| | Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) | |
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kate karen rasonable
Posts : 36 Points : 44 Join date : 2009-06-19 Age : 36 Location : Davao City, Philippines
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:22 pm | |
| The question is “You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan”. I guess if I were to be tapped by the university president to prepare an information systems plan for the university, I would definitely feel to be so honored. Before we define the steps on how to expedite the implementation of the IS plan, let us first give a recap on what an information system plan means. Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals. SISP is an important activity for information executives and top management. However, too often organizations fail to implement the recommendations from a SISP study. The SISP experiences of 105 experienced planners in researches used perceptual and objective measures to identify planning practices that predict the implementation of such plans. A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These characteristics are defined as follows:
Timely .The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Useable. The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. Maintainable .The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. Quality .While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. Reproducible. The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.
Information Systems Development Plan Steps
The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise.
I found ten steps from the source I cited below that can help expedite the implementation of the IS plan. First is to create the mission model. Missions and mission descriptions are represented through hierarchically composed text. Missions are descriptions of the characteristics of the end result. Missions are noun-based sentences. Mission descriptions are strategic and long range. Next is to develop a high-level data model. The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. The goal is not to create a low level or fully attributed data model. The reasons that only a high-level data model is needed is straight forward no database projects are being accomplished, hence no detailed data modeling is required and the goal of the ISP is to identify and resource allocate projects including database projects and for that goal, entity identification, naming and brief definitions is all that is required for estimating. The third step is to create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes. A resource life cycle is the linear identification of the major states that must exist within life of the resource. The ultimate goal of resource life cycle analysis is the identification and description of the major resources essential to the enterprise’s survival, and the ultimate goal of the ISP is the identification and accomplishment sequencing of the information systems projects required to implement the enterprise resources in the most effective manner possible. The fourth step is to allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes. After the resources and life cycles are complete, precedence vectors are established. Tied together into an enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise’s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The fifth is to allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes. That is to allocate Existing (As-is) Databases to Resource Life Cycle Nodes; allocate Existing (As-Is) Information System to Resource Life Cycle Node; allocate Future (To-Be) Databases to Resource Life Cycle Node; allocate Future (To-Be) Information System to Resource Life Cycle Node; and configure ISP Projects. The sixth step is to allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node. The key reason for having a well engineered check list for identifying the types of work involved in either a database or business information system project is the ability to then used canned work breakdown structures (WBS). Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. The seventh step is to load resources into each WBS node. Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The 8th step involves the scheduling of the RLC nodes through project management package facilities. The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. Using activity network charts (PERT, Microsoft Project). The ninth step is to produce and review of the ISP. The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the meta data environment (the integrated project management meta data) and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. And the last step is to execute and adjust the ISP through time. As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is automated the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less. In summary, any technique employed to achieve an ISP must be accomplishable with less than 3% of the IT budget. Additionally, it must be timely, useable, maintainable, able to be iterated into a quality product, and reproducible. IT organizations, once they have completed their initial set of databases and business information systems will find themselves transformed from a project to a release environment. The continuous flow environment then becomes the only viable alternative for moving the enterprise forward. It is precisely because of the release environment that enterprise-wide information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained are essential. REFERENCES: http://www.clarionmag.com/cmag/v3/informationsystemsplanning.pdf http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262 | |
| | | Jovylin O. Sandoval
Posts : 40 Points : 42 Join date : 2009-06-21 Age : 34 Location : Purok Anahaw Buhangin, Davao City
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:39 pm | |
| Today, enterprise database is deployed on distributed, heterogeneous hardware and systems software environments. The hardware platforms are both multiple-vendor and multi-tiered, with different architectures. In short, most businesses have embraced some form of downsizing, decentralization, and distributed processing. Critical to the enterprise database environment are the capture of the business model and the implementation of the enterprise's memory: its data architectures. Once the data architectures are implemented in a sophisticated, generalized manner, software tools can be quickly and effectively deployed to create the necessary business systems to collect, update, and report critical business data. The business systems can be implemented through a network of databases across different computing platforms. To make database a success, each must be carefully defined, deployed along with high-quality processing systems, and effectively utilized through high-level natural languages. To have database success is to be organized. And with an organized enterprise, the past can be researched, the present can be mastered, and plans for the future can be set into place. Furthermore, many enterprises do not have model-based information systems development environments that allow system designers to see the benefits of rearranging an information systems development schedule. Consequently, the questions that cannot be answered include: • What effect will there be on the overall schedule if an information system is purchased versus developed? • At what point does it pay to hire an abnormal quantity of contract staff to advance a schedule? • What is the long term benefit from 4GL versus 3GL? • Is it better to generate 3GL than to generate/use a 4GL? • What are the real costs of distributed software development over centralized development? If these questions were transformed and applied to any other component of a business (e.g., accounting, manufacturing, distribution and marketing), and remained unanswered, that unit's manager would surely be fired! We not only need answers to these questions NOW!, we also need them quickly, cost effectively, and in a form that they can be modeled and changed in response to unfolding realities. Too many half-billion dollar organizations have only a vague notion of the names and interactions of the existing and under development information systems. Whenever they need to know, a meeting is held among the critical few, an inventory is taken, interactions confirmed, and accomplishment schedules are updated. This ad hoc information systems plan was possible only because all design and development was centralized, the only computer was a main-frame, and the past was acceptable prologue because budgets were ever increasing, schedules always slipping, and information was not yet part of the corporation's critical edge. Well, today is different, really different! Budgets are decreasing, and slipped schedules are being cited as preventing business alternatives. Confounding the computing environment are different operating systems, DBMSs, development tools, telecommunications (LAN, WAN, Intra-, Inter-, and Extra-net), and distributed hard- and software. Rather than having centralized, long-range planning and management activities that address these problems, today's business units are using readily available tools to design and build ad hoc stop-gap solutions. These ad hoc systems not only do not interconnect, support common semantics, or provide synchronized views of critical corporate policy, they are soon to form the almost impossible to comprehend confusion of systems and data from which systems order and semantic harmony must spring. Not only has the computing landscape become profoundly different and more difficult to comprehend, the need for just the right--and correct--information at just the right time is escalating. Late or wrong information is worse than no information. Information systems managers need a model of their information systems environment. A model that is malleable. As new requirements are discovered, budgets modified, new hardware/software introduced, this model must be such that it can reconstitute the information systems plan in a timely and efficient manner. Information System Plan is a process for developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization. Why do we need to plan for IS? To ensure that IS both complements and assists in the achievement of our business goals. To ensure that the use of scarce resources are maximized within a business. To maximize the benefits of changing technology. To take account of the different viewpoints of business professionals and IT professionals. Who Perform ISP? IS Planners / System Analyst Variety of stakeholders (i.e. sponsor, users) Top management commitment à successful ISP. Characteristics of a Quality Information System PlanA quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. 1. Timely - The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. 2. Useable - The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. 3. Maintainable - The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. 4. Quality - While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. 5. Reproducible - The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. Whenever a proposal for the development of an ISP is created it must be assessed against these five characteristics. If any fail or not addressed in an optimum way, the entire set of funds for the development of an ISP is risked. Where & When ISP?It is where any organization that has interest in getting the best out of its IT investments. And it is when their organization is in this following: Facing problems Grabbing opportunities. Information Systems (IS) fail to satisfy huge, diverse and complicated information requirements of their users. How it could be done? Look at business structure, function, processes, culture Look at existing IT Look at available technology. Carry out interviews. Develop policies. Develop application portfolio. Plan schedules for migration, implementation etc. Components of ISP The Process of Information Systems Planning Strategic Alignment of Business and IT Selecting Systems to Invest In Project Management Issues ISP Planning Types Top-Down Planning: A generic information systems planning methodology that attempts to gain a broad understanding of the information system needs of the entire organization. Bottom-up Planning: generic information systems planning methodology that identifies and defines IS development projects based upon solving operational business problems or taking advantages of some business opportunities ISP Key Activities Describing current situation: it includes a listing of the manual and automated processes, listing of manual and automated data, technology inventory and human resources inventory. Describing future situation: includes blueprints of manual and automated processes, blueprints of manual and automated data, technology blueprints and human resources blueprints. Describing scheduling of the project: includes scheduling of manual and automated processes, scheduling of manual and automated data, technology of scheduling and human resources scheduling. The Information Systems Plan Steps The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise. 1. Create the mission model - The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison detre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the who and the how. 2. Develop a high-level data model - The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes - Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource lives through its resource life cycle. 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes - Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprises assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise lives through its resource life cycle network. 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes - The resource life cycle network presents a lattice-work onto which the as is business information systems and databases can be attached. The to-be databases and information systems are similarly attached. A Difference projects between the as-is and the to-be are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan. 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node - Detailed planning of the difference projects entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. 7. Load resources into each WBS node - Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities - The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the PERT chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network. 9. Produce and review of the ISP - The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time - As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is automated the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less. If the pundits are to be believed, that is, that the right information at the right time is the competitive edge, then paying for an information systems plan that is accurate, repeatable, and reliable is a small price indeed. Reference:• http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~nkm/sisp/CONTENTS.html • http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262 • http://www.wiscorp.com/EnterpriseDatabase_-_InformationSystemsPlanning_-_book_-_sam.pdf | |
| | | florenzie_palma
Posts : 61 Points : 62 Join date : 2009-06-20 Age : 33
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:35 pm | |
