Build a Three-Year IT Strategy

Create a board-ready IT strategy pack with portfolio decisions and a roadmap.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Growth makes every technology request sound urgent. A board still needs one investment story that separates essential moves from attractive distractions.

In this project, you will build a six-slide board-ready IT strategy for fictional Falcon Horizon Group as its incoming technology VP. Your evidence lives in Microsoft Excel before becoming an executive recommendation in Microsoft PowerPoint.

What You'll Build

Picture finishing a 90-second board presentation with a clear AED 45 million recommendation that you can defend under executive questioning.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

A strategy-on-a-page that shows how four business priorities translate into technology outcomes and guiding principles.
A capability heatmap that identifies the largest execution gap and shows how it affects multiple investments.
A six-slide executive pack that supports explicit fund, defer, stop, and reshape decisions within an AED 45 million ceiling. Its operating model and three-year roadmap show how the strategy becomes measurable execution.
Secret Mission: Reshape a late CEO request for an AI initiative into a gated AED 2 million proof of value while keeping the portfolio at AED 45 million.

Are there any prerequisites?

You'll need a Windows device with access to Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. Some exposure to IT strategy or portfolio work helps. You do not need a certification or paid framework material.

Before We Start

A board-ready strategy succeeds when every slide supports an executive decision. This opening commitment keeps your attention on strategic judgment instead of slide formatting.

Set Up the Boardroom Workspace

An executive strategy pack needs one evidence trail from analysis to recommendation. A disconnected workbook and presentation make investment decisions harder to trace.

Microsoft Excel holds the evidence behind your decisions. Microsoft PowerPoint turns those decisions into a six-slide executive narrative.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a saved workbook for your strategy evidence.
Create a saved presentation for your executive narrative.
Build and verify the six-slide strategy shell.

Create the evidence workbook

The workbook keeps the scenario assumptions and portfolio choices together. Later slides can trace each recommendation back to this evidence.

Press the Windows key to open Windows search.
Type Excel and press Enter to open Microsoft Excel.
Select Blank workbook from the Excel start screen.
Press Ctrl+S to start saving the workbook.
Choose a local folder where you can find the strategy pack again.
Enter Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx in the file name field.
Confirm the save to create the local workbook.

You should see Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx in the workbook title bar. The visible name confirms that your evidence file has a local home.

Four worksheets separate the scenario from the decisions that follow. Their order also mirrors the strategy workflow you use in later steps.

Double-click the first worksheet tab.
Enter Scenario and press Enter.
Select the plus icon beside the worksheet tabs to add a second worksheet.
Use the same tab-renaming process to name the new worksheet Portfolio.
Select the plus icon beside the worksheet tabs to add a third worksheet.
Use the same tab-renaming process to name the new worksheet Funded Portfolio.
Select the plus icon beside the worksheet tabs to add a fourth worksheet.
Use the same tab-renaming process to name the new worksheet Roadmap.

You should now see Scenario, Portfolio, Funded Portfolio, and Roadmap across the bottom of the workbook. That is your evidence base in place.

Save the completed workbook shell by pressing Ctrl+S.

Workbook Not Showing Four Tabs?

An extra blank tab contains no project work. Removing that unused tab does not affect your strategy evidence.

Check that the four worksheet labels match the required names exactly.
Remove any extra blank worksheet tabs that you created accidentally.
Save the corrected workbook by pressing Ctrl+S.

Help me fix the worksheet structure in my strategy workbook.

Create the strategy presentation

The presentation becomes the board-facing layer of the evidence pack. Saving it beside the workbook keeps the analysis close to the executive story.

Press the Windows key to open Windows search.
Type PowerPoint and press Enter to open Microsoft PowerPoint.
Select New from the PowerPoint start screen.
Select Blank Presentation.
Press Ctrl+S to start saving the presentation.
Choose the same local folder as the workbook.
Enter Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx in the file name field.
Confirm the save to create the local presentation.

You should see Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx in the presentation title bar. Your executive narrative now has a saved file of its own.

Presentation Name Missing?

Press Ctrl+S again if the presentation still shows a generic name.
Enter Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx when PowerPoint asks for a file name.
Confirm that the presentation title bar shows the saved file name.

