Assignment 8 (Due: February 5, 2010, before 01:00pm)

Planning is a crucial part of an organization especially when it comes in developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization.

According to McBride, Strategic Information Systems Planning is a process of identifying the IS requirements of an organization at a high level. Lederrer and Gardener stressed out also that SISP is a process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization of executing its business plans and realizing it business goals.

Now, let’s go back to the topic. If I were hired and I’ve been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan to a certain company, here are my questions so that they can understand what is the importance of strategic information systems planning:

1. How do IT people report about current IS/IT planning within each business?
The first step to be able to have IS/IT and business alignment it is necessary to have a planning process. To start the process there is a need to understand the business direction and requirements that drive the information systems and architecture.

2. How do business planners report about current business planning within each business?
This question will be answered from the questions related to the planning and implementation of the business planning to support IS/IT.

3. How do IT people report about IS/IT systems?
To be able to answer this question, responses to the questions related to the type of IS/IT systems being used to support the business processes from both the IT and business managers will be used.

4. How do business planners report about current business processes?
The responses from the business managers to the questions relating to planning and design of business processes, type of business processes being used in the companies will answer this question.

5. What is the effect of the implementation of IS/IT systems on the business?
The implementation of IS/IT does impact the business activities. There is a certain effect on the business processes and the overall business. To answer this sub-question, the responses from the IT and business managers will be considered. Their views on the effects of the implementation of the systems on the business processes and the overall business will be compared.

By these questions, the “whys” of the executives of the company will be answered and they will be able to know how important strategic information systems planning is.

If I were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company and have asked to formulate and provide a list of questions with some explanation about “WHY” of the questions I would definitely consider some problems and assumptions regarding strategic plan.

These were the questions formulated in my mind about this topic, if ever I am hired and tasked to develop a strategic systems plan for a company. Everyone of us knew what planning is, for me when talking about company or and organization, it is traditionally considered as one of the four major functions of an organization, along with leading, organizing and coordinating/controlling. Planning is identifying where you want to go, why you want to go there, how you will get there, what you need in order to get there and how will you know if you're there or not.


The following are the questions that I may tackle in the said meeting:


1.)What are the strength/s and weaknesses of the company?

-It is important to know their strength and weaknesses of the company in-order to know their capabilities.

2.)What are the goals and objectives of the company?

-It is important for us to know every objectives and what the company want in a company, if ever they may succeed or fail they know how to bring back the company and change another plan to overcome there goals and objectives.

3.)Does your organization ready for Strategic Planning?

-Planning for information systems, as for any other system, begins with the identification of
needs. In order to be effective, development of any type of computer-based system should be a
response to need--whether at the transaction processing level or at the more complex information and
support systems levels. The plan must be specific enough to enable understanding of each application and to know where it stands in the order of development. Also the plan should be flexible so that priorities can be
adjusted if necessary.

4.)What are the characteristics of strategic planning?

-Strategic Information Systems Planning in the present SIS era is not an easy task because such a process is deeply embedded in business processes. These systems need to cater to the strategic demands of organizations, i.e., serving the business goals and creating competitive advantage as well as meeting their data processing and MIS needs.

Some characteristics of strategic IS planning are:
• Main task: strategic/competitive advantage, linkage to business strategy.
• Key objective: pursuing opportunities, integrating IS and business strategies
• Direction from: executives/senior management and users, coalition of users/management and information systems.
• Main approach: entrepreneurial (user innovation), multiple (bottom-up development, top down
analysis, etc.) at the same time.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLAN

5.)Where you want to go?

-First, I arise with this question because before we start to develop a strategic plan in a company we must learn to create ideals and aspirations in the near future. This talks about what we want for the company if ever we succeed or fail on what we want in an organization.

6.)Why you want to go there?

-I arise with this question because not everyone of us which is task to develop SISP in a company does know the reality of using this SISP in an organization. You want to go there so that you may overcome your aspirations in the organization.


References:

http://www.clarionmag.com/cmag/v3/informationsystemsplanning.pdf
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible. Most startups that fail do it because they fail at one of these. A startup that does all three will probably succeed. If I were hired and have been tasked to develop strategic information systems plan for a company, and asked to provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question, I would first make questions that would financially talks about the progress or the basic needs of the company. These are the following questions I formulate with its corresponding answers:


Why is their a need to create an Idea or strategy in putting up business?

