Tools: Menu : Get Started

Get Started Checklist : download PDF
Before you call that first meeting with your IT Department, take some time to look over this list of preliminary questions that can help you craft a complete plan of action from day one on your journey to creating an online business.

1. Does this project have top management support?
If not, what actions need to be taken?

2. Prioritize the key business drivers for this project.
What is the vision?

3. What are your business goals for building this Web site?
What are the critical success factors? How will you measure them?

4. Do you have a process or framework for evaluating the business value of IT investments?
Does it quantify the impact? Is it flexible enough to consider strategic variables, such as time to market?

5. Which customer or constituent groups will benefit most and become the key users?
How will you increase your understanding of your customers?

6. What are your existing assets?
Hardware? Software? Content people? Technical people? Training services?

7. Considering your assets and timeframe, which activities might you need to outsource to one or more Web services providers? Web designers? System integrators? Training service providers? Web or application hosting providers? Fulfillment services? Credit card processors? Do you have a source for finding qualified service providers?

8. What must be integrated with the new Web environment? Legacy equipment? Software? Business processes? Which are already candidates for change?

9. What performance benchmarks will satisfy your business goals? Reliability? Scalability? Availability? Security?

10. Which executive will be chief evangelist for this effort?