definitions of ICT Strategy available but rather than clarifying meaning, these many
interpretations can create confusion and delays to the process of development.
The following straightforward definition is provided to describe ICT Strategy for Councils and as a
point of reference to provide focus for the sector:
“An ICT Strategy is designed to align ICT delivery capability to the business requirements of
Council.”
It follows that the ICT Strategy must align with the Council Business Plan in order to be of value.
The Strategy provides a technology roadmap for the future which is driven by changes in community
expectations and community use of ICT, advances in available technology and business
transformation requirements of Councils.
MAV LGICT sector-wide approaches to technology are efficiency, sustainability and innovation
through collaboration. It is recommended the Strategy considers current sector-wide approaches.
It must be feasible to implement the Strategy with success and consideration given to the balance
between achieving the business objectives within the likely budget and other resource constraints.
Attachment 2 to the Guidelines is a Template which can be used to develop an ICT Strategy
document. The design includes sample wording which may be used in its existing form or as an
example of the type of information which may be written.
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5.0
Purpose of an ICT Strategy
The Strategy provides answers to the following high level questions:
Figure 1, Purpose of ICT Strategy
The ICT Strategy also enables ICT to document the current position relevant to the vision and goals
of the ICT Department.
Having a Strategy enables ICT to plan and manage delivery requirements in a proactive way, rather
than reacting to changes in available technologies and community expectations.
6.0
Advantages of Having a Current ICT Strategy
Having an up to date documented Strategy offers ICT a number of advantages:
6.1
Demonstrates the value of ICT to the business
In some Councils ICT is seen as more of a commodity to keep systems running, rather than
an enabler to provide efficient ways to achieve the Council aims.
The Strategy offers ICT an opportunity to stimulate organisation-wide thinking about the
power of technology and the opportunities to utilise new and emerging technologies to
solve problems and create better service delivery.
6.2
Supports engagement with the business and ICT
Development of the Strategy is a collaborative opportunity for ICT and the business.
Consultation demonstrates that ICT is keen to hear what the business needs to achieve and
to provide support for successful delivery of those outcomes.
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Taking the opportunity to include the business in ICT planning can help to bridge the gap
between ICT and other business units which still exists in some organisations.
6.3
Supports requests for budget and people resources
Approval for budget and people resources may be more streamlined if Executive
Management has been involved in the review and approval of a current ICT Strategy and
they therefore understand the need and business benefits.
6.4
Minimises risk
Councils invest considerable budget in ICT. Having a clearly documented Strategy utilises
good planning which supports the management of risk to help ensure Councils get the
desired outcomes from the investment.
6.5
Meets compliance and regulatory requirements
The ICT Strategy document is an essential governance component for your Council which is
required to meet internal and external audit standards.
Compliance and regulatory requirements are extensive and they include, Victorian
Government Standards, ISO27000 range for security and other legislation and policies. See
Appendix B.
7.0
The ICT Strategy Document
7.1
Style
The ICT Strategy document is likely to be between 10 and 30 pages long and should be
written in a succinct style in plain English. This document is a business document, not a
technical document. The audience for the document will be broad and it should be
developed with a business, rather than technical audience in mind, to encourage use by
people outside of the ICT Department.
7.2
Document Hierarchy
The Strategy maps a pathway to deliver business requirements using technology and is likely
to state the proposed Key Initiatives over the period the document covers. However, the
Strategy document should not include a detailed Action Plan for these Initiatives.
It is expected that this detail regarding Initiatives will appear in a further document. This
detail may be in the form of priority weightings, estimated budgets, likely people resourcing
requirements and projected timelines.
The Action Plan document is an operational document designed for operational use in
contrast to a Strategy document which is high level and used as a roadmap for technology
direction.
The cut off point for what is operational detail and should be in an Action Plan and not in a
Strategy document will be impacted by expectations of Executive Management within each
Council environment.
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In the hierarchy of documents, most ICT groups develop an ICT Strategy, an Action Plan and
a Business Unit Plan. The most detailed document is usually the Business Unit Plan but the
Strategy and the Action Plan, may drive a lot of the detail in the Business Unit Plan.
It is noted that the hierarchy of documents may be impacted by existing documents and the
templates used to develop those documents, at the time they were written.
Figure 2, Document Hierarchy
7.3
Duration of Strategy and Regular Review
To meet good governance practice the Strategy document should clearly state on the title
page, the start and end years for the term the Strategy covers ie 2013 to 2016. The term
covered by the ICT Strategy is usually no more than 3 years in view of the fast pace of
change of technology. However, as the Strategy is to align with the Council business plan
which is developed every 4 years, the preferred term may be 4 years.