In particular, you don't need a brilliant idea to start a startup around. The way a startup makes money is to offer people better technology than they have now. But what people have now is often so bad that it doesn't take brilliance to do better. An idea for a startup, however, is only a beginning. A lot of would-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is the initial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute. Venture capitalists know better. What matters is not ideas, but the people who have them. Good people can fix bad ideas, but good ideas can't save bad people.


What do are the costumers wanted from you?

It's not just startups that have to worry about this. I think most businesses that fail do it because they don't give customers what they want. It's the same with technology. You hear all kinds of reasons why startups failed. When most people think of startups, they think of companies like Apple or Google. Everyone knows these, because they're big consumer brands. But for every startup like that, there are twenty more that operate in niche markets or live quietly down in the infrastructure. So if you start a successful startup, odds are you'll start one of those.


What are the company’s objectives and goals?

This question is mostly asked by many interviewers, knowing that every company should possess an ideal success to the business. In making a business proper, the company should provide an objective and goal, because these two main words denote the achievement and success of the business. It would help give a direction and organize strategy to the business.


What are companies Information System Plan?

To be able that companies organize a proper or shall we say integrated system to its business, they have to create an Information System Plan. Strategic planning is very essential especially that technology evolves time to time. This would be a guideline in to maintain the duty of the system. It is not just the system involves in this plan, but also the people and the work embraces by the business.


Upon formulating these questions let us not just forget that success may be described only as the realization of an aim but hard work is essential. Hard work helps us to develop our potential to the maximum and strive for excellence in any field.
Hard work makes us better prepared to face adverse situations. Hard work helps an athlete to persevere in a race and win it; it helps an average student to become extraordinary, it helps to transform destinies.


These are the following questions and answers if ever I would be hired in a certain company and invited to formulate or develop an Information System in an organization.


My Blog:

http://brian-takealook.blogspot.com/

fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.

So if I were hired to develop a strategic information system plan for a company, what would I ask them to discuss on the development to be done. Now what is SISP? I got this definition of SISP or strategic information system plan from an article on the net.
“SISP is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business information models together with the evaluation of risk, current needs and requirements. The result is an action plan showing the desired course of events necessary to align information use and needs with the strategic direction of the company.” (Battaglia, 1991)

It would be ideal to first identify what kind of company you’ll be developing an SISP for. It is not necessary that one have to ask it for the company. As the developer of the SISP, I could observe and see what kind of company am I working for. I could also observe the processes and past strategies of the company to be able to start the planning by identifying questions to be asked during the meeting. It would be better if you yourself will observe the practice of the company rather than asking it directly so you yourself could see the real thing or the real situation. So here are questions I have formulated in order for me to develop a strategic information systems plan.

What are the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the company?
I have mentioned that observing is a good tactic to identify the companies goal but it could also be good if I as the developer ask them their goals and objectives for me to clarify if it suits with my observation of their business processes. It would be helpful to ask this question to know the company you are developing an SISP for.

What are the company’s needs?
Any systems plan always include with identifying the needs of the company being assessed. So in order to create an effective and efficient strategic information systems plan, another step is to identify and assess the needs of the company.

Why develop a strategic information system plan?
It would be best to ask why the company would want me to develop this SISP for them. With this I would know why they needed me to develop this SISP fro them. The time frame could also be discussed within this question. I could also ask them of their perspective or what do they see in the future when SISP is developed. Developing SISP for the company would be useless if the company itself does not know why they want this.

What are the strategies and priorities of the company?
This question would be useful for identifying how the company deal with handling priorities and what should be prioritized.

What are the past trends of the company regarding SISP?
This is for me to know the past strategies of the company. To identify what would be retained and what should be modified and be developed.

What are the existing systems of your company?
After dealing with the objective part of the meeting, now this question would recognize the company’s currents systems and services and how would these affect the business process. Identifying the current system would help me know how Information System helps the company and what are its significance to them.

After identifying the needs and gathering necessary information from the interview, the developer could know start doing an action plan for the company. This includes identifying risks and factor that may affect the company’s business processes and IS.

1. What is the company's history?

This question might be odd, but it is somehow important to know the history of the company. It can become the source of strategies for the current situation a company has.