Help me save my PowerPoint strategy presentation locally.

Build and verify the six-slide shell

The slide order moves from the requested decision to the evidence behind it. This sequence gives the future presentation a clear executive arc.

Enter Executive Decision in the title placeholder on slide 1.
Enter Falcon Horizon Group: Three-Year IT Strategy in the subtitle placeholder on slide 1.
Select the Home tab.
Select New Slide five times in the Slides section to create slides 2 through 6.

You should now see six slide thumbnails in the left pane. Slide 1 holds the group strategy title that opens the presentation.

Set the title of slide 2 to Business Outcomes and Technology Direction.
Set the title of slide 3 to Capability Gaps.
Set the title of slide 4 to Portfolio Trade-offs.
Set the title of slide 5 to Operating Model and Decision Rights.
Set the title of slide 6 to Three-Year Roadmap and Measures.

The six thumbnails now map the complete decision story. Each later step fills a specific part of that story with evidence.

Save the six-slide shell by pressing Ctrl+S.

Before you check, which two workspace signals would prove that the presentation shell is ready?

Count the slide thumbnails in the left pane.
Start the presentation by pressing F5.

The thumbnail count is six. In presentation mode, slide 1 displays Falcon Horizon Group: Three-Year IT Strategy.

Press Esc to return to the PowerPoint editing view.
Select the slide 1 thumbnail to display its completed title slide.

Slide Count or Title Incorrect?

Return to the Home tab if you have fewer than six slides.
Select New Slide until the left pane contains six thumbnails.
Use Slide Layout to choose a layout with a title placeholder if a slide has no place for its heading.

Help me correct my six-slide PowerPoint strategy shell.

Your boardroom workspace is ready with a saved evidence workbook and a six-slide strategy shell. Next, you turn business priorities into the technology direction and capability heatmap for slides 2 and 3.

Connect Business Outcomes to Technology Direction

Your six-slide shell now gives the executive story a clear destination. This step fills its strategic core in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Technology initiatives are difficult to defend when they appear as technical deliverables. Capability-based planning connects each business priority to an outcome that executives can evaluate.

In this step, get ready to:

Connect four business priorities to technology outcomes.
Define the principles that guide technology decisions.
Build a current-to-target capability heatmap.

Connect priorities to outcomes

A strategy statement gives the board one clear description of the change technology must deliver. The outcome links beneath it show how each business priority contributes to that direction.

Why capability-based planning?

Capability-based planning starts with business outcomes. It connects those outcomes to the capabilities that architecture decisions must support.

This creates a traceable line from business ambition to implementation. Every later investment decision can point back to that line.

Switch back to Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx from the previous step.
Select slide 2 in the thumbnail pane.
On the Insert tab, select Text Box.
Draw a wide text box beneath the slide title.
Copy the strategy statement into the text box from the reference below:

Over three years, transform technology from fragmented project delivery into a product- and platform-led capability that grows digital revenue, strengthens resilience, and directs investment to measurable business outcomes.

What does this statement establish?

The three-year horizon gives the transformation a defined timeframe.
The product- and platform-led model describes the intended delivery shift.
Digital revenue and resilience identify the business value.
Measurable outcomes establish how investment decisions are judged.

Press Ctrl+S to save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Read the statement from normal viewing distance to confirm that it fits across the top of slide 2.

You should see one complete strategy statement beneath the slide title. Its text remains large enough to read without zooming.

Does the statement look cramped?

Widen the text box before reducing the font size. Keep the full statement visible as one continuous executive message.

If any words are missing, compare the text with the reference above. Help me fix a strategy statement that does not fit clearly on my PowerPoint slide.

The statement sets the destination. The next box gives each business priority a direct technology response.

On the Insert tab, select Text Box.
Draw a second wide text box beneath the strategy statement.
Copy the four outcome links into the second text box from the reference below:

grow digital revenue to digital product delivery
improve trust and continuity to cyber resilience
reduce technology drag to core platform modernization
scale the group to enterprise architecture, data, and talent capabilities

How do the links work?

