IT Review Self Assessment Tool

Assess your organisation’s IT systems across 4 core areas

Generate a no-nonsense IT roadmap in minutes

Quickly identify your ICT status and start the process of addressing inefficiencies for smoother operations and reliable performance.

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People

The structure, capabilities, and footprint of your ICT team are a key determinant of whether your ICT function is able to meet your requirements.

Do your IT staff have clearly defined role descriptions that are current and reviewed on a regular basis?*

Not all staff have clear role descriptions

Role descriptions are provided when the staff member is employed

Role descriptions are clear and match the expectations of all staff members

Role descriptions are reviewed and updated on an ad hoc basis

Role descriptions are clearly understood and are reviewed on an annual basis

Do your IT staff have KPIs against which their performance is routinely measured?*

Staff performance is not assessed

Staff performance is assessed in an ad hoc manner

Staff performance is assessed on a routine basis however performance measurements lack clarity

Staff performance is assessed formally against clearly agreed targets on an annual basis

Staff performance is assessed formally against clearly agreed targets multiple times per annum

Do you have formal, budgeted training plans for your ICT Staff?*

There is no specific IT staff training budget and training rarely occurs

There is no specific IT staff training budget however training is reviewed upon staff request

There is a pool of money budgeted for ICT staff training however no clear training goals

There is an ICT staff training budget based on nominated training events

There is a routinely reviewed ICT staff training budget that is aligned to staff training and development goals

Do you have a clearly defined ICT team structure with clear accountabilities?*

There are no staff who are solely dedicated to ICT

We have one person responsible for looking after ICT

There are multiple ICT staff members however it is unclear who is accountable for what

ICT staff members understand their specific accountabilities however this is not understood throughout the organisation

There are recognised ICT staff accountable for Strategic Management, ICT Integration, ICT Operations Management and ICT Support

Do your ICT staff maintain the currency of their technical certifications?*

I am unaware what certifications my ICT staff have

ICT Staff qualifications are assessed and validated when they commence employment

ICT Staff are responsible for maintaining their own technical certifications

The school may assist ICT staff to maintain certifications with time, or training when requested requested by the staff member

The school has a formal budgeted plan to maintain technical currency on systems used by the school

Do you conduct any routine 360 degree feedback of ICT staff?*

There is no process for obtaining feedback from end users on ICT Staff performance

Feedback on ICT staff as a whole is collected however no individual specific feedback is collected

Performance feedback on ICT staff is collected sporadically or informally

360 degree feedback is collected for ICT Management on a regular basis to establish a baseline

360 degree feedback is collected for all ICT team members on a regular basis to establish a baseline

Processes

Processes are how things are done around here. They can be informal or ideally documented, shared, understood, measured, and optimised. Mature processes and frameworks for enforcing, measuring, and optimising ICT procedures are a prerequisite for extracting the most value from your ICT investment.

Do you have formal agreed project management standards for projects over a defined cost or impact?*

Projects are initiated at the sole discretion of the budget holder

Projects are managed in an ad hoc manner at the discretion of the budget holder however prior approval is required by ICT or the Business Manager

Projects are managed informally on a case by case basis with ICT reporting informally to the school executive

Project schedules and budgets are managed however there are no formal processes for measuring project success

A project charter is created with clear success criteria, and a project manager is appointed by who oversees the cost, time, communication and test plans

Do you have formal technical change control procedures?*

No change control exists. Changes are made at the sole discretion of technical staff

Informal change approval exists where technical staff discuss changes with peers or line manager

Written change approval takes place however there are no formal requirements

A formal technical change approval process exists including technical documentation, peer review, and fallback plans

A formal technical change approval plan exists along pre approved change windows with required processes for business approval and stakeholder notifications

Do you have clearly defined, and measurable service expectations that are reported on regularly?*

An ICT ticketing system exists however accurate information regarding ticket statuses, ticket priorities, and time spent on tickets is not maintained