2. What is the perspective of the company with regards to IS?

All medium to large organizations depend on Information technology For their continued survival. Consider organizations like British Gas, British Telecom, the Power and Water companies having to manually calculate, millions of customer bills every month or quarter! Clearly the clerical effort involved would make it difficult if not impossible for the organization to make a profit. Similar arguments apply to many other organizations such as the high street banks, central and local government. A recent article in the Daily Telegraph IT supplement suggested that many large organizations could last no longer than 24 hours without IT support. There should be little wonder that attitudes to the development of information systems have changed over the years from an almost cavalier approach to a professionally managed, disciplined, planned, engineering approach.

3. What is the benefits they have gotten from implementing IS?

An information system is there to empower its users. A database simply provides data, but an information system is all about providing the best information the user needs to do their task more effectively. It also takes into account that different users doing their own specific tasks may need to see their information presented in differing ways. The benefits of an information system follow when the user can quickly access, understand and respond correctly to that information.

To get the greatest benefits from an information system, consider it an adaptable tool that you progress as your business progresses. Don’t get locked into inflexible technology, grow a system that delivers on what you really need most today, knowing that when tomorrow’s new challenges come, the system will have the flexibility to adapt. This is where custom software development delivers strongly.
(http://www.the-database.co.nz/information-system.html)

Supporting question/s:

• If the company is already implementing Information System, what are the the improvement of the people and the organization or is there an improvement.

• Does implementing IS has given improvement for the firms activities with regards to their services and products?

4. Is IS cost effective?

This talks about whether the time allotted and given to the project is worth it.

Supporting question/s:
Is implementing IS worth the time and money?


5. What are the existing information system on the company?

This will describe the companies running system how and when they have started using this system.


6. Why plan?

Of course it is important to plan for every little we do, that's why we need to know the side of the firm.

The common reasons why accompany tend to plan on implementing IS are:

• To obtain resources

Financial - the capacity to use money

Facilities – capacity of both the organization and its people

Staff
-To align I/S with the business
-To identify needed applications
-To establish goals, schedules, and milestones in order to track progress

• To provide an opportunity for communication with top management and user management

Outcomes vs. process?
This talks about the expected things that will happen while on the process of developing an IS.

Reactive vs. proactive?
This recognize that you can be either reactive or proactive to project risks. It is the capability to make solution whenever a problem occur during the process.

Planning vs. forecasting?
planning is being prepared for the future while forecasting is the skill to predict future problems during the planning.
[/list]

7. What the company lacks?

This can be a comparison of what you know about an acreditted Information System to the company's current IS.

• what the company needs and want?
  
  As from what we all know, want and need are to different things. Needs are those things that we won't be able to live and want are those things that we consider important when in fact its not really important.

8. what is the mission of the company?

These are the services that the company are responsible for; it is their place in the business.


9. [*]what are its objectives?
Set Goals - these are the things the company needs to achieve

Set Objectives - these is described as the specific and measurable targets in order to reach their goals

fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company.
The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the
\"why\" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.

Fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.

Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question. (1000 words)

What are the steps on planning?

In an organization there are several steps or ways on planning there system to meet there needs. On planning first, we need to analyze the current situation of our organization. We should assess what are the problems and capacity of the organization. Second, Assess current responses on what we have been doing to make a difference for the organization. Third, Describe the future scenario expect the different problems would possibly occur in the future so that we can plan flexibly. Then, set goal and objectives. Also, define strategies and activities. Select priorities to define target groups. Then, we should also allocate roles and responsibilities properly. We should also set targets and indicators of progress and success. Lastly, find the proper resources which the organization should need.

Why planning is important?

Planning is very important to meet on what we need to achieve in the future. Planning is a process that is frequently done, but rarely done well. This tool provides guidance regarding the key steps in the planning process without planning we plan to fail.

What are the benefits of strategic information systems plan?

There are a lot of benefits regarding on implementing strategic information systems plan. On SISP we could determine the needs of the organization. The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategic way. Also, strategic information systems planning change the planning characteristics in major ways. For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period. Other questions associated with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise – corporate organization vs. strategic business unit, number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and deliverables.

How to develop a strategic information systems plan?

