Commonwealth agency strategic plans, the Commonwealth of Virginia Strategic Plan for Information Technology, the long-term objectives set forth by the Council on Virginia’s Future, and the Governor’s Priority Initiatives are used to ensure that IT directly and measurably supports business goals. Both the Commonwealth strategic planning process and the ITIM process align with the Commonwealth budgeting cycle.

Agencies within the executive branch develop and implement strategic plans and budgets designed to support the achievement of long-term objectives and the fulfillment of agency missions and mandates. In addition, agencies monitor the progress of their plans and make adjustments, as needed, to ensure desired outcomes are achieved. The strategic plan is used to provide guidance to all agency departments. Strategic planning is a management tool used by agency leaders to determine and communicate what the agency wants to accomplish in a designated time period, to monitor the agency’s overall performance, and to make course corrections to help the agency achieve its strategic goals.

Agency IT Strategic Plan (ITSP)

The agency IT Strategic Plan (ITSP) is a collaborative effort between the business and IT leaders within the agency and is comprised of the Resources: Information Technology Summary and the Appendix A: Information Technology sections of the Agency Strategic Plan. The ITSP is the primary tool for communicating how agency business needs drive IT investment decisions and how the agency’s IT investments support the business goals and objectives of the agency and the Commonwealth. The ITSP provides a detailed view of agency IT investments, identifies the alignment of each individual IT investment to the agency’s service area objectives and “as-is” business architecture, and provides additional information for each investment (i.e., costs, start and end dates, service area owner, etc.)

IT Strategic Planning Links

The links in the blue navigation box contain information critical to the success of agency IT strategic planning efforts. The links are

• The ITSP Requirements link which answers the question: "Do I have to submit an ITSP?" by identifying the legislation that determines which agencies must participate in IT strategic planning, how participation is defined, and which agencies are exempt.
• The ITSP Guidance link which answers the question: "What do I have to submit in the ITSP?" by providing access to the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) Agency Planning Handbook, the Agency Strategic Plan IT Summary Section on the VA Performs Web site, and the Agency Strategic Plan Appendix A in ProSight, the Commonwealth's Technology Portfolio System.
• The ITSP Updates Process link which answers the question: "When do I have to submit the ITSP?" with step-by-step process workflows that describe each step that must be taken to ensure that agencies effectively identify IT solutions that, when implemented, will address the agency’s business needs.