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Digital ExpressTECHNOLOGIES

CIO Advisory · 4 min read

Building a technology roadmap your leadership will actually fund

Roadmaps fail when they read like shopping lists. Link every line to an outcome, a risk or a cost — and keep it current.

Leadership team discussing a technology plan

A technology roadmap is a business document. If it reads like a list of products and projects, it will be cut at the first budget review.

Tie every item to something leadership cares about

  • An operational outcome it enables
  • A risk it reduces, such as an audit finding or single point of failure
  • A cost it avoids or controls

Sequence for capacity, not ambition

Plans fail when they assume more change than the organisation can absorb. Phase work around procurement cycles, delivery capacity and the people who will have to use the result.

A roadmap that is reviewed quarterly is a plan. One that is reviewed annually is a wish list.

Keep it alive

Review the roadmap regularly against what has changed — budgets, risks, vendors and priorities — and say clearly what has moved and why.

Published by Digital Express Technologies.

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Strategic IT planning, governance, vendor management and roadmaps.

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