This book is written for the information technology planner responsible for setting the IT Vision for their enterprise. This IT Visionary is the person who, if they do their job right, makes it possible for their enterprise to achieve excellence. The strategic planner’s ability to clearly envision the future of the marketplace, the competition and the enterprise means the difference between long term success and failure. This visionary's skill is vital and their decisions may be of broader consequence than those of most others in the organization. Their ability to put all this information into a concise, clear, energizing, action oriented plan can make the difference between organizational success or failure over the long term. This book shows how to develop and and implement an information technology vision that doesn't just support and enterprise It enhances the enterprise's potential for achieving excellence! This book presents a streamlined planning tool for the information technology strategic planner that can be used effectively in any type of organization whether it is a corporation, non-profit or government enterprise. Through a series of logical steps it guides the technology planner toward first understanding the vision, infrastructure and operation of the enterprise they are supporting. Using this information a complementary vision and infrastructure are developed for the IT group supporting the enterprise. The inevitable result is an IT plan that not only supports, but also enhances, the ability of the enterprise to achieve its business or competitive objectives. This planning methodology has successfully been used by the author for more than a decade and is now being used by many others.
Tom Ireland has written Information Technology Strategic Plans for IT organizations for over thirty years. These enterprises include the world's largest on-line full-text legal research database, a Fortune 150 organization, and a government organization. His strategy and planning principles have proven to be equally applicable and effective across all types of enterprises.
Tom grew up as an "Air Force Brat" before attending Oklahoma State University where he received BS in Electronics Engineering and a minor in mathematics. While there he published his first paper in "The Oklahoma State Engineer". That paper won first place in a competition at Oklahoma State and in the Big Eight Universities.
He then accepted a commission in the United States Air Force where he served in several capacities, most notably Plans and Programs Officer, in Turkey and North America. While an Air Force Officer and Department of Defense civilian he managed technology program management teams responsible for communications and electronics installations in the Middle East, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and other military installations in the Ohio region.
After leaving the Air Force Tom designed and operated networks in support of what was at that time the world's largest on-line, full-text search and retrieval data base. He eventually moved to Mead Corporate Staff where he integrated their network operations. At Mead he was asked to participate in a Vision Team which successfully established a long term IT Vision for the corporation.
Mr. Ireland later went to work for CompuServe/UUNet. Over the course of three years he fully integrated the operations of their Class A web hosting data centers while the operation was expanding from three to twenty data centers across North America.
Tom is now the Chief Technology Officer for a regional government in southwestern Ohio as well as for the regional Tactical Crime Suppression Unit and the Organized Crime Task Force.
