Technology Planning Steps

a) Select a Planning Committee. Include staff from all areas of the organization and at different levels of management in order to get a full picture of needs and priorities. Line staff, administrators, IT staff, teachers, clients, board members can all participate. The IT expert should not be the chair to ensure that the organizations missions stays intact.

b) Map a flow chart. Determine what the organization does and how. Create flow charts for information showing the individuals who handle the data and why the handle it.  Create a question and show the results as a flow chart.

c) Create a needs assessment. Try to focus not on a particular piece of equipment or software but on the task you want performed and why.  Determine current skills levels and current inventory of all systems and software.

d) Learn from other organizations. Ask other organizations what they are doing and what software they are using. You may not have to reinvent the cow, just the process.

e) Create and prioritize information system projects. You may be able to create a time line that allows for less essential items to be purchased at a later date. Get the critical components first.

f) Develop your organizational structure. Determine if your staff will be in house or if you will need to contract the support work for the system to an outside vendor.

g) Develop the policies and procedures. These will be implemented during the initial configuration of the software and hardware. This will avoid many time consuming refigurations and extra cost.

 

 

Are you ready to start? Now determine if you need help or if you can do this on your own and still take care of your organization. .......