Digital product delivery turns revenue growth into a technology outcome.
Cyber resilience gives trust and continuity an operational meaning.
Core platform modernization targets the technology drag that slows change.
Architecture, data, and talent capabilities give group growth a scalable foundation.

Format each outcome link as a separate row.
Press Ctrl+S to save the updated presentation.
Scan slide 2 from top to bottom to confirm that every priority has one technology outcome.

You should see four distinct business-to-technology links beneath the strategy statement. Each row should be readable as a direct cause-and-response relationship.

Are the outcome links hard to scan?

Place each link on its own line. Increase the spacing between rows if the text appears crowded.

Keep the priority wording aligned so the board can compare all four rows quickly. Help me improve the layout of four business-to-technology outcome links in PowerPoint.

Set the strategy principles

Outcome links explain where technology must contribute. Strategy principles define how leaders make choices when several solutions could support the same outcome.

On the Insert tab, select Text Box.
Draw a text box across the lower section of slide 2.
Copy the four strategy principles into the text box from the reference below:

business outcomes before tools
reuse before buy before build
security and architecture by design
accountable product ownership with measurable benefits

What do these principles control?

Business outcomes before tools keeps vendor choices behind business needs.
Reuse before buy before build reduces duplicate platforms and unnecessary custom work.
Security and architecture by design places guardrails inside decisions from the start.
Accountable product ownership assigns responsibility for outcomes and benefits.

Format the principles as four short statements.
Press Ctrl+S to save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Review slide 2 to confirm that the statement, outcome links, and principles form three visible sections.

Slide 2 now works as a strategy-on-a-page. An executive can trace the destination, the business links, and the decision rules without leaving the slide.

Is slide 2 becoming crowded?

Shorten the visual spacing before changing any wording. Keep the strategy statement at the top and the principles at the bottom.

Use consistent alignment across the three sections. Help me make my strategy-on-a-page easier to read in PowerPoint.

Build the capability heatmap

A capability heatmap compares current readiness with the maturity needed to deliver the strategy. The largest gap shows where weak foundations could constrain several investments.

Fitting eight capabilities on one slide is a little fiddly. A compact three-column table keeps the comparison readable.

Select slide 3 in the thumbnail pane.
On the Insert tab, select Table.
Insert a table with 3 columns and 9 rows.
Enter Capability as the first column heading.
Enter Current (1 to 5) as the second column heading.
Enter Target (1 to 5) as the third column heading.
Populate the eight capability rows from the reference below:

Digital Product Delivery 2 to 4
Core Platform Scalability 2 to 4
Data and AI 2 to 4
Cyber Resilience 3 to 5
Enterprise Architecture 1 to 4
Portfolio and Value Governance 2 to 4
Talent and Delivery Model 2 to 4
Vendor Ecosystem 3 to 4

How should the heatmap read?

Use the maturity ratings as the visual scale. Lower ratings show capabilities that need more development.

A rating of 1 uses red.
A rating of 2 uses orange.
A rating of 3 uses amber.
A rating of 4 uses light green.
A rating of 5 uses dark green.

Use the table formatting controls in the ribbon to apply the five-level color key to all 16 rating cells.
Bold the Enterprise Architecture row.

The current-state column should show more urgent colors than the target-state column. Enterprise Architecture moves from 1 to 4, which makes its three-point gap the largest on the slide.

Add Largest gap: 3 points beside the Enterprise Architecture row.
Add Enterprise Architecture affects multiple investments because it sets shared standards, exposes dependencies, and governs exceptions. beneath the table.
Press Ctrl+S to save the completed heatmap.

Slide 3 should now show eight current-to-target comparisons on a visible 1-to-5 scale. The highlighted Enterprise Architecture row should make the largest gap immediately clear.

Does the heatmap look inconsistent?

Check that every capability has one current rating and one target rating. Confirm that higher numbers always use stronger green fills.

Verify that Enterprise Architecture shows 1 in the current column and 4 in the target column. Help me troubleshoot my current-to-target capability heatmap in PowerPoint.

Before you start the slide show, which message do you expect to stand out first on slide 3?

Press F5 to start the slide show.
Advance through the first three slides.
Exit the slide show after reviewing slide 3.