| The Strategic Planning Process In the 1970's, many large firms adopted a formalized top-down strategic planning model. Under this model, strategic planning became a deliberate process in which top executives periodically would formulate the firm's strategy, then communicate it down the organization for implementation. The following is a flowchart model of this process: The Strategic Planning Process Mission | V Objectives | V Situation Analysis | V Strategy Formulation | V Implementation | V Control This process is most applicable to strategic management at the business unit level of the organization. For large corporations, strategy at the corporate level is more concerned with managing a portfolio of businesses. For example, corporate level strategy involves decisions about which business units to grow, resource allocation among the business units, taking advantage of synergies among the business units, and mergers and acquisitions. In the process outlined here, "company" or "firm" will be used to denote a single-business firm or a single business unit of a diversified firm. Mission A company's mission is its reason for being. The mission often is expressed in the form of a mission statement, which conveys a sense of purpose to employees and projects a company image to customers. In the strategy formulation process, the mission statement sets the mood of where the company should go. Objectives Objectives are concrete goals that the organization seeks to reach, for example, an earnings growth target. The objectives should be challenging but achievable. They also should be measurable so that the company can monitor its progress and make corrections as needed. Situation Analysis Once the firm has specified its objectives, it begins with its current situation to devise a strategic plan to reach those objectives. Changes in the external environment often present new opportunities and new ways to reach the objectives. An environmental scan is performed to identify the available opportunities. The firm also must know its own capabilities and limitations in order to select the opportunities that it can pursue with a higher probability of success. The situation analysis therefore involves an analysis of both the external and internal environment. The external environment has two aspects: the macro-environment that affects all firms and a micro-environment that affects only the firms in a particular industry. The macro-environmental analysis includes political, economic, social, and technological factors and sometimes is referred to as a PEST analysis. An important aspect of the micro-environmental analysis is the industry in which the firm operates or is considering operating. Michael Porter devised a five forces framework that is useful for industry analysis. Porter's 5 forces include barriers to entry, customers, suppliers, substitute products, and rivalry among competing firms. The internal analysis considers the situation within the firm itself, such as: • Company culture • Company image • Organizational structure • Key staff • Access to natural resources • Position on the experience curve • Operational efficiency • Operational capacity • Brand awareness • Market share • Financial resources • Exclusive contracts • Patents and trade secrets A situation analysis can generate a large amount of information, much of which is not particularly relevant to strategy formulation. To make the information more manageable, it sometimes is useful to categorize the internal factors of the firm as strengths and weaknesses, and the external environmental factors as opportunities and threats. Such an analysis often is referred to as a SWOT analysis. Strategy Formulation Once a clear picture of the firm and its environment is in hand, specific strategic alternatives can be developed. While different firms have different alternatives depending on their situation, there also exist generic strategies that can be applied across a wide range of firms. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation, and focus as three generic strategies that may be considered when defining strategic alternatives. Porter advised against implementing a combination of these strategies for a given product; rather, he argued that only one of the generic strategy alternatives should be pursued. Implementation The strategy likely will be expressed in high-level conceptual terms and priorities. For effective implementation, it needs to be translated into more detailed policies that can be understood at the functional level of the organization. The expression of the strategy in terms of functional policies also serves to highlight any practical issues that might not have been visible at a higher level. The strategy should be translated into specific policies for functional areas such as: • Marketing • Research and development • Procurement • Production • Human resources • Information systems In addition to developing functional policies, the implementation phase involves identifying the required resources and putting into place the necessary organizational changes. Control Once implemented, the results of the strategy need to be measured and evaluated, with changes made as required to keep the plan on track. Control systems should be developed and implemented to facilitate this monitoring. Standards of performance are set, the actual performance measured, and appropriate action taken to ensure success. Dynamic and Continuous Process The strategic management process is dynamic and continuous. A change in one component can necessitate a change in the entire strategy. As such, the process must be repeated frequently in order to adapt the strategy to environmental changes. Throughout the process the firm may need to cycle back to a previous stage and make adjustments. Drawbacks of this Process The strategic planning process outlined above is only one approach to strategic management. It is best suited for stable environments. A drawback of this top-down approach is that it may not be responsive enough for rapidly changing competitive environments. In times of change, some of the more successful strategies emerge informally from lower levels of the organization, where managers are closer to customers on a day-to-day basis. Another drawback is that this strategic planning model assumes fairly accurate forecasting and does not take into account unexpected events. In an uncertain world, long-term forecasts cannot be relied upon with a high level of confidence. In this respect, many firms have turned to scenario planning as a tool for dealing with multiple contingencies. Rationale for an Information Systems Plan Every year, $300-700 million dollar corporations spend about 5% of their gross income on information systems and their supports. That's from about $15,000,000 to $35,000,000! A significant part of those funds support enterprise databases, a philosophy of database system applications that enable corporations to research the past, control the present, and plan for the future. Even though an information system costs from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000, and even through most chief information officers (CIOs) can specify exactly how much money is being spent for hardware, software, and staff, CIOs cannot however state with any degree of certainty why one system is being done this year versus next, why it is being done ahead of another, or finally, why it is being done at all. Many enterprises do not have model-based information systems development environments that allow system designers to see the benefits of rearranging an information systems development schedule. Consequently, the questions that cannot be answered include: • What effect will there be on the overall schedule if an information system is purchased versus developed? • At what point does it pay to hire an abnormal quantity of contract staff to advance a schedule? • What is the long term benefit from 4GL versus 3GL? • Is it better to generate 3GL than to generate/use a 4GL? • What are the real costs of distributed software development over centralized development? If these questions were transformed and applied to any other component of a business (e.g., accounting, manufacturing, distribution and marketing), and remained unanswered, that unit's manager would surely be fired! We not only need answers to these questions NOW!, we also need them quickly, cost effectively, and in a form that they can be modeled and changed in response to unfolding realities. This paper provides a brief review of a successful 10-step strategy that answers these questions. Too many half-billion dollar organizations have only a vague notion of the names and interactions of the existing and under development information systems. Whenever they need to know, a meeting is held among the critical few, an inventory is taken, interactions confirmed, and accomplishment schedules are updated. This ad hoc information systems plan was possible only because all design and development was centralized, the only computer was a main-frame, and the past was acceptable prologue because budgets were ever increasing, schedules always slipping, and information was not yet part of the corporation's critical edge. Well, today is different, really different! Budgets are decreasing, and slipped schedules are being cited as preventing business alternatives. Confounding the computing environment are different operating systems, DBMSs, development tools, telecommunications (LAN, WAN, Intra-, Inter-, and Extra-net), and distributed hard- and software. Rather than having centralized, long-range planning and management activities that address these problems, today's business units are using readily available tools to design and build ad hoc stop-gap solutions. These ad hoc systems not only do not interconnect, support common semantics, or provide synchronized views of critical corporate policy, they are soon to form the almost impossible to comprehend confusion of systems and data from which systems order and semantic harmony must spring. Not only has the computing landscape become profoundly different and more difficult to comprehend, the need for just the right--and correct--information at just the right time is escalating. Late or wrong information is worse than no information. Information systems managers need a model of their information systems environment. A model that is malleable. As new requirements are discovered, budgets modified, new hardware/software introduced, this model must be such that it can reconstitute the information systems plan in a timely and efficient manner. Characteristics of a Quality ISP A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These five are presented in the table that follows. Timely The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Useable The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. Maintainable The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. Quality While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. Reproducible The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. Whenever a proposal for the development of an ISP is created it must be assessed against these five characteristics. If any fail or not addressed in an optimum way, the entire set of funds for the development of an ISP is risked. The ISP Steps The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise. Information Systems Plan Development Steps Step Name Description 1. Create the mission model The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the Awho@ and the Ahow.@ 2. Develop a high-level data model The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource Alives@ through its resource life cycle. 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives@ through its resource life cycle network. 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work@onto which the Aas is@ business information systems and databases can be Aattached.@ See for example, the meta model in Figure 2. The Ato-be@ databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects@ between the Aas-is@ and the Ato-be@ are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan. 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node Detailed planning of the Adifference projects@ entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. 7. Load resources into each WBS node Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The meta entities are those inferred by Figure 2. 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities. The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the APERT@ chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network. 9. Produce and review of the ISP The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the meta data environment (see Figure 1), the integrated project management meta data (see Figure 2), and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time. As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is Aautomated@ the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less. Collectively, the first nine steps take about 5000 staff hours, or about $500,000. Compared to an IS budget $15-35 million, that's only about 3.0% to 1.0%. If the pundits are to be believed, that is, that the right information at the right time is the competitive edge, then paying for an information systems plan that is accurate, repeatable, and reliable is a small price indeed. Executive and Adjusting the ISP Through Time IT projects are accomplished within distinct development environments. The two most common are: discrete project and release. The discrete project environment is typified by completely encapsulated projects accomplished through a water-fall methodology. In release environments, there are a number of different projects underway by different organizations and staff of varying skill levels. Once a large number of projects are underway, the ability of the enterprise to know about and manage all the different projects degrades rapidly. That is because the project management environment has been transformed from discrete encapsulated projects into a continuous flow process of product or functionality improvements that are released on a set time schedule. Figure 3 illustrates the continuous flow process environment that supports releases. The continuous flow process environment is characterized by: • Multiple, concurrent, but differently scheduled projects against the same enterprise resource • Single projects that affect multiple enterprise resources • Projects that develop completely new capabilities, or changes to existing capabilities within enterprise resources It is precisely because enterprises have transformed themselves from a project to a release environment that information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained on an enterprise-wide basis are essential. There are four major sets of activities within the continuous flow process environment. The user/client is represented at the top in the small rectangular box. Each of the ellipses represents an activity targeted to a specific need. The four basic needs are: • Need Identification • Need Assessment • Design • Deployment The box in the center is the meta data repository. Specification and impact analysis is represented through the left two processes. Implementation design and accomplishment is represented by the right two processes. Two key characteristics should be immediately apparent. First, unlike the water-fall approach, the activities do not flow one to the other. They are disjoint. In fact, they may be done by different teams, on different time schedules, and involve different quantities of products under management. In short, these four activities are independent one from the other. Their only interdependence is through the meta data repository. The second characteristic flows from the first. Because these four activities are independent one from the other, the enterprise evolves by means of releases rather than through whole systems. If it evolved through whole systems, then the four activities would be connected either in a waterfall or a spiral approach, and the enterprise would be evolving through major upgrades to encapsulated functionality within specific business resources. In contrast, the release approach causes coordinated sets of changes to multiple business resources to be placed into production. This causes simultaneous, enterprise-wide capability upgrades across multiple business resources. Through this continuous-flow process, several unique features are present: • All four processes are concurrently executing. • Changes to enterprise resources occur in unison, periodically, and in a very controlled manner. • The meta data repository is always contains all the enterprise resource specifications: current or planned. Simply put, if an enterprise resource semantic is not within the meta data repository, it is not enterprise policy. • All changes are planned, scheduled, measured, and subject to auditing, accounting, and traceability. • All documentation of all types is generated from the meta data repository. ISP Summary In summary, any technique employed to achieve an ISP must be accomplishable with less than 3% of the IT budget. Additionally, it must be timely, useable, maintainable, able to be iterated into a quality product, and reproducible. IT organizations, once they have completed their initial set of databases and business information systems will find themselves transformed from a project to a release environment. The continuous flow environment then becomes the only viable alternative for moving the enterprise forward. It is precisely because of the release environment that enterprise-wide information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained are essential. Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organisations, across both the public and private sectors. This is being driven by a range of factors, including a need to improve the efficiency of business processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services. In many cases, ‘information management’ has meant deploying new technology solutions, such as content or document management systems, data warehousing or portal applications. These projects have a poor track record of success, and most organisations are still struggling to deliver an integrated information management environment. Effective information management is not easy. There are many systems to integrate, a huge range of business needs to meet, and complex organisational (and cultural) issues to address. This article draws together a number of ‘critical success factors’ for information management projects. These do not provide an exhaustive list, but do offer a series of principles that can be used to guide the planning and implementation of information management activities. From the outset, it must be emphasised that this is not an article about technology. Rather, it is about the organisational, cultural and strategic factors that must be considered to improve the management of information within organisations. The key goal of this article is to help information management projects succeed. Information management is not a technology problem Exploring information management ‘Information management’ is an umbrella term that encompasses all the systems and processes within an organisation for the creation and use of corporate information. In terms of technology, information management encompasses systems such as: • web content management (CM) • document management (DM) • records management (RM) • digital asset management (DAM) • learning management systems (LM) • learning content management systems (LCM) • collaboration • enterprise search • and many more… (For a brief overview of many of these systems, see the earlier article Definition of information management terms.) Information management is, however, much more than just technology. Equally importantly, it is about the business processes and practices that underpin the creation and use of information. It is also about the information itself, including the structure of information (’information architecture’), metadata, content quality, and more. Information management therefore encompasses: • people • process • technology • content Each of these must be addressed if information management projects are to succeed. Information management challenges Organisations are confronted with many information management problems and issues. In many ways, the growth of electronic information (rather than paper) has only worsened these issues over the last decade or two. Common information management problems include: • Large number of disparate information management systems. • Little integration or coordination between information systems. • Range of legacy systems requiring upgrading or replacement. • Direct competition between information management systems. • No clear strategic direction for the overall technology environment. • Limited and patchy adoption of existing information systems by staff. • Poor quality of information, including lack of consistency, duplication, and out-of-date information. • Little recognition and support of information management by senior management. • Limited resources for deploying, managing or improving information systems. • Lack of enterprise-wide definitions for information types and values (no corporate-wide taxonomy). • Large number of diverse business needs and issues to be addressed. • Lack of clarity around broader organisational strategies and directions. • Difficulties in changing working practices and processes of staff. • Internal politics impacting on the ability to coordinate activities enterprise-wide. While this can be an overwhelming list, there are practical ways of delivering solutions that work within these limitations and issues. Information management issues can be overwhelming Ten principles This article introduces ten key principles to ensure that information management activities are effective and successful: 1. recognise (and manage) complexity 2. focus on adoption 3. deliver tangible & visible benefits 4. prioritise according to business needs 5. take a journey of a thousand steps 6. provide strong leadership 7. mitigate risks 8. communicate extensively 9. aim to deliver a seamless user experience 10. choose the first project very carefully Each of these is discussed in the sections below. Future articles will explore additional principles and guidelines, as well as providing a concrete approach to developing an overarching information management strategy. There are no simple answers to complex issues and needs Principle 1: recognise (and manage) complexity Organisations are very complex environments in which to deliver concrete solutions. As outlined above, there are many challenges that need to be overcome when planning and implementing information management projects. When confronted with this complexity, project teams often fall back upon approaches such as: • Focusing on deploying just one technology in isolation. • Purchasing a very large suite of applications from a single vendor, in the hope that this can be used to solve all information management problems at once. • Rolling out rigid, standardised solutions across a whole organisation, even though individual business areas may have different needs. • Forcing the use of a single technology system in all cases, regardless of whether it is an appropriate solution. • Purchasing a product ‘for life’, even though business requirements will change over time. • Fully centralising information management activities, to ensure that every activity is tightly controlled. All of these approaches will fail, as they are attempting to convert a complex set of needs and problems into simple (even simplistic) solutions. The hope is that the complexity can be limited or avoided when planning and deploying solutions. In practice, however, there is no way of avoiding the inherent complexities within organisations. New approaches to information management must therefore be found that recognise (and manage) this complexity. Organisations must stop looking for simple approaches, and must stop believing vendors when they offer ’silver bullet’ technology solutions. Instead, successful information management is underpinned by strong leadership that defines a clear direction (principle 6). Many small activities should then be planned to address in parallel the many needs and issues (principle 5). Risks must then be identified and mitigated throughout the project (principle 7), to ensure that organisational complexities do not prevent the delivery of effective solutions. Information systems are only successful if they are used Principle 2: focus on adoption Information management systems are only successful if they are actually used by staff, and it is not sufficient to simply focus on installing the software centrally. In practice, most information management systems need the active participation of staff throughout the organisation. For example: • Staff must save all key files into the document/records management system. • Decentralised authors must use the content management system to regularly update the intranet. • Lecturers must use the learning content management system to deliver e-learning packages to their students. • Front-line staff must capture call details in the customer relationship management system. In all these cases, the challenge is to gain sufficient adoption to ensure that required information is captured in the system. Without a critical mass of usage, corporate repositories will not contain enough information to be useful. This presents a considerable change management challenge for information management projects. In practice, it means that projects must be carefully designed from the outset to ensure that sufficient adoption is gained. This may include: • Identifying the ‘what’s in it for me’ factors for end users of the system. • Communicating clearly to all staff the purpose and benefits of the project. • Carefully targeting initial projects to build momentum for the project (see principle 10). • Conducting extensive change management and cultural change activities throughout the project. • Ensuring that the systems that are deployed are useful and usable for staff. These are just a few of the possible approaches, and they demonstrate the wide implications of needing to gain adoption by staff. It is not enough to deliver ‘behind the scenes’ fixes Principle 3: deliver tangible & visible benefits It is not enough to simply improve the management of information ‘behind the scenes’. While this will deliver real benefits, it will not drive the required cultural changes, or assist with gaining adoption by staff (principle 2). In many cases, information management projects initially focus on improving the productivity of publishers or information managers. While these are valuable projects, they are invisible to the rest of the organisation. When challenged, it can be hard to demonstrate the return on investment of these projects, and they do little to assist project teams to gain further funding. Instead, information management projects must always be designed so that they deliver tangible and visible benefits. Delivering tangible benefits involves identifying concrete business needs that must be met (principle 4). This allows meaningful measurement of the impact of the projects on the operation of the organisation. The projects should also target issues or needs that are very visible within the organisation. When solutions are delivered, the improvement should be obvious, and widely promoted throughout the organisation. For example, improving the information available to call centre staff can have a very visible and tangible impact on customer service. In contrast, creating a standard taxonomy for classifying information across systems is hard to quantify and rarely visible to general staff. This is not to say that ‘behind the scenes’ improvements are not required, but rather that they should always be partnered with changes that deliver more visible benefits. This also has a major impact on the choice of the initial activities conducted (principle 10). Tackle the most urgent business needs first Principle 4: prioritise according to business needs It can be difficult to know where to start when planning information management projects. While some organisations attempt to prioritise projects according to the ’simplicity’ of the technology to be deployed, this is not a meaningful approach. In particular, this often doesn’t deliver short-term benefits that are tangible and visible (principle 3). Instead of this technology-driven approach, the planning process should be turned around entirely, to drive projects based on their ability to address business needs. In this way, information management projects are targeted at the most urgent business needs or issues. These in turn are derived from the overall business strategy and direction for the organisation as a whole. For example, the rate of errors in home loan applications might be identified as a strategic issue for the organisation. A new system might therefore be put in place (along with other activities) to better manage the information that supports the processing of these applications. Alternatively, a new call centre might be in the process of being planned. Information management activities can be put in place to support the establishment of the new call centre, and the training of new staff. Avoid ’silver bullet’ solutions that promise to fix everything Principle 5: take a journey of a thousand steps There is no single application or project that will address and resolve all the information management problems of an organisation. Where organisations look for such solutions, large and costly strategic plans are developed. Assuming the results of this strategic planning are actually delivered (which they often aren’t), they usually describe a long-term vision but give few clear directions for immediate actions. In practice, anyone looking to design the complete information management solution will be trapped by ‘analysis paralysis’: the inability to escape the planning process. Organisations are simply too complex to consider all the factors when developing strategies or planning activities. The answer is to let go of the desire for a perfectly planned approach. Instead, project teams should take a ‘journey of a thousand steps’. This approach recognises that there are hundreds (or thousands) of often small changes that are needed to improve the information management practices across an organisation. These changes will often be implemented in parallel. While some of these changes are organisation-wide, most are actually implemented at business unit (or even team) level. When added up over time, these numerous small changes have a major impact on the organisation. This is a very different approach to that typically taken in organisations, and it replaces a single large (centralised) project with many individual initiatives conducted by multiple teams. While this can be challenging to coordinate and manage, this ‘thousand steps’ approach recognises the inherent complexity of organisations (principle 1) and is a very effective way of mitigating risks (principle 7). It also ensures that ‘quick wins’ can be delivered early on (principle 3), and allows solutions to be targeted to individual business needs (principle 4). Successful projects require strong leadership Principle 6: provide strong leadership Successful information management is about organisational and cultural change, and this can only be achieved through strong leadership. The starting point is to create a clear vision of the desired outcomes of the information management strategy. This will describe how the organisation will operate, more than just describing how the information systems themselves will work. Effort must then be put into generating a sufficient sense of urgency to drive the deployment and adoption of new systems and processes. Stakeholders must also be engaged and involved in the project, to ensure that there is support at all levels in the organisation. This focus on leadership then underpins a range of communications activities (principle that ensure that the organisation has a clear understanding of the projects and the benefits they will deliver. When projects are solely driven by the acquisition and deployment of new technology solutions, this leadership is often lacking. Without the engagement and support of key stakeholder outside the IT area, these projects often have little impact. Apply good risk management to ensure success Principle 7: mitigate risks Due to the inherent complexity of the environment within organisations (principle 1), there are many risks in implementing information management solutions. These risks include: • selecting an inappropriate technology solution • time and budget overruns • changing business requirements • technical issues, particularly relating to integrating systems • failure to gain adoption by staff At the outset of planning an information management strategy, the risks should be clearly identified. An approach must then be identified for each risk, either avoiding or mitigating the risk. Risk management approaches should then be used to plan all aspects of the project, including the activities conducted and the budget spent. For example, a simple but effective way of mitigating risks is to spend less money. This might involve conducting pilot projects to identifying issues and potential solutions, rather than starting with enterprise-wide deployments. Principle 8: communicate extensively Extensive communication from the project team (and project sponsors) is critical for a successful information management initiative. This communication ensures that staff have a clear understanding of the project, and the benefits it will deliver. This is a pre-requisite for achieving the required level of adoption. With many projects happening simultaneously (principle 5), coordination becomes paramount. All project teams should devote time to work closely with each other, to ensure that activities and outcomes are aligned. In a complex environment, it is not possible to enforce a strict command-and-control approach to management (principle 1). Instead, a clear end point (’vision’) must be created for the information management project, and communicated widely. This allows each project team to align themselves to the eventual goal, and to make informed decisions about the best approaches. For all these reasons, the first step in an information management project should be to develop a clear communications ‘message’. This should then be supported by a communications plan that describes target audiences, and methods of communication. Project teams should also consider establishing a ‘project site’ on the intranet as the outset, to provide a location for planning documents, news releases, and other updates. Staff do not understand the distinction between systems Principle 9: aim to deliver a seamless user experience Users don’t understand systems. When presented with six different information systems, each containing one-sixth of what they want, they generally rely on a piece of paper instead (or ask the person next to them). Educating staff in the purpose and use of a disparate set of information systems is difficult, and generally fruitless. The underlying goal should therefore be to deliver a seamless user experience, one that hides the systems that the information is coming from. This is not to say that there should be one enterprise-wide system that contains all information. There will always be a need to have multiple information systems, but the information contained within them should be presented in a human-friendly way. In practice, this means: • Delivering a single intranet (or equivalent) that gives access to all information and tools. • Ensuring a consistent look-and-feel across all applications, including standard navigation and page layouts. • Providing ’single sign-on’ to all applications. Ultimately, it also means breaking down the distinctions between applications, and delivering tools and information along task and subject lines. For example, many organisations store HR procedures on the intranet, but require staff to log a separate ‘HR self-service’ application that provides a completely different menu structure and appearance. Improving on this, leave details should be located alongside the leave form itself. In this model, the HR application becomes a background system, invisible to the user. Care should also be taken, however, when looking to a silver-bullet solution for providing a seamless user experience. Despite the promises, portal applications do not automatically deliver this. Instead, a better approach may be to leverage