Customer-Centric IT Strategy

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Customer-Centric IT Strategy

This course is part of Leading the Modern Day Business Specialization

Instructor: Alex Cowan

25,582 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

676 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

676 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Information Technology Architecture

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Leading the Modern Day Business Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 4 modules in this course

Now more than ever, corporations are investing heavily in IT. The quality of these investments affect the daily work of millions, yet it’s not uncommon to see industry surveys where the failure rates for IT projects is over 50%. It’s possible to do better and it’s possible to do so consistently. In this two-week course, we’ll step through major challenges within corporate IT and how to address them with the disciplined use of design thinking, Lean Startup, and agile as a team framework.

By the end of this course, developed at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and taught by top-ranked faculty, you’ll be able to: Use the Business Model Canvas to focus your company strategy and facilitate buy-in from stakeholders Translate your work on the Canvas to specific charters in IT Rapidly prototype strategically-aligned processes for implementation within your IT infrastructure Please Note: This is a short-form course, two weeks in duration.

To do strategic IT, you’ve got to have a strategy! Ideally, you need one that’s easy to understand and use as a clear basis for action. That’s what you’ll learn this week.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt

8 videosTotal 47 minutes

Course Intro3 minutes
The Problem with IT Projects5 minutes
The 20-Minute Strategy Brief4 minutes
IT Strategy Brief: Value Definition7 minutes
IT Strategy Brief: The Customer Journey7 minutes
IT Strategy Brief: Key Activities7 minutes
Demo: Business Model Canvas Template9 minutes
Drafting a Process Inventory from Key Activities5 minutes

1 readingTotal 10 minutes

Course Overview & Requirements10 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Week 1 Quiz on Customer-Centric Strategy30 minutes

1 discussion promptTotal 10 minutes

Get to know your classmates10 minutes

You’ve learned that being more intentional and acquiring and actionable understanding not just of what users say but of what they do is key to delivering successful IT. Now you’re going to learn more detail on how to iteratively prototype and test solutions to make sure not just that they don’t break, but that they deliver superior outcomes.

What's included

8 videos1 assignment

8 videosTotal 38 minutes

Your IT Pipelines6 minutes
Prototyping with Process4 minutes
An Example of Prototyping with Process5 minutes
Demo: Sketching a Process Design6 minutes
Test Criteria: 0, 30, 90 Days7 minutes
Skit: Process Design3 minutes
Skit: Validation Criteria2 minutes
Towards Outcome-Driven IT Pipelines4 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Week 2 Quiz on Prototyping IT Solutions30 minutes

It’s comforting as it is to believe there are simply ‘good’ and ‘bad’ product and technology choices. However, the reality is that you get good outcomes by being able to first diagnose your situation and then pair it with situation-appropriate choices on SaaS products, platforms, and stacks. This week, that’s what you’ll learn how to do.

What's included

10 videos1 assignment

10 videosTotal 44 minutes

The Economics of Your IT2 minutes
Unpacking a Stack3 minutes
The Model View Controller Framework2 minutes
Stacks, Any Way You Like8 minutes
The Economics of SaaS5 minutes
The Economics of Codeless + BaaS9 minutes
The Economics of PaaS4 minutes
The Economics of a Custom App4 minutes
The Economics of User Devices5 minutes
Towards an Economical IT Portfolio1 minute

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Week 3 Quiz on Diagnosing the Economics of Your IT Portfolio30 minutes

Two hot topics in IT that just keep getting hotter are: 1) cybersecurity and 2) AI. This week, we’ll focus on the technical and economic fundamentals of both so that you can facilitate shared understanding and informed, intentional decisions with your stakeholders.

What's included

14 videos1 assignment

14 videosTotal 73 minutes

The Screen Door4 minutes
The Superstack6 minutes
The Attackers4 minutes
Their Attack Pattern7 minutes
Your Defense Pattern7 minutes
Managing Risk8 minutes
Security and the Stack3 minutes
AI Today, AI Tomorrow8 minutes
The Economics of AI & the Enterprise3 minutes
Finding Your Ground Truth Supremacy6 minutes
The Economics of Predictive Analytics vs. LLM6 minutes
Case Study: Finding Ground Truth Supremacy at Jedburgh4 minutes
Chartering & Governing AI Investments3 minutes
Course Close3 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Week 4 Quiz on Managing Security & Leveraging AI30 minutes

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(144 ratings)

Alex Cowan

University of Virginia

28 Courses538,025 learners

Offered by

University of Virginia

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Reviewed on Aug 27, 2020

Excellent content, and some of the examples are actually related to real life scenarios. It's good to focus on small and medium businesses instead of talking about Fortune 500 companies all the time

Reviewed on Apr 9, 2021

The examples of how to apply the learnings to actual problem scenarios is amazing.

Reviewed on Jun 16, 2025

I think the piece on AI will have to be improved as to how Agents and Agentic AI changes the IT strategy and customer centricity.

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Frequently asked questions

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