IT Strategy – Part 1 (So you think you have a strategy huh?)

I'm going to leave the subject of Architecture Qualities for a while to turn instead to something all Technologists ought to be aquainted with - Strategy.
We all think we have a strategy, even if it's only the route down to the mall tomorrow...
OK, a definition first.
"Strategy" - An elaborate and systematic plan of action
A Strategy is a plan, a roadmap along which IT Projects run in a defined path towards a defined goal. Without strategy we continually work in reaction mode, changing plans and resources as we go, neither generally advancing towards nor retreating from business ideals, in effect, we constantly strive to remain in the current state.
The problem with this state of affairs is that Technology doesn't stand still; our Businesses demand new functionality and adaptations of existing functionality to change with market conditions.
What happens if we don't have it? Some examples:
Our Business as Usual costs go up, whilst or budgets stay the same or decrease; we starve ourselves of investment money.
Our infrastructure expands out-of-control, filing up our Data Centres with more and more increasingly outdated equipment, with ever-increasing demands on power and cooling.
The number of people employed to manage the infrastructure spirals out of control, increasing demands on costs and office space.
You have probably already recognised something in your own organisations here, but don't worry I think the problem may be widespread!
You see, the pace of technology, and indeed the price of technology, makes us work without really thinking. We don't think about the cost of the boxes, because we know they're kind of cheap-ish and in any case we know the very real risks in trying to share boxes between applications (Change Risks). So we let these boxes build up until some bright spark invents Server Consolidation; working in reaction mode again, not to a Strategy (of course you could say that getting in a mess and then having the occasional tidy up IS your strategy).
More in Part 2...