There are a lot of ways on developing a strategic information systems plan. Strategic systems are information systems that are developed in response to corporate business initiative. They are intended to give competitive advantage to the organization. They may deliver a product or service that is at a lower cost, that is differentiated, that focuses on a particular market segment, or is innovative.
Some of the key ideas of torefront writers are summarized. These include Michael Porter’s Competitive Advantage and the Value Chain, Charles Wiseman’s Strategic Perspective View and the Strategic Planning Process, F. Warren McFarlan’s Competitive Strategy with examples of Information Service’s Roles, and Gregory Parson’s Information Technology Management at the industry level, at the firm level, and at the strategy level.

What are the reasons on changing strategic information systems plan?
There are some plans that do not meet the needs of the organization. Some plans cannot address the current problems of the company. That is why they need to change or revise their systems plan. It is hard to have a strategic information systems plan which cannot address the problems of the organization that is why we should have many options or choices to help us on addressing problems which are currently occurring.

References:

http://www.amicaall.org/publications/toolkit/Tool%2011.pdf
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

You are always welcome to visit on my personal blog:
http://www.megsgang050890.blogspot.com/

Subject: Assignment 8 (Due: February 5, 2010, before 01:00pm) Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:38 am

Fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.

Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question. (1000 words)

Assuming that I am hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company and the officers invited me to meet with them and discuss things about the company and was asked to provide a list of questions with some explanation about the reason of the question for them to be prepared, maximizing the meeting’s output. Before I give you a list of questions, I would start this with a definition of some of the words that are involved in this assignment. The words are information, system, plan, information system and strategic information systems plan.

Definition of Information
If you ask questions, you get an answer, you get information. If you study, you will be able to have knowledge about a certain subject; hence, that knowledge becomes information. You hear or read the news, you get informed. Read a book, and you will have information. Information has a lot of definitions. I define the word information as a product of inquiry. If you write about something or about someone, it becomes information. Also, I can define information as knowledge about a subject. According to wikipedia.org, “Information is an ordered sequence of symbols.” That is how information was defined, in a technical term, though. Information can also refer to a series of numbers 1 and 0, also known as, the binary numbers. These numbers will be read by the machines and are then converted or translated. Another definition from the wikipedia.com is that, “information is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it.”

Information can also be defined as facts, data or knowledge that a person has acquired or disseminated through experience, study, it could also be in any form of inquiry or communication media that can be thought of.

Definition of System
I define the word system as different components that are grouped together to form one larger component. System can also be defined as a group of ideas that are integrated together, to form a whole. The word, system is similar to the words method, organization, classification and order. System can also be referred to as an order which is followed to perform different tasks. There are different types of systems that the people are dealing with in their daily lives. There is a system in the society, economics, and law. System can also be found in the world of information technology. If the word, system will be viewed as an order, it would mean that the certain system is used, for the reason that, their will be one scheme that will be followed. Let me take the case of a society. The people in a society have different laws and orders. These laws and orders are followed by the people so that the society will be able to function and act properly.

As an Information Technology student of the University of Southeastern Philippines, I can also define the word system as a program or software. There are a lot of multifaceted or complex modules in a system. These modules are integrated together to be able to work for one goal. These modules are either dependent or independent to each other. These modules either run in orders or not. Each system has to undergo extensive planning before it will be developed. This is where the needs of the client or company will be known. Through planning, the development team will be able to know the type of system that will be developed based on the needs of the client or company. Also, they will be able to have an idea on how the development team will be able to conduct the feasibility studies such as the economic, technical, and operational feasibility. Requirements analysis is another stage in system development. With the help of the planning stage, a plan will be produced for conducting the requirements analysis for the system which will be developed.

Definition of Plan
The third term that will be defined is plan. The word plan can refer to the word preparation. It is also similar to the words arrangement and diagram. Merriam - Webster dictionary defined the word plan as “a method for achieving an end”. Another extensive definition of the word, plan is done by the site www.brainyqoute.com. Plan is defined as, “A draught or form; properly, a representation drawn on a plane, as a map or a chart; especially, a top view, as of a machine, or the representation or delineation of a horizontal section of anything, as of a building; a graphic representation; a diagram.”