the inherent benefits of the web platform. As long as the applications all look the same, the user will be unaware that they are accessing multiple systems and servers behind the scenes. Of course, achieving a truly seamless user experience is not a short-term goal. Plan to incrementally move towards this goal, delivering one improvement at a time. The first project must build momentum for further work Principle 10: choose the first project very carefully The choice of the first project conducted as part of a broader information management strategy is critical. This project must be selected carefully, to ensure that it: • demonstrates the value of the information management strategy • builds momentum for future activities • generates interest and enthusiasm from both end-users and stakeholders • delivers tangible and visible benefits (principle 3) • addresses an important or urgent business need (principle 4) • can be clearly communicated to staff and stakeholders (principle • assists the project team in gaining further resources and support Actions speak louder than words. The first project is the single best (and perhaps only) opportunity to set the organisation on the right path towards better information management practices and technologies. The first project must therefore be chosen according to its ability to act as a ‘catalyst’ for further organisational and cultural changes. In practice, this often involves starting with one problem or one area of the business that the organisation as a whole would be interested in, and cares about. For example, starting by restructuring the corporate policies and procedures will generate little interest or enthusiasm. In contrast, delivering a system that greatly assists salespeople in the field would be something that could be widely promoted throughout the organisation. Conclusion Implementing information technology solutions in a complex and ever-changing organisational environment is never easy. The challenges inherent in information management projects mean that new approaches need to be taken, if they are to succeed. This article has outlined ten key principles of effective information management. These focus on the organisational and cultural changes required to drive forward improvements. The also outline a pragmatic, step-by-step approach to implementing solutions that starts with addressing key needs and building support for further initiatives. A focus on adoption then ensures that staff actually use the solutions that are deployed. Of course, much more can be written on how to tackle information management projects. Future articles will further explore this topic, providing additional guidance and outlining concrete approaches that can be taken. REFERENCES: http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262 http://www.flint.umich.edu/~weli/courses/bus181/notes/chapter3.pdf http://scm.ncsu.edu/public/facts/facs060329.html http://www.talkingquality.gov/docs/section1/1_2.htm my blog: http://florenzie-palma.blogspot.com
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Posts : 56 Points : 58 Join date : 2009-06-20
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:34 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (at least 5000 words) An Implementation Plan is a detailed project management tool for a specific policy measure or package of measures, designed to assist agencies to manage and monitor implementation effectively. These are intended to be scalable and flexible, reflecting the degree of urgency, innovation, complexity and/or sensitivity associated with the particular policy measure. Agencies are expected to exercise judgment in this area; however, the level of detail should be sufficient to enable the agency to effectively manage the implementation of a policy measure. Implementation plans should be:• succinct, but not to the point that important information is buried • jargon free – they should be capable of being understood by everyone using them • based on a sound programme logic, presenting a clear line of sight from the original proposal and the government’s expectations, to the inputs and how they will contribute to the achievement of those expectations; the outputs to be delivered; why and how those outputs are expected to deliver the outcomes sought, and the assumptions made about those links; and how this delivery chain and its supporting assumptions will be evaluated • clear on timeframes and project phases, especially where there are interdependencies with other programmes or measures or critical requirements such as the passage of legislation or negotiations with the States and Territories • clear on the decision pathways forward – often both the objectives and the means to achieving those objectives are uncertain. Implementation plans need to recognise the unknowns as well as the knowns, and explain how and when the unknowns will be addressed. We all know that planning is a critical phase in the adoption of technology initiatives that affect not just the students and the teachers but also an entire community (wikibook Technology Planning: the educator's guide - Implementation plan and timeline, 2008). November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996) contended that an effective technology plan is based on the shared vision of educators, parents, community members, and business leaders who have technological expertise. They also suggested that in order for a technology plan to be successful, it must promote meaningful learning and collaboration, provide for the needed professional development and support, and respond flexibly to change. According to Whitehead, Jensen, and Boschee (2003), most school administrators know that computers and advanced-information technologies are touching the lives of students at school and at home. They suggested the following important factors that must be addressed in a technology plan. Guiding Questions for Implementation PlanHow Will You Use Technology to Support Yo u r Vision of Learning? Technology lends itself well to learning and instruction (Massachusetts Software Council, 1994) because it is a powerful tool that, when properly implemented, improves student learning and achievement. However, teachers have little incentive to tackle the technical and scheduling problems associated with technology unless they have a clear idea of how it can improve teaching and learning (Means, Blando, Olson, Middleton, Morocco, Remz, & Zorfass, 1993). Exactly which educational goals a technology plan should address and attempt to accomplish must be determined before the technology plan is implemented (Holmes & Rawitsch, 1993). Technology should not drive educational decisions or learning. Rather, decision making should be based on the learning and teaching needs of the student. Technology cannot prescribe for a teacher which students should use the technology, how often it should be used, or how to integrate technology into existing instructional practices. Unless teachers start out with specific technology goals that support their vision of learning, technology will most likely be used to reinforce the status quo (Cohen, 1988; Cuban, 1986). There is evidence that when learning and technology goals are not decided upon before technology implementation, technology can become a drain on resources and add to the burdens of teachers who are already trying to do too much (Piele, 1989). This problem can be avoided by formulating a vision for learning that connects to educational goals, values, and objectives for technology use. Once the stakeholders involved understand the vision and see how technology will make their lives better, they are likely to become more open to technology planning and implementation. The following questions should be addressed when planning how to use technology to support a vision of learning. • How will technology be used to provide and support a challenging curriculum through engaging instructional practices (e.g., collaborative learning, problem-based learning, problem solving, critical thinking, constructivist classrooms, project-based learning, and so on)? Consider:Learning tasks that are authentic, challenging, and multidisciplinary Assessments that are performance-based, generative, seamless and ongoing, and equitable. Instructional models that are interactive and generative Learning contexts that are collaborative, knowledge building, and Empathetic. Grouping strategies that are flexible, equitable, and heterogeneous Teacher roles as facilitators, guides, colearners, and coinvestigators Student roles as explorers, cognitive apprentices, teachers, and producers • What educational technology skills will be a part of your curriculum and how will teaching them to students and staff enhance and support your broader instructional goals? • How will technology be used to support an articulated prekindergarten to- adult learning program for all students? • How will technology be used to support changes in the roles and responsibilities of students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and others in order to achieve your vision? • How will technology be used to support organizational and governance structures that are consistent with your vision of learning? • How will technology be used to support and provide meaningful professional development experiences for staff? • How will technology be used to support your school’s accountability and assessment system? • How will technology be used to support positive home-school-community collaborations? • How will technology be used to support the provision of comprehensive services (e.g., school-based, school-linked health and social services)? Developing a Supportive InfrastructureThe infrastructure consists of two parts: human resources—which deals with professional learning and support—and technology—which deals with hardware, software, and facilities. With technological change occurring at a rapid pace, purchasers of new technology sometimes feel hard pressed to keep up (Fine, 1991). School districts, due to limited budgets and technical expertise, have a difficult time choosing and buying technology. Often they lack adequate information about the newest technologies and how to use them; or they do not take into account the level of training and staff development needed to use the technology. The key to technology planning is to make informed decisions. Without good information about the nuts and bolts of technology (i.e., the hardware and software) planners are at a disadvantage. The best way to overcome this problem is to take a broad view of technology and educate planners and staff about current and emerging technologies and their benefits and then realize that implementing technology is not a one-time thing but an ongoing and continuous process that requires a supportive infrastructure that is flexible enough to deal with the rapid pace of technological change. The following questions should be addressed when planning for a supportive infrastructure: Professional Development,Training,Technical Support• How will you find out what skills your staff and students currently have and what skills they will need to fulfill your plan’s objectives? • How will you design and implement a professional development and training strategy that meets the needs of your staff? • How will you use technology to provide professional development, training, and ongoing technical support, and to support teachers as they integrate technology into the curriculum? • Who will be responsible for ensuring and coordinating professional development? • Who will be responsible for providing technical assistance and support? • How will you build technical support capacity within your staff so that equipment will be maintained and kept reliable? • What are your contingencies for providing just-in-time services when the technology breaks down? Networking, Hardware, Software, Facilities• What level of networking will be required to support your vision of learning? • What hardware specifications are needed to support your vision of learning? • How will you deal with obsolescence, maintenance, and amortization? • How will you make use of existing technology? • What software is required to support your vision of learning? • How will software be reviewed and purchased? • What building facilities exist or are needed, and what modifications must be made to support your vision of learning? • How will you implement, maintain, and sustain the equipment, software, and the network for extended periods, and who will be responsible? Garnering Public SupportPublic support is essential to ensure the success and longevity of planning implementation. The following questions should be addressed when developing strategies to garner public support : • What kinds and levels of public support are necessary to make the implementation of your technology plan successful and sustainable? • What public relations activities will you engage in to promote the effective long-term implementation of your technology plan? • How will you create opportunities for school staff and the community to share information in order to foster positive relationships? • How will you garner support from community and business leadership, for example, in long-term public and private partnerships? • How will you connect and interact with related organizations (museums, libraries, adult literacy programs, higher education, community-based organizations, and so on) to improve student learning? • How will you leverage investments (e.g., provide training and support for parents and community members) to provide technology access and service to the wider community? • What other human and community resources exist, including businesses and libraries, to support the plan? • What funding policies and opportunities exist for implementing your plan? • How and when will you report results to stakeholders? Implementing Your PlanMany planners believe their job is complete after a plan is written, but in actuality it has only begun. Awritten technology plan has direction and long-term technology goals. However, for each new technology introduced to an organization, there will be stages of implementation that include resource development (budget), evaluation, selection, installation, training, pilot projects, mini-implementations, and, finally, full implementation. These stages should all be reflected in a technology plan. It is also important to remember not to judge technology as ineffective when it is not implemented according to the plan (Holmes & Rawitsch, 1993). Flexibility, patience, and adaptability are essential for any kind of change process and certainly for implementing technology. The following questions should be addressed when planning the implementation of your plan: • What is the timeline for meeting the goals of your plan? • Who is responsible for achieving milestones on the timelines? • What professional development strategies will you use? • How will you provide time for ongoing staff development, including time to practice and learn new technologies? • What is your plan for networking, acquiring hardware and software, and updating the facility? • How will you deal with the rapid changes in technology? • What funding is available currently? • How will funding be provided over the life of the plan? • How will you coordinate and leverage a variety of funding resources to support your plan? • How will you deal with contingencies such as changes in leadership and changes in budget? • How will you determine which program area, discipline, or staff will receive highest priorities for receiving technologies? • Who (or what group) will be responsible for implementing the technology plan? • What incentives and sanctions will you implement to ensure that everyone achieves a high level of technological proficiency? • How will you ensure equity of access to technology and engaged learning experiences for all students? • How will your instructional use of technology address district, state, and federal mandates including curriculum, special needs, minority populations, and equity issues? • What new policies are needed to support implementation of your plan? Evaluating the Implementation of Your Technology PlanTechnology implementation is a continuous process that adapts to the organization’s changing circumstances and includes ongoing evaluation. Effective evaluation will force planners to rethink and adapt objectives, priorities, and strategies as implementation proceeds. Continuous evaluation also facilitates making changes if aspects of the plan are not working. Evaluating the implementation of a technology plan can be conducted by various means. Simple observations, both negative and positive, that have been made by students and teachers using the technology are the most helpful. Interviews and informal meetings with both instructors and students can draw out the lessons that both groups have learned from using the technology. A simple written survey can assist in measuring the extent to which the plan has met its original objectives and expected outcomes. The following questions should be addressed when planning the evaluation of the implementation of your technology plan: • How and when will you evaluate the impact your technology plan implementation has on student performance? • Who will be responsible for collecting ongoing data to assess the effectiveness of the plan and its