You should see the Falcon Horizon Group title on slide 1. Slide 2 should show one strategy statement, four outcome links, and four principles.

Slide 3 should show all eight current-to-target maturity comparisons. Enterprise Architecture should stand out as the largest gap affecting multiple investments.

Strong work. Your deck now connects business ambition to technology direction and exposes the capability gap that most threatens execution.

Your technology direction now has a board-ready line of sight from business priorities to capability needs. Next, you will expose what happens when the initiative wish list collides with the investment ceiling.

Expose the Impossible Portfolio

Your strategy-on-a-page now shows where Falcon Horizon Group wants to go. The capability heatmap shows the gaps that could block progress.

The next question is affordability. You will total every requested initiative against the fixed ceiling before introducing portfolio prioritization.

In this step, get ready to:

Populate the scenario with nine requested initiatives.
Calculate the total request against the investment ceiling.
Present the funding conflict as a board decision.

Enter the requested initiatives

The Scenario worksheet is the evidence base for your investment decision in Microsoft Excel. Every initiative begins as requested for funding, so this first view preserves the full demand.

Switch back to the Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx workbook from earlier.
Select Scenario from the worksheet tabs.
Select cell A1.
Populate columns A through H by pasting the tab-separated data below:

Cost	Initiative	Value	Risk reduction	Urgency	Architecture fit	Feasibility	Weighted score
12	Digital Customer Platform	5	3	5	4	3	4.15
12	Core Platform Modernization	5	4	4	5	3	4.35
10	Data and AI Foundation	4	3	4	5	3	3.80
8	Cyber Resilience Uplift	3	5	5	5	4	4.30
7	Legacy Application Retirement	3	4	3	5	3	3.55
4	Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots	3	2	2	3	4	2.65
3	ITSM Tool Replacement	2	3	2	3	5	2.70
3	Enterprise Architecture Practice	3	4	4	5	4	3.85
3	Talent and Upskilling Academy	3	2	3	4	4	3.00

How does this evidence table work?

The Cost column stores each request in AED millions.
The five rating columns hold fictional scores on a 1-to-5 scale.
The Weighted score column combines the five ratings into one piece of evidence for later judgment.

Good progress. Your nine requests now sit in one evidence table that can support an executive investment decision.

Select cells H2:H10.
Use Excel's number-format controls to display two decimal places.
Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.

You should see nine populated rows beneath the headers. The weighted scores should run from 2.65 to 4.35.

Did the data land in one column?

Undo the paste if an entire row appears inside one cell. Select A1 once before pasting again, since entering cell-edit mode can prevent the tabs from separating the columns.

Ask for help if the eight columns still do not separate: Help me paste tab-separated portfolio data into Excel correctly.

Reveal the funding conflict

An investment ceiling turns a wish list into a portfolio decision. The total needs to be visible before any initiative is defended.

The board has fixed the available investment at AED 45 million. Before you calculate the request, do you expect all nine initiatives to fit inside that ceiling?

Select cell A11 in the Scenario worksheet.
Calculate the requested total by entering the formula below:

=SUM(A2:A10)

What does this formula do?

The SUM formula adds every cost from A2 through A10. Cell A11 becomes the total requested investment in AED millions.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.

You see 62 in cell A11. The request exceeds the AED 45 million ceiling by AED 17 million.

The portfolio does not fit

The AED 17 million gap is the intended collision. Keep every initiative requested for now so the cost of saying yes to everything stays visible.

Select cell J1.
Record the ceiling, shortfall, and score weights by pasting the block below:

Investment context	Value
Investment ceiling (AED millions)	45
Shortfall (AED millions)	17
Weighted score factor	Weight
Value	30%
Risk reduction	25%
Urgency	20%
Architecture fit	15%
Feasibility	10%

Why record the scoring weights?

The first two measures make the financial constraint explicit. The five factors document how the precomputed weighted scores were built.

The score provides evidence for the portfolio judgment you will make next. Its weighting gives value the largest influence while retaining risk, urgency, architecture fit, and feasibility.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.
Confirm that cell A11 still displays 62.

The Scenario worksheet now records the AED 45 million ceiling. It also records the AED 17 million shortfall plus the five score weights.

