Customer-Centric IT Strategy

Overview

Now more than ever, corporations are investing heavily in IT. The quality of these investments affect the daily work of millions, yet it’s not uncommon to see industry surveys where the failure rates for IT projects is over 50%. It’s possible to do better and it’s possible to do so consistently. In this two-week course, we’ll step through major challenges within corporate IT and how to address them with the disciplined use of design thinking, Lean Startup, and agile as a team framework. By the end of this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and taught by top-ranked faculty, you’ll be able to: Use the Business Model Canvas to focus your company strategy and facilitate buy-in from stakeholders Translate your work on the Canvas to specific charters in IT Rapidly prototype strategically-aligned processes for implementation within your IT infrastructure Please Note: This is a short-form course, two weeks in duration.

Syllabus

Aligning Strategy with User Needs

To do strategic IT, you’ve got to have a strategy! Ideally, you need one that’s easy to understand and use as a clear basis for action. That’s what you’ll learn this week.

Designing, Testing, Redesigning

You’ve learned that being more intentional and acquiring and actionable understanding not just of what users say but of what they do is key to delivering successful IT. Now you’re going to learn more detail on how to iteratively prototype and test solutions to make sure not just that they don’t break, but that they deliver superior outcomes.

Diagnosing the Economics of Your IT Portfolio

It’s comforting as it is to believe there are simply ‘good’ and ‘bad’ product and technology choices. However, the reality is that you get good outcomes by being able to first diagnose your situation and then pair it with situation-appropriate choices on SaaS products, platforms, and stacks. This week, that’s what you’ll learn how to do.

Managing Security & Leveraging AI

Two hot topics in IT that just keep getting hotter are: 1) cybersecurity and 2) AI. This week, we’ll focus on the technical and economic fundamentals of both so that you can facilitate shared understanding and informed, intentional decisions with your stakeholders.