For me, planning is a way of preparing yourself for the future. Planning helps the person to foresee the risks that might occur. It will help him or her to prepare on how to manage those risks. Moreover, he or she will be able to measure the level of impact which will be done by the risks. Aside from the risk management, there are other things that the people can accomplish through planning. An example is reaching a goal or an objective. People have goals in life and they all wanted to reach these goal. For some, reaching one’s goal means reaching one’s success. In addition, before they succeed, they go through a series of realizations, plans and taking their plans to actions. Planning is a way or process of making a plan.

People plan the steps that they are going to take before reaching their goals. For example, a student’s goal is to have a job that best fits his or her skills that has a good pay. How will the student accomplish this goal? Of course, to reach his or her goal, the student would plan several steps and perhaps, identify some milestones. One might be taking his or her studies seriously while in the term. Second might be graduating. The third step can be applying for a job, and so on. By planning the steps ahead, he or she will be able to identify the risks, like what I had said. If ever there are risks that are too much to be handled, having extra plans is a very good idea.

Definition of Information System
Information system, on the other hand, is the combination of the components of information technology plus the people. Information System allows the company to handle large amounts of data or information. Handling large amount of information are done by the Information Technology components - hardware and software and these information technology components are being managed by the people in the company mainly by the management information systems department or information technology department of a certain company. Information system is different from information technology because the former has a component that interacts with information technology components. The information system has the capability of doing the things that the human mind cannot. Such as, handling and/or processing very large amounts of data or information. Information Systems give means to retrieving, storing and managing large quantity of data or information. The data or information that is managed by the information system is necessary for any business operation.

Moreover, information system is a programmed or automated system that provides or gives information to the people or to the company or organization. According to John Daintith who wrote A Dictionary of Computing, “the information systems include data processing applications, office automation applications, and many expert system applications. When their primary purpose is to supply information to management, they are commonly called management information systems”. Those information systems have complex environment, interface and is modeled in a complicated manner. Information system can also refer to a communication system that disseminates information. In a certain company or organization, the all the information that were gathered, stored or disseminated will then be handled by the Management Information Systems or ICT or Information Technology Division – whatever they call it. It is where all the information was stored for security, backed up and was processed by the people or employees who are composed of Information Technology professionals with the help of fast servers with high storage capacity.

What Is a Strategic Information Systems Plan?
Developing and implementing a strategic information systems plan is a major change in a company or business organization. According to an article written by Lederer, Albert L. and Sethi, Vijay, a strategic information system plan was defined as identifying or recognizing automated or computer based application portfolio or collection. These portfolio or collection of computer based applications can help the company or business organizations identify and develop strategic information systems plan. Moreover, it will be able to assist the company or business organization in their plans for applying information technology in their business operations and enjoy its benefits.

The questions that I wanted to ask the officers before developing the strategic information systems plan would be much similar to the questions that can be asks during SWOT analysis. The following are the questions that I would like to ask the officers of the company or business organization that hired me to develop a strategic information systems plan.

1. What are the things that can be improved in your department, company or business organization?
* Why: I wanted to ask this question for the reason that I wanted to know what can be upgraded or improved in their company or business organization. Also, through this question, I will be able to know how to assess their company or business organization.

2. How ready is your company or business organization to adapt or apply information technology?
* Why: I wanted to ask this question because through this, I will be able to know whether they are capable of putting up or applying information technology in their company or business organization. Moreover, the company and I will be able to know about the need of applying information technology. This question can also cover the financial capabilities of the company or business organization in putting up and applying the information technology in their business operations.

3. What are the effects of having a strategic information systems plan in their company or business organization?
* Why: I wanted to ask this question for the reason that I wanted to know how the development and implementation of a strategic information systems plan would affect them. Moreover, the company will be able to know how much time, money and manpower it would take to develop or implement the strategic information systems plan. Furthermore, the company or business organization and I will be able to measure the positive and negative effects of a strategic information systems plan in their business operations and the company’s relationship to other organization and to the government.

4. Who will be involved in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan in the company or business organization?
* Why: With this question, the company or business organization will be able to provide and select a competent and dedicated workers who will be involved in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan.

5. Who will be affected in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan in the company or business organization?
* Why: With this question, the company or business organization will be able to identify the people who will be affected in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan. The development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan might affect the people in the industry positively or negatively. It might be the people from the management, the employees from the finance department, the customers, or it might cover all everyone who will benefit from the strategic information systems plan. If the company or business organization will be able to identify those who will be affected in the strategic information systems plan, therefore, it will not be easy for them to conduct the trainings and seminars for the users.