implementation? • What windows of opportunity exist for reviewing the technology plan? (For example, the plan might be reviewed during curriculum review cycles.) • How will accountability for implementation be assessed? • How will you assess the level of technological proficiency gained by students, teachers, and staff? • How will you use technology to evaluate teaching and learning? • nWhat is the key indicator of success for each component of the plan? • How will you analyze the effectiveness of disbursement decisions in light of implementation priorities? • How will you analyze implementation decisions to accommodate for changes as a result of new information and technologies? • What organizational mechanism will you create that allows changes in the implementation of the technology plan and in the plan itself? Factors to considerAccording to the OECD (2000)it is necessary to have coherent and comprehensive policies for planning and evaluation. They suggested to include the definition of clear objectives, the identification of priorities and strategies, the ability to envisage future scenarios, the design, implementation and evaluation of pilot projects. In addition, they recommended that planning must be rigorous but not inflexible, allowing refinement in the light of experience. According to November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996), the first step in developing a technology plan is convening a 'planning committee' or team to review the school improvement plan already in place and research the district needs. They also suggested that an effective team enlists educators but also takes advantage of the expertise of community members and the input of parents and students. They proposed that the planning team becomes responsible for the development of an overall technology plan. Further, they concluded that the team members are responsible for developing a vision for the plan, determine the goals that must be met to reach it, and create steps to implement those goals. Whitehead, Jensen, and Boschee (2003) stated that planning addresses the who, what, when, where, why, and how aspects of the project. In addition, they assured that quality leadership must prevail at all times. Furthermore, they recommended technology coordinators to envision what the completed project will look like and what it will do for teaching and learning. This underlying mental picture is necessary to provide focus for the entire enterprise. Furthermore, they also advise administrators to consider the possibility of having to modify school practices or even upgrade regulations. This may even result in an adjustment of the school's philosophy and mission statements (wikibook Technology Planning: the educator's guide - Vision, 2008) to align with the technology initiative being proposed. If necessary, the use of surveys allows administrators to probe stakeholder viewpoints. In addition, they emphasized that every person involved must know both sides of the issue. They suggested the use of research that both supports and counters the major assumptions on which the technology project is based. Furthermore, they advised administrators to consider how students and staff members would be affected by the technology changes and develop appropriate support structures like training, changes in classroom layout, inclusion into curricula, and revision of school programs. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), for public education to benefit from the rapidly evolving development of information and communication technology, leaders at every level - school, district and state - must not only supervise, but provide informed, creative and ultimately transformative leadership for systemic change. They recommend districts to invest in leadership development programs to develop a new generation of tech-savvy leaders at every level. Further, they suggested to retool administrator education programs to provide training in technology decision making and organizational change. They also recommended districts to develop partnerships between schools and higher education institutions, in addition to encouraging creative technology partnerships with the business community. Community Awareness and SupportAccording to Whitehead, Jensen, & Boschee (2003), community support is necessary during the planning stages of a technology initiative. They contended that neither parents nor community members are likely to be idle bystanders when costly reforms are about to change the way significant portions of children's education are delivered. For this reason, they suggested the schools and districts to evaluate community willingness to fund such initiatives in schools. Further, they proposed to show community members how teachers will adopt technology in the classroom and how it would enhance student learning and achievement. They also advised the institutions to develop guidelines for presenting information to the public under the supervision of a public relations director. According to the OECD (2000), social participation is essential for the successful development of ICT initiatives in education, the active involvement of the private sector and the local communities being critical. They also stated that much effort has to be expended in strategies that enable communities to take advantage of the new technologies, so that local populations become fully acquainted with their potential. Student NeedsNovember, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996) suggested team members to generate a collective vision which supports meaningful engaged learning for all students. Whitehead, Jensen, and Boschee (2003) suggested that in any technology initiative, the needs of the students must be placed above any other factor being considered. It is very common to see cases in which administrators and committee members make decisions about technology that really don't acknowledge the needs of the people who will use it. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), there has been significant growth in organized online instruction (e-learning) and "virtual" schools, making it possible for students at all levels to receive high quality supplemental or full courses of instruction personalized to their needs. They also stated that traditional schools are turning to these services to expand opportunities and choices for students and professional development for teachers. Teaching and LearningAccording to Whitehead, Jensen, and Boschee (2003), teaching and learning must be considered simultaneously when deciding how technology will be brought into the classroom. They suggested to have a 'purpose' that reflects teaching and learning when bringing technologies into the school. In addition, they recommended to evaluate hardware purchases and coordinate them to student needs. Hence, features like user-friendliness, dependability and speed need to be taken into account. With respect to software, they advise technology coordinators to carefully determine which programs will best complement, support, and expand classroom teaching and learning. It is important to flatten the learning curve by using user-friendly applications to help ensure that programs will be used by teachers and students. With respect to the teachers, they recommended that dialogues need to be established to evaluate classroom space and decide on computer locations. In addition, they requested technology coordinators to determine the amount of use teachers make of the new technology. November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996) recommended the technology planning team to encourage teachers to seek opportunities to work in teams in order to design technology-supported projects. They also suggested the team to develop objectives that describe appropriate technology goals for students at each grade level. They contended that instead of emphasizing higher order thinking skills, complex problem solving, and cognitive research, sometimes the technology may be used to teach merely the same old curriculum. They believe that using technology effectively in education requires shifting the focus from teaching to active learning. Further, they suggested teachers to develop proficiency in technology through not only in-service professional development activities but also through collegial support. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), a perennial problem for schools, teachers and students is that textbooks are increasingly expensive, quickly outdated and physically cumbersome. They suggested that a move from reliance on textbooks to the use of multimedia or online information (digital content) offers many advantages, including cost savings, increased efficiency, improved accessibility, and enhancing learning opportunities in a format that engages today's web-savvy students. For this reason, they encouraged ubiquitous access to computers and connectivity for school children. They also requested to consider the cost and benefits of online content, aligned with rigorous state academic standards, as part of a systemic approach to creating resources for students to customize learning to their individual needs.
Staff DevelopmentWhitehead, Jensen, & Boschee (2003) considered staff development to be one of the most important aspects of the initiative. In order to succeed in staff development efforts, they also suggested administrators to formulate detailed plans for staff development and implementation which should be developed well in advance of the actual implementation of technology in the classrooms. They recommended the appointment of the person in charge of leading staff development programs as well as evaluating each stage of the implementation based on a detailed working schedule. They emphasized the importance of pertinent staff development activities as well as in-house technical consultants who would help teachers promptly. November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996) suggested that staff development activities should help teachers become comfortable and proficient with the technology and give them the opportunity to devise ways to use it in their classrooms. They also contended that the uniqueness of each teacher and class must be acknowledged and used to build specific teaching strategies to meet the goals outlined in the technology plan. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), every teacher should have the opportunity to take online learning courses. In addition, they suggested that institutions ought to ensure that every teacher knows how to use data to personalize instruction. This is marked by the ability to interpret data to understand student progress and challenges, drive daily decisions and design instructional interventions to customize instruction for every student's unique needs. Financial ManagementIs important to understand that most determinations about finance are generally dealt by the people in top management positions. Nonetheless, the impact of these decisions are critical to the success of the project. Whitehead, Jensen, & Boschee (2003) contended that it was important to determine the financial resources for in-house projects and equipment. They also suggested to itemize equipment resources owned by the school or district with the idea of reducing unnecessary duplication in new purchases. Further, they recommended the institution to appoint someone who will be responsible for handling the recommended purchases locally or from a national distribution company. They suggested that a thorough review of all costs needs to be made to ensure the technology project is affordable in all of its phases. Finally, they suggested the canvassing of civic organizations for financial or equipment support. According to November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996), technology is changing so quickly that it is impossible to know what advances will be available in five years. They proposed that plans ought to be reviewed each year during the budget process to make sure the district is purchasing the most current equipment or to take advantage of new and lower cost technology. They also proposed the development of strategies to meet the funding challenge which also included the investigation of federal, state, and other grant opportunities and funding sources for educational technology. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), educational institutions ought to consider a systemic restructuring of budgets to realize efficiencies, cost savings and reallocation. This can include reallocations in expenditures on textbooks, instructional supplies, space and computer labs. In addition, they recommended to consider leasing with 3-5 year refresh cycles. Finally, they proposed the creation of a technology innovation fund to carry funds over yearly budget cycles.
InfrastructureWhitehead, Jensen, & Boschee (2003) related infrastructure to the basic facilities and the mechanical and electrical installations found in a school. They contended that it is important to decide how existing equipment and infrastructure can be integrated into the project. They suggested that network wiring needs to accommodate the instructional configuration required by teachers. Further, they recommend getting assistance from professionals to handle remodeling or other infrastructure necessities. People with greater experience can provide a better insight on the space and remodeling required to ready the infrastructure for implementation. Finally, they suggested technology coordinators to visit other schools to evaluate successful programs for structural adaptations that could be taken into account using unique ideas to solve local problems. According to OECD (2000), it is essential to have a sound and adequate telecommunication and computer network infrastructure that can support and deliver diverse educational models.
Evaluation and AssessmentWhitehead, Jensen, & Boschee (2003) concluded that the work of leaders is not done when computers or other learning technologies are networked in schools and classrooms. Contrary to what is a common belief, they contended that a very important part of the work remains in the form of program evaluation and assessment. For this reason, they recommended the appointment of someone who would evaluate the overall project following a plan with dates. In addition, they suggested that an outline be presented of how changes or revisions will be handled. In order to succeed, they advised reviewers to use the most appropriate evaluation and assessment methods available for sharing information with the community. According to November, Staudt, Costello, and Lynne (1996), educators, parents, and community members are more likely to support technology if they are able to see proof of its value in helping students learn. They also contended that it is important to review and update the technology plan at least once a year to provide evaluation of its usefulness. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), integrated, interoperable data systems are the key to better allocation of resources, greater management efficiency, and online and technology-based assessments of student performance that empower educators to transform teaching and personalize instruction. They also recommended the use of data from both administrative and instructional systems to understand relationships between decisions, allocation of resources and student achievement. Finally, they suggested to use assessment results to inform and differentiate instruction for every child. ConclusionsAdministrative involvement and leadership are crucial to the technology planning and implementation process. If organizational leaders do not understand and support the technology plan, it will be difficult to implement and can be either intentionally or inadvertently sabotaged. Many people perceive that without a technology champion or advocate who will take responsibility for promoting the planning process and implementing the plan, there will be no major push to make technology an integrated part of the organization. If the plan relies on only one person, however, it will almost certainly be unsuccessful. Implementation is best when tasks and duties are shared and delegated, and when individuals across the organization buy into the use of technology and the planning process. Effective implementation of technology requires a change in culture—one that encourages people to think differently about the teaching and learning processes and the possibilities for technology use. Training and positive role modeling are important for helping to facilitate the change in attitudes and culture. Also, attention to internal and external marketing (garnering support) can help to change attitudes and build enthusiasm and participation. This kind of marketing should be based upon showing how technology will enhance the organization’s purpose and goals and solve organizational and educational problems. Flexibility is also a key ingredient of the technology planning process. Planners should set priorities, follow a timeline, and continue to evaluate progress. Yet, day-to-day demands will intervene, priorities will change, and resource availability is likely to be inconsistent. It is therefore important to be flexible, to expect the unexpected, and yet to remain committed to pushing forward the technology planning and implementation process.