Does A11 show a different total?

Check that the nine costs in A2:A10 are 12, 12, 10, 8, 7, 4, 3, 3, and 3.

Check that the formula covers A2:A10 exactly. Help me find why my Scenario total does not equal 62.

Frame the board decision

Slide 4 turns the spreadsheet finding into the central decision in Microsoft PowerPoint. Keep the conflict unresolved so the audience sees the trade-off before receiving a recommendation.

Switch back to Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx from earlier.
Select slide 4, titled Portfolio Trade-offs, in the thumbnail pane.
Add a text box to slide 4.
Populate the text box with the board problem below:

AED 62m requested, AED 45m available, AED 17m over ceiling.

Which investments create the strongest portfolio, not merely the highest collection of project scores?

Why frame the problem this way?

The first line gives the board the financial constraint in three figures. The question shifts attention from individual project scores to the strength of the whole portfolio.

This framing preserves the tension without choosing winners yet. The next decision must account for strategic alignment, dependencies, risk, and affordability.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx by pressing Ctrl+S.

Before you start the slide show, which slide should make the investment conflict impossible to miss?

Start the slide show by pressing F5.
Advance to slide 4.

You should see AED 62m requested, AED 45m available, AED 17m over ceiling. You should also see the question asking which investments create the strongest portfolio.

Strong work. The funding conflict is now visible, so the next step can turn the constraint into explicit fund, defer, and stop decisions.

Make the Investment Trade-offs

Your earlier analysis made the investment collision visible. Nine attractive requests now compete for AED 45 million. The request exceeds that ceiling by AED 17 million.

Weighted scores make the trade-offs comparable. Capability-based planning tests whether the selected investments reinforce one another.

You will use Microsoft Excel to combine the scores with dependency judgment. You will turn the result into an executive decision in Microsoft PowerPoint.

In this step, get ready to:

Rank the nine initiatives by weighted score.
Build a funded portfolio that fits the AED 45 million ceiling.
Convert the shortfall slide into a board decision view.

Rank the initiatives with dependency judgment

The ranking creates a consistent evidence base for portfolio prioritization. Dependency judgment reveals which capabilities make the wider portfolio coherent.

Switch back to the open Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx workbook.
Select the Portfolio worksheet tab.
Populate the ranking from cell A1 by pasting this tab-separated data:

Rank	Initiative	Weighted score
1	Core Platform Modernization	4.35
2	Cyber Resilience Uplift	4.30
3	Digital Customer Platform	4.15
4	Enterprise Architecture Practice	3.85
5	Data and AI Foundation	3.80
6	Legacy Application Retirement	3.55
7	Talent and Upskilling Academy	3.00
8	ITSM Tool Replacement	2.70
9	Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots	2.65

What Does This Ranking Show?

The weighted score combines value with risk reduction.
The weighted score also includes urgency.
Architecture fit influences the ranking.
Feasibility completes the evidence base.
Core Platform Modernization ranks first with a score of 4.35.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx by pressing Ctrl+S.
Confirm that Core Platform Modernization occupies rank 1.
Confirm that Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots occupies rank 9.

Did the ranking land in one column?

Undo the paste if every value appears in column A. Select cell A1 before pasting the tab-separated data again.

If the order differs, compare each weighted score with the source values on the Scenario worksheet.

Help me fix the initiative ranking in my Excel worksheet.

Enterprise Architecture Practice ranks fourth. Its cross-investment role gives the other funded capabilities a shared structure for execution.

Select cell A12 in the Portfolio worksheet.
Record the dependency judgment by pasting this row:

Dependency judgment	Enterprise Architecture Practice is funded because it supplies the standards, dependency visibility, and investment guardrails needed to make customer, platform, data, and cyber investments coherent and deliverable.

Why Fund Enterprise Architecture?

Enterprise Architecture Practice enables consistency across the customer platform investment. It also guides the core platform investment.

The same capability exposes dependencies across data and cyber work. Its value reaches beyond its individual score.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx by pressing Ctrl+S.
Confirm that the dependency judgment appears below the ranking.

Is the explanation cut off?

Widen column B until the full dependency judgment is readable. You can also apply text wrapping to keep the sentence inside the visible worksheet area.

