How to become an IT Strategist

Owing to the need to maintain having smart solutions for the ultimate success of an organization, technology should be one of the decisive parameters in strategic planning of the organization which is carried out by an IT strategist.  An IT strategist is a seasoned professional within an organization that is responsible for establishing initiatives to best employ information technology (IT) practices to serve respective business objectives and outcomes. 

An IT strategist keeps in mind the organization’s vision and establishes the role technology can play in advancing its strategic priorities. There is a big pool of roles and profiles in the IT industry and their nuances, but when addressing technologist VS strategist, a technologist is a rather tech-heavy job role that may entail coding, developing, data science. Strategist, on the other hand, concerns planning, and maximizing efficiency of technology and business strategies. 

An IT strategist manages projects by keeping up with the advancing technologies to increase efficiency and profits. Providing recommendations and guidance associated with the software, IT operations and computer equipment is done by an IT strategist by evaluating the IT systems within the company and consolidating the analysis in a report.

The role of an IT strategist typically depends on the experience, skill sets, area of specialization and the organization that she/he works with. Generally,  it comprises of the following tasks: 

• Assess and analyze user requirements 
• Investigate new technologies
• Consult clients, project managers, programmers and sales and marketing professionals concerning the performance of systems and its potential
• Design, a technology-based development plan
• Identify economic, efficient and secure approaches to technological platforms internally and externally
• Recommend and oversee the implementation of changes to infrastructures
• Set up metrics to gauge the quality and usefulness of these changes and generally the services provided by the organization

• An IT strategist must have certain requisite skills and inclinations along with a relevant educational background in order to excel in the field.
• Aspirants are expected to be excellent problem-solvers, have great communication skills, adaptability, a natural affinity for technology, gadgets and a sharp, analytic mind.
• An IT strategist also tends to work in highly challenging work environments with individual project work as well as team interaction which is why aspirants must have leadership skills,  team working skills and the ability to work well under pressure.
• IT strategist jobs require a fair contribution of engineering principles, innovation, application of logical concepts, and thus, candidates must exhibit these traits to at least some extent.
• Aspirants must also have commercial awareness of the industry that they work in as well keep abreast with the evolving technologies to do justice to the role of an IT strategist. 

In order to enroll into a Bachelor’s program at an esteemed university, aspirants are expected to clear the JEE main and subsequently, the JEE Advance exam which makes the aspirant eligible to apply anywhere in India. It is a very difficult and challenging exam to crack that requires hard work as well as rigorous and consistent preparation. Some states have their own entrance exams that are admissible in their respective universities. Many educational institutes conduct their own entrance tests.  

Depending on the educational background, and preferably with the experience gained during an internship, aspirants may apply for the following profiles :

• Chief Technical Strategist.
• Computer systems engineer.
• Business intelligence analyst.
• Security Analyst
• Strategic account technology strategist