Strategic Management & Advisory
Strategic plans and modernization roadmaps for public-sector and commercial organizations
A strategic assessment reviews the organization’s current programs and capabilities. A roadmap then orders the work and the investments it requires, and written briefings keep leadership informed as that roadmap moves forward. We prepare these for federal program offices, state and local agencies, and commercial organizations that need to set a direction or plan a modernization effort.
What this covers
- Organizational strategy and strategic planning for public-sector and commercial organizations
- We work with leadership to set goals for the coming planning period and write them into a plan with a measure for each goal.
- Program strategy, governance structure, and execution planning
- For an individual program, we set out who approves changes to scope and budget and write the execution plan the program team works from.
- Modernization planning, roadmaps, and investment sequencing
- When several systems or projects compete for the same budget, we show which depend on others and put them in an order the organization can fund one budget cycle at a time.
- Operating-model design, including roles and reporting lines
- Once the strategy is set, the operating model defines the roles that will carry it out and which decisions each role can make without escalating.
How an engagement runs
The steps run in order. Wallis Consulting has no subcontracted bench and no account manager between the client and Austin, so comments on a draft go directly to the person who wrote it.
Step 1
Strategy and readiness assessment
- Deliverable
- A written strategic assessment report.
- For
- Leadership teams that want an outside assessment of where the organization stands before committing to a direction.
- Scope includes
- Current-state review of the organization and its programs, including capability gaps
- Stakeholder, constraint, and dependency mapping
- Risk and readiness review
- Recommendations in priority order, each with its rationale
Step 2
Strategy and modernization roadmap
- Deliverable
- A sequenced strategy and modernization roadmap that names the owner of each step.
- For
- Organizations that have chosen a direction and need a plan for getting there.
- Scope includes
- Order of investments and the decision points between them
- Governance and decision-rights structure for the programs involved
- Operating-model changes the plan requires
- Risk and dependency planning
- Workforce readiness planning
Step 3
Sustained strategic advisory
- Deliverable
- Written strategy briefings and roadmap reviews for leadership.
- For
- Leadership teams that want continued strategy support while they carry out the roadmap.
- Scope includes
- Review of the roadmap at each decision point it names, with written recommendations on the sequence
- Analysis of new constraints, such as a budget change, and their effect on the plan
- Facilitation of leadership decision sessions
Outside this practice
- Not slideware. Every engagement ends in a written document the organization keeps, such as the assessment report or the roadmap.
- Not staff augmentation. Wallis Consulting does not fill open positions on a program team; each engagement is a defined piece of work with its own deliverables.
- Not vendor representation. When a roadmap calls for new systems or suppliers, we advise the client organization only and do not represent any technology vendor.
The opening conversation covers the plan or decision your organization faces and what has already been decided about it. If the direction is set, the work can start with the roadmap.