A CIO realizes a significant change is required in the way IT responds to key external customers and needs to gain support from the enterprise to address this situation. What should be done FIRST?

Empowering IT staff prematurely without strategic alignment and organizational buy-in from a steering committee might lead to solutions that are not supported or properly resourced.

Establishing new policies before gaining strategic approval and support from relevant governance bodies can result in policies that are not aligned with overall enterprise direction or are difficult to implement.

Engaging training providers before the strategy is approved and policies are defined is premature and could result in irrelevant or misaligned training efforts.

Engaging the IT steering committee is the crucial first step as this body provides strategic guidance, ensures alignment with business objectives, allocates resources, and secures necessary enterprise-wide support for significant IT initiatives. Their endorsement legitimizes the change and facilitates broader organizational buy-in.