6.1IT Strategy and Planning

Deciding how to use IT as the means to realize management strategy is the role of IT strategy. In the AP strategy domain, exams probe not just term definitions but the causal reasoning behind why a given sequence or framework is appropriate. The foundation is understanding the full chain from strategy to a blueprint for organization-wide optimization (EA), through reworking business processes when needed, to an actual systemization and procurement project—along with what evidence drives the judgment at each stage.

6.1.1IT strategy and EA

• IT strategy is the medium- to long-term policy for how information systems will be built and used to realize management and business strategy. It is not merely an IT department plan—it starts from alignment with management goals.
• Enterprise Architecture (EA) organizes an entire organization's business and systems into four layers: business, data, application, and technology, and maps a migration plan from the current state (As-Is) to the desired state (To-Be). Its aim is organization-wide optimization, preventing a proliferation of systems each optimized only for its own department (silos). The EA cycle proceeds: set direction in an architecture vision -> analyze the current state (As-Is) -> define the future state (To-Be) -> close the gap with a migration plan.