Help me make the dependency judgment readable in my Portfolio worksheet.

Build the funded portfolio at the ceiling

The ranking identifies strong candidates. The investment ceiling now forces a portfolio choice that covers growth capabilities with risk-reduction capabilities.

Select the Funded Portfolio worksheet tab.
Populate the funded portfolio from cell A1 by pasting this tab-separated data:

Cost	Initiative
12	Core Platform Modernization
8	Cyber Resilience Uplift
12	Digital Customer Platform
3	Enterprise Architecture Practice
10	Data and AI Foundation

What Does the Funded Set Cover?

Core Platform Modernization provides the scalable foundation.
Cyber Resilience Uplift addresses the strongest risk-reduction need.
Digital Customer Platform supports digital revenue growth.
Enterprise Architecture Practice supplies cross-investment guardrails.
Data and AI Foundation creates a governed base for future data products.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx by pressing Ctrl+S.
Confirm that cells A2:A6 contain 12, 8, 12, 3, and 10.
Confirm that cells A7:A10 remain blank.

Do the costs occupy the wrong cells?

Check that the heading starts in cell A1. The five costs must occupy cells A2:A6.

Help me correct the funded portfolio layout in Excel.

The excluded initiatives need explicit decisions. Deferral preserves future options while stop-or-reshape decisions prevent weaker requests from consuming the current ceiling.

Populate the non-funded decisions from cell D1 by pasting this tab-separated data:

Decision	Initiative
Defer	Legacy Application Retirement
Defer	Talent and Upskilling Academy
Stop or reshape	ITSM Tool Replacement
Stop or reshape	Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots

What Do These Decisions Mean?

Deferred initiatives remain valid candidates for a later investment cycle. Their timing changes because the current portfolio has stronger priorities.

Stopped or reshaped initiatives need a stronger case before they return. This keeps the portfolio affordable.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx by pressing Ctrl+S.
Confirm that two initiatives appear under Defer.
Confirm that two initiatives appear under Stop or reshape.

Are the decision labels unclear?

Check that Legacy Application Retirement appears under Defer. Check that Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots appears under Stop or reshape.

Help me classify the non-funded initiatives correctly.

Before you calculate the funded total, do you expect the five costs to fit the ceiling exactly or leave room?

Calculate the selected total in cell A11 by entering this formula:

=SUM(A2:A10)

What Does This Formula Do?

The formula adds the costs in cells A2:A10. The blank cells preserve space for the initiatives that were not selected.

Confirm that cell A11 displays 45.
Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx by pressing Ctrl+S.

Does the total differ from 45?

Compare cells A2:A6 with the funded cost sequence. Clear any accidental values from cells A7:A10.

Help me find why my funded portfolio total does not equal 45.

That is the central investment trade-off captured. Your selected portfolio now fits the AED 45 million ceiling exactly.

Turn slide 4 into a board decision

Executives need the selected investments to be visible at a glance. The slide also needs the rejected options with reasons and consequences.

Switch back to the open Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx presentation.
Select the slide 4 thumbnail titled Portfolio Trade-offs.
Replace the current body text on slide 4 by pasting this decision view:

DECISION
Fund AED 45m.

FUNDED
Core Platform Modernization: AED 12m.
Cyber Resilience Uplift: AED 8m.
Digital Customer Platform: AED 12m.
Enterprise Architecture Practice: AED 3m.
Data and AI Foundation: AED 10m.

DEFERRED
Legacy Application Retirement.
Talent and Upskilling Academy.

STOP OR RESHAPE
ITSM Tool Replacement.
Innovation Lab and GenAI Pilots.

DECISION REASONS
Strategic alignment.
Risk and dependency coverage.
Affordability.

CONSEQUENCE
Legacy retirement will be slower.

How Does This Support the Decision?

Strategic alignment connects the funded set to the business outcomes on slide 2.
Risk and dependency coverage connects the decision to the capability gaps on slide 3.
Affordability proves that the portfolio respects the AED 45 million ceiling.
The consequence makes the cost of the decision explicit.

Bold each section label on slide 4.
Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx by pressing Ctrl+S.