It is recommended that the Strategy document is reviewed annually. The Strategy is a
future plan which states an intention and this may change as it is impacted by many
variables so the document should be viewed as a “living document”.
The Action Plan is also likely to be for the same period with more detail against actions.
Strategy documents which include all the details of an Action Plan are difficult to review over
time as the document is so detailed and lengthy. Depending on how this is managed, when
the reviewed version is read by someone unfamiliar with it, it is difficult for the reader to
know what parts have been reviewed and what parts were in the original document.
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8.0
Planning the Process for Development
ICT Strategy development can take from 3 to 6 months and requires significant resources. It is
recommended development is managed as a “project” using basic “project controls”.
Project controls are a schedule, a Project Working Group and a planned approach to stakeholder
management. These controls will assist to ensure you have Executive level support for the task of
development and that the review and approval process is managed within the agreed timeframe.
The following points are useful to consider when setting up your development project:
8.1
Timing
a) It is recommended that a new Strategy is developed every 3 years or, every 4 years
after each new Council Business Plan is finalised.
b) Development activities require ICT to resource the project and for Council personnel
to participate in workshops and respond in a timely way to a review and approval
process. Consider other business imperatives such as whether a new Council has
just been appointed. If so, will your team need to find the time to service requests
for new ICT services as well as attend workshops and planning sessions for the ICT
Strategy?
8.2
Resourcing
a) Do you have the people resources and skills you require in your team in ICT or do
you need additional assistance from a consultant?
b) If you need the assistance of a consultant, consider the following questions:
 What parts of the task do you require help with?
Is it writing the document or designing and managing the consultation process or,
Is it making recommendations regarding technologies that should be in the
Strategy and/or reviewing your technical architecture?
 What budget is available to fund development?
Are you in a position to manage the project and consultation process and develop
the strategy using internal resources? Then, at the final draft stage would you
benefit from using a consulting company to review the document? This provides
the benefits of independent thinking and broad expertise but may not require the
same amount of budget as involving a consultant from the beginning of the
project.
These are important planning questions and will save time and budget if they are clearly
understood before developing a brief for a consultant.
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8.3
Identify your Key Stakeholders
Use the Template labelled Attachment 1 to ensure you have identified your Key
Stakeholders.
A Key Stakeholder is someone who will influence the development and implementation of
the ICT Strategy to the extent that it does or does not succeed.
Ensure that you are including all of the appropriate Key Stakeholders in the consultation and
review and approval process.
8.4
Establish an ICT Strategy Project Working Group
The task of this group is to review and approve the document, and to move the project
forward based on an agreed schedule. It is important that this group is not a large group so
that decisions can be made efficiently.
a) Appoint the most Senior ICT Manager as the Sponsor of the project; this may be
you.
b) It is recommended that the group has membership of no more than 6 people
(including the Sponsor) with representation from Key Stakeholders within the
organisation. These stakeholders should come from ICT and the business but
predominantly from the business. If there are more than 6 Key Stakeholders they
will not be part of the Project Working Group but the views of those Stakeholders
will be included as part of the wider consultation process.
c) If the ICT Department reports into another Business Unit, ie Corporate Services,
ensure that there is a senior representative from that Business Unit on the ICT
Strategy Project Working Group.
d) Determine how often this group will meet and ensure that members of the group do
have the required availability to assist with the work.
9.0
Development Framework
The following high level framework may be used to manage the process of ICT Strategy
development:
Phase 1 – Planning
a. Meet with all senior Business Unit representatives and ask what they will be doing in
their businesses over the next 3 years. Ensure that this inquiry is framed as a
“business” question, not an ICT question.
b. From those meetings, develop a one page outline as a high level paper to then
discuss in more detail with your Executive and the Project Working Group.
Phase 2 – Organisation-wide Consultation
There are internal and external drivers for the ICT Strategy. The Council plan collects the
external data through community consultation and consultation with Councillors.
To collect internal data (including from ICT personnel):
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c. Consider whether to run an organisation-wide survey to collect input from
individuals across the Council.
d. Consider whether an intranet page may assist to collect information as part of the
consultation process and/or be a useful mechanism to publish the result of surveys.
e. Consider whether to run workshops to collect input from individuals across the
Council.
f. Consider whether to ask Business Unit Managers to nominate a number of people
within their Business Unit who may be most suitable to participate in the
consultation process.
Phase 3 – Writing
g. The Template labelled Attachment 2 enables writing into a structure with suggested
wording.
