All Roads Lead to Somewhere

If you don't know where you want to go, as the Cheshire cat once advised in Alice in Wonderland, any road will take you there.

If you have very specific and significant goals, you need a detailed map to make sure you know where you are at all times and when you have arrived.

The Vision

Most IT leaders have a reasonable understanding of where they'd like their IT services provider to take them. Some point to the future, the vision of a promised land where the state of the organisation has been greatly transformed; improved by saving money, increased efficiency, or the succesful implementation of a new enterprise systems, but alas, few executives actually know where it is and how to get there.

The Danger

The danger here is clear. Even if you have the resources and a valid strategy, there is a real risk that you will put greater distance between your goals and the solution, by heading in the wrong direction or by going in ever increasing circles. It is very like being lost in a barren desert, a thick fog or a frozen snowscape, there are very few clues along the way.

The First Step is the most Courageous

The roadmap is a communication's document, a touchstone for continuous reference and re-validation. It is essential that one of your project legs is not more dominant than th eothers because this will divert you from the path.

The roadmap takes the vision and vague notion of direction, efficiency and continual improvement and puts it into concrete structure that can be readily and easily communicated. Additionally, it helps set expectations on both sides for the journey ahead and establishes a criteria for change and re-direction, when they are required and when they simply occur.

The Devil is in the Details but now, at least you are going in the right Direction