Working with StratML in StratNav

What is StratML?

Strategy plans are often trapped in documents, slide decks and separate systems. That makes them harder to share, compare, update and use. StratML helps make strategic intent and performance information structured, portable and machine-readable.

StratML, or Strategy Markup Language, is an XML-based standard for representing the content commonly found in strategic plans and performance plans or reports. StratML Part 1, covering core strategic-plan elements, is published as ISO 17469-1:2015.

Because it uses a structured XML format, StratML can help systems exchange strategy information more consistently. It is designed for machines to read and process, while stylesheets can provide a more accessible presentation for people.

You can learn more about StratML at:

• this Wikipedia page
• this FAQ from the Association for Information and Image Management ("AIIM")

The original intention was for public bodies, including government departments, public agencies and charities, to use StratML to share their strategic intentions and performance with one another, their stakeholders and, where appropriate, the public.

However, the same principles can also be useful in more secure settings, for example:

• divisions within large groups and multinationals communicating strategic intent and performance to divisional or global headquarters;
• start-ups communicating strategic intent and performance to funders and venture capitalists; and
• businesses that need to communicate with regulators, stock exchanges, investors or rating agencies.

Working with StratML in StratNav

StratNav makes it easier to create, share and reuse your strategy information in StratML. There are four ways of working with StratML in StratNav:

1. Generate StratML. You can generate the StratML for your strategy on a one-off basis by selecting "Reports & StratML" at the bottom of the Strategy Board, choosing your options and clicking "Generate StratML". This creates a one-time StratML output that you can copy and save.
   
   To see an example of StratML in action, here is a description of StratNav and its goals in StratML format.
   
   
2. Publish public StratML. You can publish your plan as public StratML by clicking "Edit this project" at the bottom of the Strategy Board and selecting the "Make StratML public" box. The StratML will update automatically whenever you update your plan.
   
   By default, StratML generated by StratNav is available only to registered users of the relevant projects. If confidentiality is not a concern, you can choose to make the StratML for selected projects available to the public.
   
   
3. Explore public plans. You can see plans for which people have made the StratML or HTML rendition public at Public Projects.
   
   
4. Import StratML. You can create a new project in StratNav by importing existing StratML from the web. Click the hamburger menu at the top left of the page, select "Projects" from the drop-down menu, then click the second round button, "Import".

Whether you are sharing a strategy externally, reporting across a group or moving structured strategy information between systems, StratML gives you a consistent format to work with. Schedule a StratNav demo to see how this could work for your organisation.

StratML Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

StratML is organised into three parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Part 1 covers the core elements of strategic plans. Part 2 extends this to performance plans and reports. Part 3 adds further elements that may help provide additional context and understanding.

Later parts build on earlier ones. In practical terms, the version you use depends on the information you need to share and the version supported by any system receiving the data.

1. If you intend to upload StratML into another system, use a version that the other system supports. This is primarily a question of system compatibility.
2. You can use a lower version when it contains all the information you need and you want to exclude elements available only in later versions.

StratML Stylesheets

StratML is designed primarily to be machine-readable. In other words, it is structured to make it easier for software to read and process.

As a result, raw StratML is not always easy for people to read.

Stylesheets provide a presentation layer that makes StratML content easier for people to view. They do not change the underlying machine-readable information.

See also

• StratML and the StratTech revolution: use cases in the private sector