How do you future-proof your IT strategy so it can weather major disruptions and changing markets?

I don't think it is possible to "future proof" your IT strategy, but you can ensure your team has the training and skills to recognize which new technologies can be useful for your organization. Blockchain, augmented/virtual reality and now AI is driving senior management to allocate budgetary cash due to fear of missing out (FOMO).  The right question is what tools the business needs to accomplish tasks more efficiently, faster etc?

- Itemise everything in your infrastructure and systems chain
- Against each, ask yourself "what if this went offline?"
- Prioritise your focus based on likelihood and impact
- Ensure you have a strong understanding of your gaps.

One great example - what happens if you use terraform for all your cloud deployments and then terraform goes offline, leaving you unable to spin up your redundancies in other regions? It's a good thought nugget.

In terms of future-proofing for changing markets, I'd say try to strive for N+1. It's common for system patching policies to be N -1, but what about your strategy?

If you're trying to solve todays problems/needs today, then by the time you've implemented it you're already at tomorrow, which means the implementation of your strategy is forever playing catch-up.

One of the hardest things to do, but something I've seen great success in, is to position your technology in such a way that it is ready for the businesses near horizon future state - and your focus is on preparing for the horizon after that. Try to treat whatever your org is doing today as a "legacy system" or "legacy process". If you want to innovate and future proof, the easiest way is to be ahead of your organisations needs so that you have more freedom to pivot in the face of changing conditions.

If only I had a crystal ball...

It's difficult to future proof a strategy; it's easier to adapt your strategic planning approach to allow for greater uncertainty and volatility.

We're shifting to using a more directional strategy that delineates between enduring essentials and strategic directions that are more sensitive to external volatility. For directions that are more sensitive to external volatility and involve the greatest risk exposure, we develop scenarios (worst case, most likely, best case), and the scenarios drive planning.

The greater the volatility and risk, the more frequently the direction is revisited.

Gone are the days of the stable five-year plan.

When the weather changes, you have to change your clothes.
You could prepare for the worst possible weather from the outset, but then the clothing would be a hindrance in most cases.
If unstable weather is to be expected, the best strategy is to be able to change clothes quickly.