References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plan
http://www.brainyquote.com/words/pl/plan203536.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O11-informationsystem.html

Comments:

fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.

Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question. (1000 words)
________________________________________
Before I start to present my questions to the company officers, I will just try to recall some important notes which are related to planning or strategic information systems plan.

What is Strategic Information System Plan?

In our previous topic in this forum, we’ve already discussed some information about Information System Plan and Business Plan which is both linked to the word “plan”. We all know that plan is very important since it is the very first step for you to develop tactics. It is a crucial part of an organization especially when it comes in developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization.
As I defined IS plan and strategic IS plan in my previous post, Information System Plan can also be compared with strategic information system plan. In developing an IS plan, one thing we need to do is projecting the firm’s objectives and formulized the policies and authorization and above all is you must identify what specific project you want in the future. An IS plan should be useable, timely, maintainable and flexible so that for some circumstances it can be modified if needed. As I mentioned on my post on the fourth assignment on management information system subject that was based on an article written by Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu, strategic information system plan is a management function not a technical one. SISP is typically the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business information models as well as the evaluation and analysis of the possible risk, current needs and requirements. It is used to determine the best targets for purchasing and installing new Management Information System and help an organization maximize the return on investment (ROI) in their information technology.

By the way, before I start I will define first the SISP (Strategic Information System Plan).
According to Allan Warr, Strategic Information System Plan (SISP) is the process of deciding upon the direction, development and policies for an organization’s use and management of information and networking technologies. It also involves the developments of Information Technology infrastructure, determining the application for the information system and the improvements to the management and sourcing of Information System/Information Technology resources. Today, public and private sectors of most large organizations are practicing the Strategic Information System Plan approach.
Hence in this case, I was task to impart a crucial part of an organization which is very vital for aligning some strategies in an organization. Waaah… amazing..hehe! The company officers have invited me to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before the meeting, I was asked to provide a set of questions so that they can be prepared. Moreover, these questions should be answered with explanations to maximize the output.
These are the question I formulated:
What is the mission and vision of this company?
Every organization has vision and mission. Since i will be doing a job for the company, the organization should orient me about their VMGO, it will help me a lot because i will be aware of why does company offer services for. It is also pertinent to be familiar with the company’s vision and mission in SISP implementation because it serves you in carrying out leadership role, unifying efforts and building alignment and loyalty among employees. Mission tells you the fundamental purpose of the organization. It defines the customer and the critical processes. It informs you of the desired level of performance. A Vision outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration. It provides clear decision-making criteria.
What are the goals and objectives of this company?
All companies have goals and objectives knowing that every company should possess an ideal success to the business. Objectives could cover growth, profitability, technology and some offerings however goals are ultimate time-based measurements to be achieved by implementing strategies in pursuit of the company's objectives. In making a business proper, the company should provide an objective and goal, because these two main words denote the achievement and success of the business. It would help give a direction and organize strategy to the business. It is important for me (as hired to develop a strategic information system plan) to know every objectives and what the company want in a company, if ever they may succeed or fail they know how to bring back the company and change another plan to overcome their goals and objectives.
What is the company profile?
It is very significant to be oriented with the firm's history, number and quality of its human, financial, and physical resources organizational and management structure, past, current and anticipated performance, and its reputation, and the standing of its goods or services. In other words to know first the different company products and operations that the company have to have easy way in developing SISP.
What business is in your company?
In developing a strategic planning, it is very much important to define the business clearly. There should be a clear definition of the business in terms of their responsibility in their customers, on what they really do in their customers or in their company. Try to see the things that the company needs to reduce, stop or avoid based on the current state of the organization.
Why the need for change?

