What is a master plan? The definition sometimes varies to refer to a long-term strategic plan as well as a revision of the IT application mapping of a company. A master plan is a strategic plan (usually for 3 or 5 years) defining a target and a trajectory to reach it. The target can concern one or several activities of the company. The trajectory highlights modalities for governance, organization, technical and financial management.
This is why our interlocutors are diverse. They can be a property management director, CFO or a CEO.
In order to support their medium – long term development, companies wish to significantly transform the organization and resources of some of their activities. Akeance Consulting has developed a strong expertise in the realization of master plans based on a methodology that is defined by the parallel application of two approaches :
- an approach based on the optimization of the existing situation with short and medium term actions to conduct;
- and an approach based on converting the company's strategic objectives into medium and long-term actions.
Concretely, for one or all of the company's activities, we first formalize the company's strategic objectives and challenges in order to determine the target it wishes to achieve within a 3 - 5 year timeframe.
Then, we elaborate the different trajectory scenarios to follow, with their transformation stages, in order to go from the existing situation to the target. Finally, based on the scenario approved by the company, we write the roadmaps consisting of the different projects to be carried out with their implementation plans and the critical path to follow.
In the end, we will have created a Master Plan for the company with the definition of :
- the target to reach;
- the trajectory to follow with the projects to be carried out and the transformation stages to reach;
- the roadmaps for each project (scope, human and financial resources to commit, actions, responsibilities, deadlines, etc.).
There is a great temptation to be satisfied with the improvement of the existing system and reframing the associated tools. However, a five-year perspective on activity is more than necessary insofar as the company will probably no longer have the same size, the same distribution of its activities or even its service offer, nor the same skill requirements. This first phase of reflection and strategic costing must not be neglected.
The purpose of a master plan is to take a high-level view and have a 5-year vision of the company or at least of one of its activities. This is why it is necessary to avoid the trap of scenarios that are not sufficiently differentiating, which are sometimes "high and low versions" rather than proper scenarios. These scenarios must refer to differentiated visions of business development.