Finally, while financial resources are likely to be scarce, the plan should not be budget driven. Rather, the learning vision and organizational, technological ,and educational objectives should drive the plan. Budgeting activities should complement and follow the planning process. They are more likely to be successful when an organization knows clearly where it is headed in terms of technology use and has a written plan outlining that use. The familiar maxim holds true for technology planning: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re likely to end up somewhere else” and conversely: “If you know where you’re going, you’re likely to get there much more quickly.” References: http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/guidepdf/guide.pdf http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Directing_Technology/Plan | |
| | | Sheila Capacillo
Posts : 57 Points : 57 Join date : 2009-06-21 Age : 33 Location : Davao City
| Subject: Assignment 4 Thu Dec 17, 2009 7:58 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan
"In our ever increasingly competitive, technologically advanced and profit motivated global economy, all factions of the business community are searching for opportunities to strategically reduce inherent business and operational costs while systematically increasing their profitability and revenues. In the past, businesses reduced costs through devices such as downsizing and corporate re-structuring. Today, however, labor has become an asset that can no longer be cut without creating adverse affects on productivity, quality and efficiency. Because of this, the objective for many organizations today has become to be as efficient as possible through the use of new Information Systems."
Source:http://www.academon.com/Essay-Information-Systems-Proposal/62032
Before we discuss about Information Systems planning for the university, let us first sight some examples of Plans so that we can have an idea how to initiate it. Here is an example of the proposal:
An Information System for Proposal Submission and Handling A. M. Chavan and M. A. Albrecht European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Abstract: The Proposal Handling and Reporting System (PHRS) is a software system aimed at supporting ESO's Observing Programme Committee (OPC) during the entire review process of the Observing Time Proposals. Proposals are written in a mark-up language based on LaTeX and are submitted via e-mail. PHRS maintains a database of validated proposals, and operators are enabled to browse it via user-friendly GUI tools, developed using Tcl/Tk. Referees receive PHRS generated printed reports, and submit proposal ratings via e-mail. Panel and OPC meetings are supported by interactive data entry tools and printed documents; in order to obtain high-quality output, all printed reports are processed via LaTeX. The final telescope schedule is published both on-line (World Wide Web) and in printed form. PHRS was already successfully employed twice (for Periods 54 and 55), handling over 250 (peak) proposal submissions per day. Introduction Astronomers who wish to use ESO's facilities in La Silla (Chile) must submit Observing Time Proposals (henceforth simply proposals), indicating which facilities they want to use, when and for how long, and the science they want to perform. All submitted proposals are peer-reviewed and ranked by the Observing Program Committee (OPC) of ESO; the best proposals are finally assigned observing time at one of the telescopes in La Silla. This process takes several weeks, twice each year, and involves tens of people both within and outside ESO; more than one thousand investigators submit a total of over five hundred proposals each observing period. The Proposal Handling and Reporting System (PHRS) at ESO is a software system aimed at tackling this problem and supporting the OPC. An entirely new version was developed in 1994, drawing on the experience gained during some years' experience with a previous, less comprehensive system. PHRS handles proposals throughout the entire review process: submission, storage, referee evaluation, panel discussion, OPC recommendation, and time assignment (scheduling).
Proposal Submission and Archiving Proposals need to be both computer-readable and nicely formatted on paper. We achieved both goals by developing a mark-up language based on LaTeX macros: the new commands give the proposal its appropriate look and are easily parsed to extract relevant information. The ESOFORM package, which can be downloaded to each investigator's site, contains all necessary style files, template Observing Time applications, user manuals and period-related technical information. When printed at ESO, a submitted proposal looks identical to the proposal on the investigator's desk---thus eliminating the need for paper copy submission. Investigators write their proposals, print them at their institute for verification, and then send them via e-mail to ESO. Here, a ``receiver'' program verifies that all mandatory information was provided, then stores valid proposals in a database---the ``proposal archive.'' No manual intervention is necessary: in fact, PHRS can operate unattended around the clock, and it proved able to cope with over 250 e-mail messages per day (usually on the last day before the deadline). Investigators normally get an acknowledgment message back within a minute or so of their submission; errors found in proposals are reported in detail. The authors went to great lengths to avoid data loss, even in the case of hardware failure. The proposal archive is based on relational data base management technology, the same used in the STARCAT system (Pirenne et al. 1993). Operators interface with the archive with user-friendly, GUI-based tools, developed using Tcl/Tk (Ousterhout 1994). Since most of the data in the archive is classified, at least until schedule publication, we had to insure that only authorized operators could access it. The system is network oriented, but it is flexible enough to allow for regular (post) mail submission of proposals as well. In some special cases, investigators submit printed proposals, and operators need to type the proposal's main data into the database.
Peer Review Valid proposals are peer-reviewed. Each referee reviews several proposals of the same category (for instance, category C groups proposals dealing with ``Interstellar and intergalactic mediums''): he/she is required to rate them, by giving a grade---expressing the proposal's scientific merit---and a recommended number of nights (and, often, explanatory remarks). The same proposal is refereed by two or three different people. Referees receive a printed copy of the proposals they must review and a set of summary reports generated by PHRS; these are printed via LaTeX, with the goal of providing appropriate documents, where scientific symbols and non-English names are correctly printed. Referees are also provided with a pre-initialized, e-mailed form (called a ``report card'') which they must fill in with ratings and comments. In order to eliminate possible errors, completed report cards are then returned via e-mail, and later processed by PHRS to extract and store ratings in the proposal archive.
Discussion and Ranking The final step in the review process is the ranking of proposals, and it is a two-phase activity. Initially, all referees of the same category meet in a panel; they discuss each proposal belonging to the category, and agree on a final grade and recommended number of nights. The goal of panel discussion is to rank all proposals in one category according to their scientific value: better proposals are more likely to be assigned observing time, and telescopes are often oversubscribed by a factor of four or more. PHRS supports the panels with more summary reports and interactive tools: since panels can directly update the proposal archive, there is no need to re-type information, thus eliminating possible errors; and panels can explore alternative rankings with respect to the number of available observing nights. Some data summaries are generated in spreadsheet format, for further processing and chart generation. When the panels have completed their task, it is the OPC's responsibility to harmonize rankings across different categories and telescopes. A ``cutoff line'' separates the best proposals from those that will receive telescope time only if there is any time left, and the OPC ensures that proposals of different categories are evenly distributed around the line. PHRS provides per-telescope and per-category cutoff line reports to support OPC discussion.
Scheduling Once the OPC has finalized its decisions, it is the ESO's directorate responsibility to distribute observing proposals (which are now called ``observing programmes'') over the range of available nights. This is a very complex and delicate process, and it is currently performed by hand; we plan to integrate telescope scheduling within PHRS as our next project. The final schedule is both stored in the proposal archive and published. ESO distributes the schedule document to all interested investigators, and we also developed a World Wide Web interface to the schedule archive for on-line browsing.
Conclusions and Future Directions Some recent advances in technology have made PHRS possible: (1) widespread Internet access enables most investigators to use FTP and e-mail for their submission, (2) ``client-server'' software techniques increase the system's modularity, reliability and efficiency, (3) easy to develop, ``point-and-click'' Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) minimize operator training and reduce errors, and (4) centralized information storage, coupled with appropriate software tools, enable support staff to meet deadlines, providing timely and accurate information to the OPC.
A number of problems have arisen with the use of this new system, the main one being the inability to check the correctness of some user supplied information: for instance, investigators writing a (first) name where a surname (family name) is needed, and vice-versa. Future projects include support for Observation Preparation (Phase II proposals), and both long- and short-term scheduling (telescope scheduling and observation scheduling). Finally, in order to reduce bulky paper shipments, we are investigating the possibility of having referees download proposals and reports from an FTP account. | |
| | | emilio jopia jr.
Posts : 47 Points : 47 Join date : 2009-06-22
| Subject: MIS2_assign4 Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:55 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan.
If I were hired by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, I would decline it...just kidding, of course I would accept it and do my best to come up with a IS plan for the university.
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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. King (King, 1995) in his recent article has argued that a strategic capability architecture - a flexible and continuously improving infrastructure of organizational capabilities – is the primary basis for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. He has emphasized the need for continuously updating and improving the strategic capabilities architecture. 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). The same article emphasizes the need to note that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data processing views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems. SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information technology (IT) to a firm’s strategic activities has been one of the most common and effective ways to improve business performance.
Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies
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 strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes 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. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it. Vitale, et al. (1986) classify SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment.
Impact methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methodologies in the “alignment” category align IS objectives with organizational goals.
The major steps associated with implementation. Note that many of these activities need to be completed ahead of time. You cannot start planning for implementation while you are actually implementing.
1.Prepare the infrastructure. Many solutions are implemented into a production environment that is separate and distinct from where the solution was developed and tested. It is important that the characteristics of the production environment be accounted for. This strategy includes a review of hardware, software, communications, etc. In our example above, the potential desktop capacity problem would have been revealed if we had done an evaluation of the production (or real-world) environment. When you are ready for implementation, the production infrastructure needs to be in place.
2.Coordinate with the organizations involved in implementation. This may be as simple as communicating to your client community. However, few solutions today can be implemented without involving a number of organizations. For IT solutions, there are usually one or more operations and infrastructure groups that need to be communicated to ahead of time. Many of these groups might actually have a role in getting the solution successfully deployed. Part of the implementation work is to coordinate the work of any other groups that have a role to play. In some cases, developers simply failed to plan ahead and make sure the infrastructure groups were prepared to support the implementation. As a result, the infrastructure groups were forced to drop everything to make the implementation a success.
3.Implement training. Many solutions require users to attend training or more informal coaching sessions. This type of training could be completed in advance, but the further out the training is held, the less information will be retained when implementation rolls around. Training that takes place close to the time of implementation should be made part of the actual implementation plan.
4.Install the production solution. This is the piece everyone remembers. Your solution needs to be moved from development to test. If the solution is brand new, this might be finished in a leisurely and thoughtful manner over a period of time. If this project involves a major change to a current solution, you may have a lot less flexibility in terms of when the new solution moves to production, since the solution might need to be brought down for a period of time. You have to make sure all of your production components are implemented successfully, including new hardware, databases, and program code.
