Support 2026 Initiative Planning and IT Transformation
As the fiscal year winds down, many organizations face a familiar pattern: progress on new initiatives and IT Transformation slows dramatically between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Holidays, vacations, year-end planning, and preparation for next year’s budgeting create a natural pause. It’s not that organizations lack ambition; it’s that the final weeks of the year are a logistical and operational bottleneck. Projects stall, decisions wait, and momentum is difficult to maintain.
Instead of treating this period as a lull, leaders can view it as a unique opportunity: using remaining budget to lay the groundwork for initiatives and IT transformations that will kick off strongly in the first months of 2026. For organizations focused on 2026 initiative planning, December becomes a strategic window rather than a slowdown.
Advisory Engagements Fit Year-End Constraints
Large operational projects rarely gain traction in December. Resource availability, cross-functional alignment, and holiday schedules all slow execution. Advisory engagements, on the other hand, are compact, low-disruption, and produce tangible outputs that shape early-year decision-making.
One example from our work: a client is preparing for a 2026 Cloud transformation. January and February are reserved for capturing the organization’s key pain points, which will inform the configuration and design of the new software. By investing in preparatory advisory work during year-end, they ensure the project starts on solid footing and avoids delays once the new year begins—an essential component of strong 2026 initiative planning.
Roadmaps Clarify Sequencing and Reduce Overlap
Strategic roadmaps are most valuable when they make project sequencing and dependencies visible. A roadmap clarifies where smaller projects should be sequenced, which initiatives are prerequisites, and how overlapping work streams might interfere with one another.
For example, risks often emerge from:
- Data cleanup requirements that must be completed before implementation
- Critical stakeholders being excluded from steering committees
- Organizational initiatives competing for the same resources
By surfacing these risks ahead of time, advisory work ensures the first phase of a major transformation proceeds smoothly supporting efficient 2026 initiative planning and reducing the chance of early-year disruption.
Technology Alignment and Avoiding Missteps
When IT transformation progress stalls, frustration among business units can lead to uncoordinated or duplicate solutions. One client experienced this first-hand: their business units, frustrated with delays in addressing ERP issues, purchased standalone procure-to-pay software that conflicted with the planned ERP transformation. Advisory work and roadmap alignment could have prevented the misstep by ensuring priorities were coordinated in advance.
Roadmaps also support sequencing smaller projects with rough order-of-magnitude costs, giving leaders a realistic picture of what to prioritize first and how the budget will stretch across initiatives. This clarity is critical for 2026 initiative planning, particularly when leaders want to avoid surprises once full-scale execution begins.
A Strategic Use of Surplus Dollars
Year-end budget is often seen as a constraint or a source of pressure, but it can also be a lever. Advisory engagements allow organizations to resolve dependencies, surface risks, and set priorities before the new year begins. Completing this prep work in December avoids the delays that occur when planning starts only after January, ensuring that IT initiatives begin on schedule and with the right structure in place.
By investing in advisory services and roadmaps now, organizations can enter 2026 with a clear path forward, reduced uncertainty, and a stronger foundation for every project funded in the upcoming cycle. For organizations engaged in 2026 initiative planning, this early groundwork can mean the difference between a rushed start and a strategically aligned transformation.
For more information on how Elire can support your year-end efforts, contact [email protected] to request a copy of our informational one sheet, detailing our service offerings. In the meantime, explore our Advisory Services page for a deeper look into how we can support your transformation journey.