ICT ticket statistics are recorded in a helpdesk system however there are no agreed standards, or management reporting

Helpdesk reports are provided to leadership periodically however there are no agreed service expectations

ICT provides formal service reports in an agreed format to the executive on a routine basis

Service dashboards provide relevant agreed information in a near real time format to management stakeholders

Do you have a formal Service Catalog outlining ICT services that are provided to the School?*

No catalog exists and ICT staff respond and prioritise service requests based on their own judgement

A list of services is maintained by ICT however it is not shared outside of ICT

An agreed list of services exists however there are no defined coverage windows and response/resolution targets

An agreed list of services exists including coverage windows, with response and/or resolution targets

An agreed list of services with matching definitions and service targets exists and is reviewed at an agreed period

Do you have clearly defined recovery objectives governing data backups?*

The frequency of backups and the the length of time that they are retained is at the discretion of the IT team

The school has agreed expectations for how regularly backups should be taken

The school has agreed expectations for how regularly backups should be taken and how long information should be retained for

Recovery point and recovery time objectives are understood by the school and there is written agreement on these for all datasets and systems

The backup configuration is enabled and periodically validated to ensure that the agreed recovery objectives are being met

Do you have multi year ICT capital and operational budgets?*

There is no specific ICT budget

ICT capital and operational budgets are developed from the bottom up on an annual basis

ICT capital and operational budgets are indexed based on prior year expenditure

ICT operational budgets are indexed on prior year expenditure and capital budgets based on annual requests and business cases

There is an agreed three year ICT capital plan and operational budget projections encompassing all key ICT cost areas, with actual budgets being reviewed on an annual basis

Do you have a well defined set of ICT policies and procedures that are routinely reviewed?*

ICT maintenance is ad hoc in nature

A documented maintenance plan exists however there is no progress reporting to management

A documented maintenance plan exists however reporting to management is ad hoc or on demand

An agreed routine preventative maintenance plan is documented and there is routine reporting on progress against this plan

An agreed routine preventative maintenance plan is documented, and near real time progress is reported on via automated dashboards

Technology

Outdated or inappropriate technology that is a wrong fit for your business can hamper morale and stunt productivity, whereas a seamless technology experience can give you a leg up on your competitors.

Do you have a clearly defined and budgeted ICT infrastructure renewal lifecycle?*

ICT infrastructure is only replaced when existing infrastructure fails or no longer meets the school’s requirements

ICT infrastructure replacement is budgeted for based on ad hoc requests and business cases

ICT infrastructure replacement budgets are aligned with depreciation schedules

A multiyear ICT infrastructure renewal plan exists however each purchase requires specific budgetary approval

An ICT infrastructure lifecycle is agreed for all key infrastructure elements and there is a budget associated to each item

Do you review a variety of vendor options when updating core infrastructure?*

If possible we purchase ICT infrastructure with a product from the same manufacturer and/and or supplier at replacement time

We get quotes for multiple manufacturer products to test the market, however our preference is to stay with the incumbent

We select manufacturers or suppliers based on the recommendations of our peers

Our choice of product manufacturer is normally based on the recommendation of our supplier

We compare a variety of vendor options each time we replace core infrastructure to determine which is the best fit for our needs

Do you harden your ICT systems against component failure by building redundancy into them?*

I am unaware of whether we factor resilience into our system designs

The primary consideration of our systems design is function at the lowest cost and resilience costs more

The architecture of our systems are based on the recommendations of our peers

The architecture of our systems are normally based on the recommendation of our supplier

We conduct a business impact analysis and design our systems to accomodate foreseeable events that could disrupt business

Do you consider security when designing our ICT systems?*

I am unaware of whether we factor security into our new system designs

Factoring security into all of our designs is not practical due to time and cost

The architecture of our systems are based on the recommendations of our peers

The architecture of our systems are normally based on the recommendation of our supplier

We conduct a business impact analysis and design our systems to accomodate foreseeable events that could disrupt business

Do you measure the performance of your ICT systems?*

I am unsure of whether we measure the performance of our ICT systems

I would like to measure the performance of our ICT systems but don’t know where to begin

System performance is measured by ICT but not shared with management

Agreed system performance metrics are documented and there is routine reporting on progress against theses

We measure the performance of our ICT systems against agreed metrics in near real time using an executive dashboard

Partners

Mature relationships with third-party partners and suppliers allow you to extract the full value of your ICT investment, while retaining focus on your core business.