As stated earlier the use of standardised language across Councils would support
collaboration and create time savings for the sector. It is recommended that the use
of document names such as “ICT Strategy” and “ICT Action Plan” are used, as in the
template.
Phase 4 – Review and Approve
h. Circulate the document for review and approval to the nominated people in the
Project Working Group.
i. Update the document with the agreed changes.
j. Circulate the amended document to the Project Working Group.
k. Circulate the final document for review and approval to the Executive Management
Team and the Council CEO.
Phase 5 – Communicate the Strategy
l.
Communicate the strategy organisation-wide. Consider whether brief meetings are
held to present the final document using a PowerPoint presentation to visually
demonstrate the direction for ICT in a compelling way.
m. Enlist the project Sponsor to assist to communicate the strategy organisation-wide
including to Councillors.
n. Ensure that change management is included in the implementation of the Strategy
particularly where there is technology change which is organisation-wide.
o. Consider whether an intranet page may assist to communicate the final strategy.
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Appendix A – Research
The following sources were researched and may be useful supports for the development of
individual Council ICT Strategies:
Research Consultancies
Gartner
IBRS
Info Tech, Canada
Forrester
Public Records Office Victoria
OVUM Research Analysts
Documents
PROS 10/10 G5 Records Management Strategy
Guideline
State Government Victoria, 2013 ICT Strategy
NSW Government ICT Strategy 2012
Gershon Report 2008
Councils
Alpine Shire Council, Boroondara City Council, Casey
City Council, Cardinia Shire Council,
Colac-Otway Shire Council, Corangamite Shire
Council, East Gippsland Shire Council, Frankston City
Council, Glenelg Shire Council, Greater Bendigo City
Council, Greater Geelong City Council, Hobsons Bay
City Council, Kingston City Council, Monash Council,
Mount Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Moreland
City Council, Nillumbik Shire Council, Warrnambool
City Council, Whittlesea City Council
LGICT
Lisa Bennetto, Executive Officer
Project Working Group; Maureen Tresize, IT
Manager, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Michael
Redmond, Manager of Information Services,
Kingston City Council, Sohan Gunasekera, Manager
Information Services, East Gippsland Shire Council,
Trish Spiteri, Manager Information Technology,
Nillumbik Shire Council
Other Sources
Department of Community Planning and
Development
ICT Strategy Process Guidelines v.1.0
Links
www.gartner.com
http://ibrs.com.au/
www.infotech.com
http://www.forrester.com/home
www.prov.vic.gov.au
http://ovum.com/section/home/
Links
http://prov.vic.gov.au/wpcontent/uploads/2011/05/1010g5.pdf
http://www.vic.gov.au/ictstrategy/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/VictorianGovernment-ICT-Strategy-web.pdf
http://www.services.nsw.gov.au/ict/
http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/focus-oncountries/australia/trends-and-issuesaustralia/information-and-communicationstechnology-australia/australia-gershonreport-on-ict-released.html
Information
Council Business Plans, Council websites, ICT
Strategy documents and/or phone interviews,
resources for planning and workshops
Background and LGICT Annual Report 2012,
LGICT Benchmarking Survey Results 2012,
LGICT Maturity Assessment Register and
Asset Register Update
Feedback and approvals
http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/localgovernment
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Appendix B – Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
The following sources are links to some of the Compliance and Regulatory Requirements Councils
should be aware of when developing ICT Strategy. However, please note that the list is not
conclusive as there are so many relevant standards, policies, pieces of legislation and regulations
which are changing regularly.
Document
Local Government Act 1989
Parts 6 & 7
Standards Australia
ISO 27000 Security Standard
Standards Australia
AS/NZS ISO/IEC 38500:2010
Corporate Governance of IT
Victorian Government
standards
Freedom of Information Act
1982
Australian Government
Protective Security Policy
Framework (PSPF)
Australian Government
Information Security Manual
(ISM)
Australian Government
National eAuthentication
Framework (NeAF)
ICT Strategy Process Guidelines v.1.0
Links
www.austlii.com.au
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/reprint_act/lga1989182/lga1
989a1j2012283.html
http://www.standards.org.au/Pages/default.aspx
http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store2/Details.aspx?ProductID=13904
88
https://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/CA257310001D7FC4/pages/policies-andstandards
http://www.foi.vic.gov.au/find/legislation/
http://www.ag.gov.au/Protectivesecuritypolicyframework/Pages/def
ault.aspx
http://www.dsd.gov.au/infosec/ism/index.htm
http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/security-andauthentication/authentication-framework.html
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