Before you start the presentation, do you expect slide 4 to show a complete investment choice or only a funded list?

Start the presentation by pressing F5.
Advance to slide 4.

You will see an AED 45 million funded portfolio with five selected initiatives. You will also see two deferred initiatives with two stopped or reshaped initiatives.

The slide gives strategic alignment as a reason. It also shows risk and dependency coverage with affordability. The slower legacy retirement consequence remains visible.

Is slide 4 difficult to read?

Reduce the body text size until every decision section fits. Keep the funded list grouped separately from the deferred list.

Help me improve the readability of my portfolio decision slide.

You have turned an overcommitted request into a defensible executive choice. The portfolio now states what receives funding and what waits.

Your AED 45 million portfolio is ready for execution planning. Next up, you will define decision rights and sequence the investments across a three-year roadmap.

Build the Execution Model and Roadmap

Your AED 45 million portfolio now makes the investment choices visible. The next goal is to make those choices executable.

A portfolio can still drift when ownership is vague. Clear governance gives each major decision a home.

Microsoft Excel gives the roadmap a traceable evidence base. Microsoft PowerPoint turns that evidence into an executive decision story.

Decision rights make delivery governable. Outcome measures prove whether the roadmap creates value.

In this step, get ready to:

Define clear decision rights for the funded portfolio.
Build a three-year roadmap with measurable outcomes.
Deliver a 90-second executive narrative.

Define governance decision rights

Each governance layer needs one owned decision. That clarity makes accountability visible to the board.

Focus slide 5 on decisions. Meeting schedules stay outside this board-level view.

The Four Decision Layers

Business and Technology Investment Council: Approves priorities. It also approves funding.
Enterprise Architecture and Risk: Validates standards. It validates security. It validates dependencies. It validates exceptions.
Product and programme owners: Deliver increments. They own outcomes.
Portfolio Office: Tracks spend. It tracks benefits. It tracks risks. It tracks dependencies.

Switch back to slide 5 in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Add the four governance layers using the exact decision statements above.

Before you start the slide show, do you expect every major portfolio decision to have a clear owner?

Start the slide show by pressing F5.
Advance to slide 5.

You will see four governance layers. Each layer states the decision it owns.

Good work. Slide 5 now assigns an owner to every major decision.

End the slide show.
Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx by pressing Ctrl+S.

Your operating model is now stored with the portfolio decision it governs.

Sequence the roadmap and measures

Capability increments turn a long strategy into visible stages of progress. Each year should show a distinct shift in organizational capability.

The Roadmap worksheet keeps the sequence traceable. Slide 6 distills that evidence for the board.

Three-Year Sequence

Year 1 objective: Stabilize foundations.
Year 1 capability: Cyber.
Year 1 capability: Core platform.
Year 1 capability: Architecture.
Year 1 capability: Data design.
Year 1 capability: Digital discovery.
Year 2 objective: Scale the strategy.
Year 2 capability: Digital releases.
Year 2 capability: Platform migration.
Year 2 capability: Data products.
Year 2 capability: Product ownership.
Year 3 objective: Optimize the strategy.
Year 3 capability: Automation.
Year 3 capability: Decommissioning.
Year 3 capability: Benefits reviews.
Year 3 capability: Refreshed rolling strategy.

Five Outcome Measures

Digital transaction share: 35% to 60%.
Release lead time: 12 weeks to 4 weeks.
Tier-one availability: 99.5% to 99.9%.
Overdue critical audit findings: 18 to fewer than 5.
Realized benefits: Untracked to at least 80% of the approved case.

Return to the Roadmap worksheet in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.
Document the full three-year sequence from the callout above.

You will see a progression from foundation work to scale. The final year shifts the strategy toward optimization.

Add the five outcome measures beneath the three-year sequence.

The worksheet now links each execution stage to a measurable result.

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.

Your workbook now preserves the execution evidence behind the final roadmap slide.

Switch back to slide 6 in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Add the three-year sequence from the Roadmap worksheet.

Slide 6 now shows how the portfolio progresses from foundations to scale. It finishes with optimization.

Add the five outcome measures to slide 6.

Before you present slide 6, do you expect the roadmap to show both delivery progress and business value?