Do you engage third parties for routine validation of your ICT incident response procedures?*

I am unsure of what our ICT incident response procedures are

We have created an ICT incident response plan however we have never tested it

We have tested our ICT Incident response plan in an ad hoc manner

We conduct regular periodic tests of our incident response plan internally however don’t engage a third party for oversight

We have a partner that we engage with on an annual basis to review and test our incident response procedures

Do your third party ICT providers have clearly defined performance outcomes in their service agreements?*

Our focus is on pricing and we do not place importance on performance or success criteria in 3rd party ICT service agreements

Our key third party ICT providers have defined performance outcomes in their agreements, however there is no reporting

Our key third party ICT providers have defined performance outcomes in their agreements, however there is no routine reporting on these

Our key third party ICT providers include defined performance outcomes in their agreements, and provide reporting

Our key third party ICT providers have clear agreed performance clauses in their service agreements and we review these with them on a routine basis

Do you undertake regular independent assessments of your ICT security?*

We have not engaged an independent 3rd party to assess our ICT security

We have engaged third parties to undertake ICT security assessments on an ad hoc basis

We undertake routine testing of a limited nature such as ICT penetration tests

We undertake regular tests of different areas of our ICT security capabilities on a routine scheduled basis

We routinely work with independent 3rd parties to test for compliance against an industry framework eg NISTCF or ISO 27001

Do you undertake regular independent assessments of your ICT infrastructure?*

We have not engaged an independent 3rd party to assess our ICT infrastructure

We have engaged third parties to undertake ICT infrastructure assessments on an ad hoc basis

We work with independent third parties on an ad hoc basis to conduct tests of a limited nature such as Wi-Fi health checks or backup testing

We work with independent third parties to conduct regular tests of different areas of our ICT plafform on a routine scheduled basis

We routinely work with independent 3rd parties to test for compliance against best practice frameworks

Do you undertake regular independent assessments of your ICT support services?*

We have not engaged an independent 3rd party to assess our ICT support services

We have engaged third parties to assess our ICT support services in the past

We work with independent third parties on an ad hoc basis to conduct tests of a limited area of our ICT support services eg CSAT or 360 degree reviews

We have conducted reviews to establish baselines for our ICT services along with ad hoc follow ups at a later date

We have established service benchmarks and work with Independent third parties to conduct routine reviews regarding trends and progress

Do you undertake regular independent assessments of your ICT documentation?*

We have not engaged an independent 3rd party to assess our ICT documentation

We have engaged third parties to undertake ICT documentation assessments in scenarios such as staff turnover or parent body compliance scenarios

We undertake routine external validation of a limited nature such as our disaster recovery plans

We undertake regular tests of different areas of our documentation on a routine scheduled basis as part of critical incident planning

We routinely work with independent 3rd parties to test for compliance against an industry framework eg NISTCF or ISO 27001

Do you work with external partners to support elements of your ICT?*

We do not engage external ICT partners aside from for procurement

We enage external ICT partners on an ad hoc basis where we cannot undertake the services in house ourselves

We work with external ICT partners on as tactical basis to provide us with services as an overflow resource

We work with strategic partners to provide us with ICT services, backed by service guarantees, for elements of our ICT platform which

We have established trusted partners we have worked with for many years that offer us contractual commitments and regularly engage with us to understand our needs

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