In the 18th/19th century the British Empire was the dominant superpower in the world and eventually established its own rule known as the Pax Britannica. A major factor that helped establish this dominance was their military advantage at sea. The British fleet, which started from the Tudor navy in the early 16th century, beat the Spanish Armada and, with some hiccups, became the most dominant naval power up to the 19th century.
You can say that building a powerful navy was a great strategy, especially during the times of colonisation and exploiting naval trade routes. But other countries, including Spain and France, tried it and still lost the lead to the British. Was there more to it than just ships?
There are several things that led to the dominance of Britain. Firstly, the British Empire used their geographical position as an island to reduce their spending on a regular army, while other European countries had to spend resources on fighting land wars. Secondly, building a fleet is expensive, and Britain had resources to invest from their industrial development and trade, and established the Bank of England to issue loans for the enterprise. Thirdly, Britain had access to a vast pool of seamen from the trading fleet to form the basis of the military fleet. And finally, Britain’s advances in industry enabled it to build infrastructure to support the navy, as well as better ships and weapons.
While Britain’s victory was delivered by a superior navy, it’s not just a product of a successful naval strategy, but grew from a prior successful political and economic strategy. Without them, the navy would never have come to be.
The same goes for IT strategy. It doesn’t exist on its own, but is based on the overarching business, financial, and people strategy. Treating IT as separate from the business is the same as a navy without an empire to support it.