The past three years have seen huge growth in a phenomenon called Social Media, very few organizations understand what it is and don’t have a solid strategic way of maximizing the potential market growth. They know their staff are spending vasts amount of personal time and company time in those networks but don’t understand why and or the power of Social Media Networks.

The challenge with Social Media Networks are many but the one CEO’s and the like will struggle with is control and how they can leverage those environments. Which Network do we hitch our wagon too? How does it work and why? How do we control those networks for our purposes? You can make up your question here as it fits with the not knowing of how to harness a wild beast called Social Media.

Has the time come for organizations to take Social Media Networks seriously and should they include them in their I.T. & Business strategic plans? What’s your plan? Does your company have an I.T. Strategic Plan? Do you know what one is and looks like? Does the I.T. Plan align with with business processes?

Here is a breakdown of how an I.T. Strategic Plan might look:

1.) Purpose (Vision, Mission)

2.) Services

3.) KRA ( Key Result Areas)

4.) Objectives

5.) Action Plans

6.) Markets

7.) List of Similar Providers

8.) Current Business Relationships

9.) Key Success Factors

10.) Core Competencies

11.) SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)

12.) Budget Alignment

13.) Planning Observations

This is not written in stone but you get the idea, each consulting group will have their own framework, this happens to be mine. If you have questions or thoughts please leave a comment and I’ll try to answer your request.

No matter how or what you do and or how you use technology (Information Technology) you should have a plan and Social Media Networks could be a strategy in your plan, it depends on the perceived value of those networks.

If you would like to hire Owen to assist you in developing a positive I.T. Strategic Plan and ensure that plan aligns with your overall business strategy you can e-mail me: owen@owengreaves.com