Start the slide show by pressing F5.
Advance to slide 6.

You will see three sequenced years. You will also see five measures covering digital performance, delivery speed, resilience, audit closure, and realized benefits.

That gives the board a measurable execution path from investment to value.

Complete the executive recommendation

Slide 1 needs to state the decision before the board sees the supporting evidence. Your spoken narrative then connects that request to the remaining five slides.

The Executive Decision

Approve the AED 45 million portfolio.
Establish the operating model.
Release funding through outcome and architecture gates.
Review the rolling strategy quarterly.

Return to slide 1 in PowerPoint's editing view.
Add an Executive Decision section beneath the existing title using the four request lines above.

Slide 1 now gives the board a clear funding request. The remaining slides provide the evidence for approval.

Your 90-Second Story

Business problem: Technology delivery is fragmented. Architecture decisions are inconsistent. The requested portfolio exceeded the investment ceiling.
Investment trade-off: AED 62 million was requested. AED 45 million is funded. Some initiatives are deferred. Other initiatives are stopped or reshaped.
Execution model: Decision rights control funding. Architecture gates control coherence. Product ownership controls delivery. The Portfolio Office tracks value.
Expected outcomes: The roadmap improves digital performance. It improves delivery speed. It strengthens resilience. It closes audit findings. It tracks realized benefits.

Deliver the four-part narrative aloud within 90 seconds.

You now have a timed executive story that moves from the business problem to measurable outcomes.

Before you present the full deck, do you expect every slide to support the same AED 45 million decision?

Save Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx by pressing Ctrl+S.
Start the final slide show by pressing F5.
Present all six slides using your 90-second narrative.

You will see a complete six-slide strategy pack. Slide 1 anchors the deck with the AED 45 million funding request.

Slide 6 closes with a three-year roadmap and five outcome measures. The strategy now ends with a governable path to value.

That completes the hard part. Your strategy now carries one coherent executive decision from business ambition through measurable execution.

Secret mission

Secret Mission: Handle the CEO's AI Request

A new AI request has arrived after the portfolio reached its investment ceiling. Reshape it into a bounded AED 2 million proof of value with decision gates while keeping the funded total at AED 45 million.

Clean Up Your Resources

Your strategy pack lives in two local files. No ongoing project costs remain because the project created no paid service, cloud resource, or subscription.

Resources you used:

Your local Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx workbook in Microsoft Excel.
Your local Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Keep everything running

No cleanup action is needed. This option suits continued work on the strategy pack.

Save any final workbook changes in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.
Save any final presentation changes in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Keep both files in their current saved locations for future case exercises.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Closing the applications frees desktop resources. Both local files remain available for your next session.

Save any final changes in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx.
Save any final changes in Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx.
Close Microsoft Excel.
Close Microsoft PowerPoint.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Deleting the two files can feel drastic. This action only removes the fictional strategy pack from your device.

Close Microsoft Excel.
Close Microsoft PowerPoint.
Use Windows search to find Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx in its saved folder.
Press the Delete key while Boardroom-IT-Strategy.xlsx is selected.
Use Windows search to find Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx in its saved folder.
Press the Delete key while Boardroom-IT-Strategy.pptx is selected.
Empty the deleted-files folder on your device to remove both files permanently.
Check the former saved folder to confirm that neither filename remains.

Nice Work!

You made the boardroom call! Your six-slide strategy pack now defends an AED 45 million investment decision under executive pressure.

You've learned how to:

Built a strategy-on-a-page that links four business priorities to clear technology outcomes. Used a capability heatmap to reveal Enterprise Architecture as the largest execution gap.
Exposed an AED 17 million shortfall before applying portfolio prioritization. Made explicit fund, defer, stop, and reshape decisions within the AED 45 million ceiling.
Built an operating model with named decision owners. Sequenced a three-year roadmap around capability increments. Attached five measures to make value realization visible.
Secret Mission: Reframed the CEO-requested AI initiative as a bounded AED 2 million proof of value. Preserved the AED 45 million ceiling by phasing AED 2 million of Data and AI Foundation. Added three gates that determine whether the initiative scales or stops.

Ready to quiz yourself?