Knowing the reasons why the company needs to change is also essential. One factor to consider is why the company takes risk on changing their current system. Because as technology changes, the organization’s practices also change and it will have a great effect to those people who are working in the company. That’s why you should meet the needs of the company that hired you.
What are the critical success factors of the company?
Identifying the Critical Success Factor which is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission is also important. It is a critical factor or activity required for ensuring the success of a company. In any organization certain factors will be critical to the success of that organization, in the sense that, if objectives associated with the factors are not achieved, the organization will fail - perhaps catastrophically so.
What are the strength and weaknesses in your company?
Strength and weaknesses must also identify to know are the positive or negative aspects of the external and internal environments that are under the direct control of a firm. Listing of a company's strengths and weaknesses are a normal part of any attempt at strategic information systems plan (SISP) for virtually all companies. Strengths are those things that your company does well which help you perform your jobs, deliver value to your customers and/or give you an advantage over your competition. It is important to determine your weaknesses to get them out in the open, with everyone in basic agreement that these are actually weaknesses, so the team can determine what to do about each one, if anything.
What are the impacts of current strategy implementation to the organization?

With this question, I can produce strategy implementation planning. This new strategy implementation planning defines change management approach, defines action plan, evaluates action plan, and defines follow-up and control procedure.
How do we involve employees in developing the strategic plan?

Some organizations get input from employees on current issues and concerns as part of assessing their current situation. Others include employees in getting reactions to already-decided on strategic plans, while others actively involve employees in developing the plan itself. There is no one right answer: It depends on your circumstances.
What is the current alignment of top management regarding on information strategic information systems plan?

I can formulate new ideas regarding this question. These ideas consists of understanding the strategic priorities of top management, aligning information systems (IS) strategies with the strategic plan of the organization, adapting the goals/objectives of IS to changing goals/objectives of the organization, maintaining a mutual understanding with top management on the role of IS in supporting strategy, identifying information technology (IT)-related opportunities to support the strategic direction of the firm, educating top management on the importance of IT, adapting technology to strategic change, and assessing the strategic importance of emerging technologies.
How do we deal with resistance to change?

It is really important to know and foresee resistances that might encounter especially stakeholders are involved. These stakeholders can include owners, managers, customers, employees and vendors.
Who is your customer?

Whom do you have to satisfy in order to survive and thrive in your career? Of course, your first customer is your boss, the person who signs your paycheck. Your primary job at work is to make sure that you are satisfying his or her essential needs. Do you know what they are?

You can define a customer as anyone who depends on you for his or her success and anyone you depend on for your success. Under this definition, your colleagues and your staff are also your customers. Everyone around you whom you help, or who helps you, is a customer in some way.

Who is your external customer, the customer who uses what you produce? This is the focal point of business success. Your ability to accurately identify the external customer whose satisfaction determines your success in your career is critical to every element of strategic planning.

What does your customer value? What specific benefits does your customer get from using your products or services? What does your customer want and need from you to be completely satisfied? How does your product change or improve his or her life and work

The twenty-first century has been called the Age of the Customer. The customer is king or queen. Your ability to identify and satisfy your key customers is a critical determinant of your success and your rewards in life.
How the analysis phase is done in the previous information systems planning of the organization?

This is the question that needs the knowledge in understanding the information needs of organizational subunits, identifying opportunities for internal improvement in business processes through IT, improving understanding of how the organization actually operates, developing a “blueprint” that structures organizational processes, monitoring internal business needs and the capability of IS to meet those needs, maintaining an understanding of changing organizational processes and procedures, generating new ideas to reengineer business processes through IT, and understanding the dispersion of data, applications, and other technologies throughout the firm.

In terms of cooperation, how the systems developers of the organization interact with each other in developing an information system?

In this question, I can come up new strategic cooperation process for the organization. This strategic cooperation process involves avoiding the overlapping development of major systems, achieving a general level of agreement regarding risks/tradeoffs among system projects, establishing a uniform basis for prioritizing projects, maintaining open lines of communication with other departments, coordinating the development efforts of various organizational subunits, identifying and resolving potential sources of resistance to IS plans, developing clear guidelines of managerial responsibility for plan implementation.
What are their technologies?

This will help in the study of their existing technology platforms, the infrastructure, the state and format of the data and information present. Along with this is the governance of their technology. Many technologies present in the company will sometimes result to difficulties management. There should be clear and specific choice in the standards, responsibility and approval structure in selecting and implementing technology to avoid difficulty of integration.

If they answer these few questions I put together, I can provide them an output to discuss. They must analyze their plan to achieve their goal and don’t plan to fail. Set their priorities and be ready on some resistances they might encounter.