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Strategic Information Systems CBSM4203

TOPIC 6: IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION SYSTEM

STRATEGIC PLAN

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Implementation of IS strategic plan

IS planning is merely the process which produces an IS plan.

In the new millennium, an IS strategic plan often plays a very important role in supporting an organisation’s business strategy.

This is particularly true if an organisation wants to move all or part of its business onto the Web.

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Implementation of IS strategic plan

An IS strategic plan is the outcome of an IS strategic planning study.

An IS vision statement (similar to a business vision statement) is a written expression of the desired future for information use and management in an organisation, which creates the context within which people can make consistent decisions.

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Implementation of IS strategic plan

An IS strategic plan provides the direction in which the IS development of the organisation should be heading.

The plan is basically a statement of the major initiatives that must be accomplished over a certain period of time in order to move the organisation and its IS department towards a long-term goal.

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IS department responsibilities

Provides a secure location for housing and accessing the company’s official

electronic data records;

Maintains computer processing capacity and support for file maintenance and information reporting;

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IS department responsibilities

Manages a corporate data network that delivers services to departmental and individual workstations linked to its data centre;

Provides integrated IS development for departments in order to advance organisational strategies

IS portfolios and those IS that are central to knowledge management and e-commerce operations would be elaborated with sufficient details on their purposes, functionalities and acquisition.

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Documentation of IS strategic plan

There is no preferred or standard format for documenting IS strategic plans.

Individual IS plans can differ greatly in their content and how they are organised, as well as in their level of detail.

As IS planning must be understood by the senior managers, it is important that IS plans should include an “executive summary” written using non-technical terminology and in a style that is meaningful to the general executive.

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Documentation of IS strategic plan

IS plans should include minimum technical jargon, specialised terminology should be clearly explained, and acronyms should be spelled out.

As IS planning involves technological details which must be understood by the senior managers, it is important that IS plans should include an “executive summary” written using non-technical terminology and in a style that is meaningful to the general executive.

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Contents of IS strategic plan

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Contents of IS strategic plan

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BSP study reports

IBM’s Business Systems Planning (BSP) methodology recommends that the final study report be separated into two main sections (IBM 1984).

The most significant findings, conclusions and recommendations should be summarised in the first few pages of the report for the use of the top management.

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Potential topics for BSP study reports

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Sample BSP study reports

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Project Management

A strategic IS plan does not stop after the plan itself is compiled.

The implementation phase of the strategic plan should be more important, although strategic management does not always get involved in tedious IS implementation details.

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Problem in strategic IS plan - Administration

A number of senior managers should be responsible for overseeing projects that are recommended by the strategic IS plan.

These senior managers will probably be led by the organisation’s CIO.

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Problem in strategic IS plan – Project teams

A team of experts, internal or external to the organisation, form a project team to take care of a project identified in the strategic IS plan.

Usually composed of IS experts and staff members from the accounting and administrative functions, the project team is responsible for developing the IT infrastructure or information systems as recommended.

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Problem in strategic IS plan – Assessment

Implementation is successful if the resultant IS or IT infrastructure is capable of producing the expected effect.

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Outsourcing

Today, outsourcing activities play a crucial role in the implementation of strategic IS plans.

The idea of requiring internal IT personnel to do IS or ecommerce planning, formulate strategy, develop and maintain the systems proposed, and operate and manage their own computer systems is not always feasible.

Organisations are increasingly outsourcing some or all of these strategic IS tasks to external companies.

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Outsourcing

IT sourcing is defined as a significant contribution by external vendors to the physical and/or human resources associated with the entire or specific components of the IT infrastructure in the user organisation.

IT outsourcing is not a new concept. In fact, the outsourcing of computer hardware and systems software, such as operating systems and DBMS, is a longstanding practice.

IT departments also purchase end-user software such as spreadsheets and word processors because there is no reason to reinvent tools.

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What drives Outsourcing

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Barriers to IS strategic planning

A) Problems in IS strategic planningLeadership issues

Securing a commitment from top management to implement the IS strategic plan is difficult.

The success of the IS strategic planning methodology is greatly dependent on the team leader.

It is difficult to find a team leader who meets the criteria specified by the IS planning methodology.

It is difficult to convince top management to approve the IS planning methodology.

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Barriers to IS strategic planning

A) Problems in IS strategic planningImplementation issues

Implementing the IS applications and IT architecture identified in the IS plan requires substantial further analysis.

The planning methodology fails to take into account issues related to IS strategic plan implementation.

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Barriers to IS strategic planning

A) Problems in IS strategic planningResource Issues

The IS planning methodology lacks sufficient automated support.The IS planning study takes too long.The IS strategic plan fails to include an overall personnel and training plan for the IS department.It is difficult to find team members who meet the criteria specified by the planning methodology.

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Barriers to IS strategic planning

B) Convincing top managementTop management lacks awareness.

Top management sees use of computers as strictly operational.

Top management perceives a credibility gap.

Top management doesn’t view information as a resource.

Top management demands financial justification.

Top management may be interested in short-term benefits.

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Barriers to IS strategic planning

C) Chief information officer

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EARL’S FRAMEWORK FOR IS STRATEGICPLANNING SUCCESS

Survey of IS strategic planning experiences in 27 companies in the UK (Earl 1993) the major issues relating to failure of IS strategic planning were identified as:

resource constraints;

lack of full implementation of plan;

lack of top management acceptance;

length of time involved; and

poor user-IS management relationships.

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EARL’S FRAMEWORK FOR IS STRATEGICPLANNING SUCCESS

Method

Process

Implementation

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Exercise 6.2

If the trend towards IT outsourcing continues, what are the long-term implications for in-house IT departments? In other words, what will happen to the in-house IT departments as organisations outsource their IT activities?

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Exercise 6.2 answer

IT outsourcing is certainly a growing trend. In 1996, for example, the Standard Chartered Bank outsourced its IT functions in Hong Kong and South-East Asian countries, including Indonesia and Singapore.

The most obvious implication of IT outsourcing is that in-house IT departments will become much smaller, as most of the IT functions are outsourced.

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Exercise 6.2 answer

Most organisations will only need to maintain a small IT department to coordinate activities with and manage the outsourcing vendor.

Consequently, the role of the in-house IT department will change.

A broader implication is that there will be less demand for IT professionals.

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Exercise 6.3

Can you suggest another technique, in addition to those we have mentioned above, for convincing top management of IT strategic impact?

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Exercise 6.3 - Answer

Many organisations set up a steering committee for monitoring IT activities.

It is made up of representatives from top management as well as user departments.

This gives top management ample opportunity to get its doubts clarified by the IS management and vice-versa.

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Exercise - 6.4

Lack of top management support and involvement in IS strategic planning has been a frequent reason for the failure of IS planning. Suggest reasons why top management may not support and/or not get involved with IS strategic planning.

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Exercise 6.4 - Answer

Lack of involvement is that the top management may not have enough knowledge of IS strategic planning to play an active role in the planning process.

Sometimes top management and IS management also seem to “live in different worlds.” Top managers may view the decision-making process as becoming more emotive, less rational and more conservative.

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Exercise 6.4 - Answer

Top management may tend to distrust people who believe that better information and more formal systems will lead to better decisions.

Top management may feel threatened by the organisational changes implied by an IS strategic planning study. A typical reaction of top management to innovation, and the organisational change that goes with it, is to avoid it.

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HAVE A NICE DAY!