She continues: “Some changes — like implementing gen AI — are fast to value. That’s where we need to implement, iterate, and improve quickly, while working toward our long-term strategies. Other changes can take more time, especially if they involve complex cross-functional work, significant investment, or upskilling.”
Bobby Cameron, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, says the length of IT roadmaps vary. Some IT organizations benefit from longer outlooks while others benefit from shorter ones depending on various factors, such as the pace of change in their industries, their organization’s objectives, and the projects and systems encompassed by a particular roadmap.
But Cameron says research has found that the highest-performing IT organizations, which Forrester defines as transformational ones, have abandoned the three-year roadmap in favor of ones that are two years or less. And they’re refreshing their roadmaps at least quarterly to incorporate changes in the technology and business landscapes.