5.Convert the data. Data conversion, changing data from one format to another, needs to take place once the infrastructure and the solution are implemented. 6.Perform final verification in production. You should have prepared to test the production solution to ensure everything is working as you expect. This may involve a combination of development and client personnel. The first check is just to make sure everything is up and appears okay. The second check is to actually push data around in the solution, to make sure that the solution is operating as it should. Depending on the type of solution being implemented, this verification step could be extensive.
7.Implement new processes and procedures. Many IT solutions require changes to be made to business processes as well. These changes should be implemented at the same time that the actual solution is deployed.
8.Monitor the solution. Usually the project team will spend some period of time monitoring the implemented solution. If there are problems that come up immediately after implementation, the project team should address and fix them.
Part I of this series pointed out the need for planning and communication to help ensure a successful implementation. In this column, we looked at the actual work typically performed in a complex implementation. However, your implementation may not be as complex, and you may not need to look at all of these areas. Nevertheless, there is usually a lot more involved than just throwing the final solution into the production environment. You need to account for the environment the solution will run in, as well as processes and training needs of the client community. If you think through implementation from a holistic approach and communicate well, there is a much greater likelihood that your project will end as a win.
The purpose of System Implementation can be summarized as follows: making the new system available to a prepared set ofusers (the deployment), and positioning on-going support andmaintenance of the system within the Performing Organization(the transition). At a finer level of detail, deploying the systemconsists of executing all steps necessary to educate thestudents on the use of the new system, placing the newlydeveloped system into production, confirming that all datarequired at the start of operations is available and accurate, andvalidating that business functions that interact with the systemare functioning properly. Transitioning the system supportresponsibilities involves changing from a system development toa system support and maintenance mode of operation, withownership of the new system moving from the Project Team tothe Performing Organization.
A key difference between System Implementation and all other phases of the lifecycle is that all project activities up to this point have been performed in safe, protected, and secure environments,where project issues that arise have little or no impact on day-to-day business operations. Once the system goes live, however, this is no longer the case. Any miscues at this point will almost certainly translate into direct operational and/or financial impacts on the Performing Organization. It is through the careful planning, execution, and management of System Implementation activities that the Project Team can minimize the likelihood of these occurrences, and determine appropriate contingency plans in the event of a problem.
This phase consists of the following processes:
Prepare for System Implementation, where all steps needed in advance of actually deploying the application are performed, including preparation of both the production environment and the Consumer communities.
In the implementation of any new system, it is necessary to ensure that the Consumer community is best positioned to utilize the system once deployment efforts have been validated. Therefore, all necessary training activities must be scheduled and coordinated. As this training is often the first exposure to the system for many individuals, it should be conducted as professionally and competently as possible. A positive training experience is a great first step towards Customer acceptance of the system. During System Implementation it is essential that everyone involved be absolutely synchronized with the deployment plan and with each other. Often the performance of deployment efforts impacts many of the Performing Organization’s normal business operations. Examples of these impacts include: Because of these and other impacts, the communication of planned deployment activities to all parties involved in the project is critical. A smooth deployment requires strong leadership, planning, and communications. By this point in the project lifecycle, the team will have spent countless hours devising and refining the steps to be followed. During this preparation process the Project Manager must verify that all conditions that must be met prior to initiating deployment activities have been met, and that the final ‘green light’ is on for the team to proceed.
Deploy System, where the full deployment plan, initially developed during System Design and evolved throughout subsequent lifecycle phases, is executed and validated.
Deploying the system is the culmination of all prior efforts – where all of the meetings, planning sessions, deliverable reviews, prototypes, development, and testing pay off in the delivery of the final system. It is also the point in the project that often requires the most coordination, due to the breadth and variety of activities that must be performed. Depending upon the complexity of the system being implemented, it may impact technical, operational, and cultural aspects of the organization. A representative sample of high-level activities might include the installation of new hardware, increased network capabilities, deployment and configuration of the new system software, a training and awareness campaign, activation of new job titles and responsibilities, and a completely new operational support structure aimed at providing Consumer-oriented assistance during the hours that the new system is available for use (to name a few). Whatever the realm of activities related to the new system, their impacts should be addressed in the Organizational Change Management Plan, while specific deployment activities should all be encompassed in the Project Implementation and Transition Plan, (both created during the Project Planning phase of the Project Management Lifecycle.) The sequencing of deployment activities is just as important as it was with previous testing activities. This sequence of events should be encompassed in the Deployment and Transition Plan section of the Technical Specification, and will address and prioritize any necessary training activities, set-up activities needed to prepare the production environment (desktop, LAN, servers, data center, etc.), and data conversion and validation activities. This deployment plan will also define the steps for physically migrating the system and any associated utilities to production, and for validating the accuracy and completeness of this migration after these steps have been performed. During deployment, Project Team members may often be required to work extra hours to meet aggressive timeframes, or additional staff may be brought in temporarily to assist with large data entry efforts. Proper planning and sequencing of the deployment can help to minimize these situations, and reduce the chance of any missteps that could result in having to restart the deployment process, or lengthen the implementation schedule. As the system is enabled, and the Project Team validates that the application is performing to expectations, there may be times when certain system functions seem suspect. One of the challenges most frequently faced by Project Teams is to determine the root cause of potential issues. Discrepancies that exist within the data could be due to defects in the application’s business logic, or could be the result of data that was improperly migrated into the system. Similarly, the inability of a Consumer to access specific features of the system could be caused by improperly configured hardware, or incorrectly established security privileges. To minimize confusion and reduce the opportunity for such issues to surface, every attempt should be made to immediately validate each step of the deployment as it is performed.
Transition to Performing Organization, where responsibility for and ownership of the application are transitioned from the Project Team to the unit in the Performing Organization that will provide system support and maintenance.
In many organizations, the team of individuals responsible for the long-term support and maintenance of a system is different from the team initially responsible for designing and developing the application. Often, the two teams include a comparable set of technical skills. The responsibilities associated with supporting an operational system, however, are different from those associated with new development. In order to effect this shift of responsibilities, the Project Team must provide those responsible for system support in the Performing Organization with a combination of technical documentation, training, and hands-on assistance to enable them to provide an acceptable level of operational support to the Consumers. This system transition is one element (albeit a major one) of the overall Project Implementation and Transition Plan, developed as part of the PM Lifecycle. The Project Manager should review the transition plan to confirm that all defined actions have been successfully completed.
System Implementation serves as its own Measurement of Success; indeed, a smooth System Implementation culminates – and validates – the entire system development effort. Nevertheless, even before the final turnover, the Project Manager can utilize the measurement criteria below to assess how successfully the implementation is proceeding. More than one “No” answer indicates a serious risk to the success of this phase – and the entire project.
References: http://www.wiscorp.com/EnterpriseDatabase_-_InformationSystemsPlanning_-_book_-_sam.pdf
http://www.oft.state.ny.us/pmmp/guidebook2/SystemImplement.pdf | |
| | | ailaine adaptar
Posts : 50 Points : 57 Join date : 2009-06-19 Age : 104
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:45 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (At least 5000 words) Review on Strategic Information Systems PlanningInformation Systems were thought to be synonymous with corporate data processing and treated as some back-room operation in support of day-to-day mundane tasks. In the 80’s and 90’s until this generation, however, there has been a growing realization of the need to make information systems of strategic importance to an organization. Consequently, strategic information systems planning is a critical issue. 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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. The Perspective of Strategic Information Systems PlanningIn order to put the planning for strategic information systems in perspective, the evolution of information systems according to the three-era model of John Ward, et al.(1990) is pertinent. According to this model there are three distinct, albeit overlapping, eras of information systems, dating back to the 60’s. The relationship over time of the three eras of information systems is shown in table 1: Era CharacteristicsTable 1: The Three Era Model of IS [Adapted from Ward (1990) ] Applications in the overall Data Processing (DP), Management Information Systems (MIS) and Strategic Information Systems (SIS) area need to be planned and managed according to their existing and future contribution to the business. Traditional portfolio models consider the relationship of systems to each other and the tasks being performed rather than the relationship with business success. 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 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. The key point here is that organizations have to plan for information systems not merely as tools for cutting costs but as means to adding value. It is information technology alone which will carve multiple ‘virtual corporations’ simultaneously out of the same physical resources and adapt them without having to change the actual organizations. Thus, it is obvious that information technology has indeed come a long way in the SIS era, offering unprecedented possibilities, which, if not cashed on, would turn into unprecedented risks Strategic Information Systems Planning MethodologiesThe 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 strategy. Also, strategic information systems planning changes 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. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it. Vitale, et al. (1986) classifies SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment. Impact methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methodologies in the “alignment” category align IS objectives with organizational goals. These two views of SISP are shown in figure 1. I have searched problems that an IS manager typically face and found one interesting study. It detailed list of problems in implementing SISP methodologies classified as (1) resource, (2) planning process, or (3) output related problem associated with the three methodologies. According to this survey, the most severe problem identified by IS managers is the failure to secure top management commitment for carrying out the final plan. The second most severe problem identified is the requirement for substantial further analysis after the completion of the IS plan. Both these problems are related to the output of the planning process. Besides these top two, six of the next top eight problems are related to the resources required to carry out the strategic information systems planning (success of the plan depends on the team leader, difficulty in finding the team leader meeting the criteria specified in the study, methodology lacking computer support, planning exercise taking long time, etc.). Among the top ten problems encountered while implementing one of these methodologies (or, even while implementing an in-house methodology), three are common: difficulty in obtaining top management commitment for implementing the outputs, the requirement of substantial further analysis and difficulty in finding a good team leader. The results of this survey suggest that IS planners are not particularly satisfied with their methodologies. If the objective of the SISP exercise is to align IS objectives with business goals, then detailed, lengthy and complex SISP may be of limited value. Where the objective is to use IT to impact a business strategy, these methodologies may not generate useful ideas for that purpose. Bergeron et al. (1990), however, point out that the value chain analysis and Wiseman’s strategic methodologies do help in achieving that purpose. Barlow (1990) suggests that the large number of methodologies that have been developed can often ‘add confusion rather than clarity to the (IS) planning process.’ Conceptual Framework for SISP A conceptual framework for SISP is necessary both from a theory building perspective as also providing a basis for undertaking SISP. The latter is expected to answer the following questions frequently encountered by the practitioners in this area: • What is involved in SISP and how to go about doing it? • How to link the products of SISP to systems analysis, design and implementation in a timely manner? • Is one SISP methodology more suitable than another in a given context? • How to evaluate alternative information systems plans? The theory building perspective of SISP is expected to contribute to research in this area, which, being in its infancy has been largely anecdotal. Based on the literature in this area and a careful study of the current methodologies, certain generic steps in a typical SISP formulation can be identified. These are: • Study Internal Business Environment. This is a prerequisite to determining the business IS needs. The internal business environment is comprised of mission of the organization, its objectives, strategies and plans, business activities, the organizational environment, core competencies, its critical success factors and the internal value chain. • Study external business environment. This helps an organization focus attention on the forces and pressure groups it encounters. These external forces exert a very strong influence on the business strategy of an organization. Factors to be considered here are the industry that the organization is in and that industry’s critical success factors, competitive position of the organization in the industry, relationship with major buyers and suppliers. • Study internal IS/IT environment. This is mainly comprised of the current and planned applications portfolio that supports the business. Other aspects to be considered here are the present IS organization, skills and attitudes of people in the organization, IT environment and the IS/IT budgets. It is also hypothesized that the above model will provide an organization a third alternative to develop applications based on either a comprehensive systems development life cycle or rapid prototyping. Either after the completion of the top level model or even during its completion, some critical vertical flows can be identified - for example those based on the critical success factors, or some competitive advantage/threat. Applications can then quickly be developed, tested and implemented along those critical/competitive flows. The rest of the model can await completion and subsequent implementation while the organizational resources are concentrated on developing applications demanded by the exigencies of the current situation. Developing a Theoretical PerspectiveHsu and Rattner (1993) developed a theory of information integration in CIM environment. This theory developed a concept of parallel paradigm of integration which asserts that by the sharing of information between processes interdependent decisions are pooled into concurrent processes. This parallel formulation of processes is a major change from the traditional sequential formulation of processes. In traditional CIM formulation, functions are supported by isolated decision spaces. That is, only the information pertaining to that decision is handled as a variable. Other information is inherited as a constraint. For example the part cycle inherits the information processed by the production cycle as a constraint which in turn is constrained by the information processed at the product development cycle. One can look at the degree of non-integration as the number of constraints a decision space inherits. The extent to which these constraints can be converted into variables represents the degree of integration. For instance, the design function in sequential formulation will constraint the process planning function. Because of the isolation of decision spaces, a mere interfacing between these two functions will require repeated iterations. Integration of the functions, will, however, provide for real-time interaction between these functions. From an enterprise point of view, parameterized decision spaces are fragmented and their existence prevents the associated set of functions from operating as an information-processing and decision-making whole, since results reflect a sequence of discrete decisions. Hsu and Rattner’s work suggests that while such functions operate as though they are using local variables, they are in fact tightly coupled (through, perhaps second or third order relationships) to many other apparently local variables. Part of the difficulty in achieving integration stems from the obscured local vs. global distinction. Another distinction which needs to be made here is that between local and global optimality. Since constraints from both higher levels and from peer-level are inherited as constraints, they are not evaluated in local decisions. Therefore, it is possible that while an enterprise may try to achieve local optimality, it may prevent global optimality of enterprise performance. This is further explained with reference to figure 8. Figure 8(a) depicts a traditional, sequential formulation of manufacturing functions. Each oval represents a decision space . Within each level in the hierarchy, the arrows depict the explicit flow of information between pairs of peer functions. Between hierarchy levels, the arrows symbolize the assertion of constraints. In contrast, manufacturing functions can be organized in parallel; i.e., to explicitly share unified decision spaces. The extent to which parameters and constraints are converted to decision variables is a measure of integration strength among sub-functions. The implication is that by explicitly managing global decision variables as such, each local function supports global performance objectives. The impact of optimizing global performance is ultimately measurable from the firm’s production function. The paradigm is rooted in the premise that local productivity is largely irrelevant and that an enterprise achieves competitive success if it achieves optimal global productivity. Formulating tasks in parallel is a means towards that end. The paradigm alters the decision-making hierarchy so that peer functions operate in parallel. Thus, all decisions are made in support of explicit global requirements. In this way, decisions contribute to synergy. Figure 8(b) depicts the concept of parallel formulation. Each oval again represents a decision space and each arrow represents the flow of constraints (downward) and feedback (upward) between hierarchy levels. There is no longer a need for explicit flows among peer functions since such iterations (sequential iterations) have been replaced by a comprehensive decision space. The three level approach to information systems development can also be brought into the ambit of the above theoretical framework. The decisions at the planning level constraint those at the analysis level and from there down to the design level. The task here is to convert these constraints into variables which can be manipulated as the need arises. For example, the critical success factors at the planning level constraint the analysis, design and implementation of a particular application. In a parallel formulation this constraint would become a variable - that is not only do CSFs determine applications to support them but the CSFs set itself will be altered depending on the realities of an enterprise’s information system. This provides a new perspective on SISP – the bottom up planning here the planning level variables (at least some of them) are manipulated by the ‘state of the IS’ in the organization. Where these variables can not be manipulated, for example those reflecting the external environment (competitors, technology available, etc.), this bottom-up approach will explicitly acknowledge those limitations and hopefully initiate a corrective action. It is not that organizations are not doing some or all of the things suggested here. The parallel formulation of information systems development tasks is expected to formalize and structure these steps and provide automated support for carrying them out in an interactive manner. This parallel formulation of IS development tasks will also help organizations tide over a major limitation of SISP methodologies: planning is unnecessarily detailed and takes a long time. When the entire hierarchy of tasks related to developing down to implementing a plan is modeled in terms of its explicit information flows and data and knowledge classes, information systems can be developed quickly along the preferred paths (flows) without having to develop the entire system. Systems so developed will be different from those developed in an ad hoc manner in response to exigencies of the situation - these systems will be integrated with the overall system at the logical level as they are developed out of the shared information, data and knowledge spaces. This concept has its parallel in Physics. Holographic images are made up of a multitude of images where each individual image is derived from and contains the big image. In the same way, individual systems will be derived from the overall system and will in turn holistically support the overall system. To conclude this theoretical perspective, it offers a viable alternative to the SISP process. Although not as well defined as in the CIM scenario, there is a structure to the SISP process. The literature and the analysis of existing methodologies, as mentioned earlier, does point to certain generic tasks and information flows required for SISP. This will provide the starting point for building a framework for a parallel formulation of SISP tasks. Information-Gathering TechniquesAny, or a combination, of the following techniques can be used in gathering information relevant to the IT system within its operational boundary: • Questionnaire. To collect relevant information, risk assessment personnel can develop a questionnaire concerning the management and operational controls planned or used for the IT system. This questionnaire should be distributed to the applicable technical and nontechnical management personnel who are designing or supporting the IT system. The questionnaire could also be used during on-site visits and interviews. • On-site Interviews. Interviews with IT system support and management personnel can enable risk assessment personnel to collect useful information about the IT system (e.g., how the system is operated and managed). On-site visits also allow risk assessment personnel to observe and gather information about the physical, environmental, and operational security of the IT system. Appendix A contains sample interview questions asked during interviews with site personnel to achieve a better understanding of the operational characteristics of an organization. For systems still in the design phase, on-site visit would be face-to-face data gathering exercises and could provide the opportunity to evaluate the physical environment in which the IT system will operate. • Document Review. Policy documents (e.g., legislative documentation, directives), system documentation (e.g., system user guide, system administrative manual, system design and requirement document, acquisition document), and security-related documentation (e.g., previous audit report, risk assessment report, system test results, system security plan5, security policies) can provide good information about the security controls used by and planned for the IT system. An organization’s mission impact analysis or asset criticality assessment provides information regarding system and data criticality and sensitivity. • Use of Automated Scanning Tool. Proactive technical methods can be used to collect system information efficiently. For example, a network mapping tool can identify the services that run on a large group of hosts and provide a quick way of building individual profiles of the target IT system(s). Information gathering can be conducted throughout the risk assessment process, from Step 1 (System Characterization) through Step 9 (Results Documentation). Control AnalysisThe goal of this step is to analyze the controls that have been implemented, or are planned for implementation, by the organization to minimize or eliminate the likelihood (or probability) of a threat’s exercising a system vulnerability. To derive an overall likelihood rating that indicates the probability that a potential vulnerability may be exercised within the construct of the associated threat environment (Step 5 below), the implementation of current or planned controls must be considered. For example, a vulnerability (e.g., system or procedural weakness) is not likely to be exercised or the likelihood is low if there is a low level of threat-source interest or capability or if there are effective security controls that can eliminate, or reduce the magnitude of, harm. A. Control Methods Security controls encompass the use of technical and nontechnical methods. Technical controls are safeguards that are incorporated into computer hardware, software, or firmware (e.g., access control mechanisms, identification and authentication mechanisms, encryption methods, intrusion detection software). Nontechnical controls are management and operational controls, such as security policies; operational procedures; and personnel, physical, and environmental security. B. Control Categories The control categories for both technical and nontechnical control methods can be further classified as either preventive or detective. These two subcategories are explained as follows: • Preventive controls inhibit attempts to violate security policy and include such controls as access control enforcement, encryption, and authentication. • Detective controls warn of violations or attempted violations of security policy and include such controls as audit trails, intrusion detection methods, and checksums. C. Control Analysis Technique As discussed in Section 3.3.3, development of a security requirements checklist or use of an available checklist will be helpful in analyzing controls in an efficient and systematic manner. The security requirements checklist can be used to validate security noncompliance as well as compliance. Therefore, it is essential to update such checklists to reflect changes in an organization’s control environment (e.g., changes in security policies, methods, and requirements) to ensure the checklist’s validity. Incremental ChangeDepending on how dire your situation is, you may not have the luxury of being entirely ready when you launch your new offering. For that reason, the safest approach is not to pull out all the stops immediately. "Go for small successes," says Davis. Rinaldi isn't courting would-be business buyers aggressively. Instead, he's working with "clients who walk in through the door," and says it will be take at least six months of testing before he decides how hard he'll go after this new market. There's always room for fine-tuning. "We weren't 100% ready when we started," says Matheson Shedrick of mySpaShop. Over the past three months, she's added more products, such as odometers and jump ropes, and advice from experts in Chinese herbal medicine and feng shui. She hired three new employees, but relies on staff from her consulting firm to work at both operations. That has meant divvying up assignments based on employees' strengths, weaknesses, and schedules, and she has already had to rejigger the workload once. "It's been a bit of trial and error," Matheson Shedrick says. But with your company's future at stake, you may have no choice but to keep trying. Qualitative Factors
Cost Access is not just about availability. Cost affects usage. High cost is still a barrier. While prices have definitely come down the cost of access is still too high to have a transformatory impact. Poor electricity supply Epileptic power supply increases the cost of access. Supply of electricity needs to be optimal to enable businesses and banks to provide seamless online services through local areas networks, wide area networks and the Internet. Inefficiency is the word to describe a situation where everybody has to depend on power generators, as the primary, reliable power supply. This constitutes a barrier to growth and sustainable development. The growth of real e-business cannot take place or be of any significance in an environment with unreliable public power supply. Quality of service While availability has grown, this has not been matched by quality of service. It is not enough to have cheap lines and low cost bandwidth. Efficiency and accessibility of telecoms service should be paramount. Most operators have a lot of work to do in QoS especially in the areas of congestion and support. IS Improvement Companies wanting to optimize their IS/IT resources (e.g. the hardware, software, networks, people) have a strategic intent of IS improvement. They are focused on reducing costs, improving service quality, and bringing in new technical and management expertise. They believe outside specialists can better handle new technologies and provide superior processes and management methods. This strategy’s success comes from achieving economies of scale, implementing cost reduction and service improvement, and bringing in technical expertise. Unfortunately, this strategy can also lead to failure if the company does not get the skills it requires, there are cost shifts instead of real cost reductions, and coordination costs exceed the savings from outsourcing. Management control mechanisms (contract type, performance measures, reward and penalty schemes, and decision structures) need to focus on IS/IT services (e.g. network provision, datacenter operations, applications program maintenance, and new systems development. Performance metrics include network response time, problem-resolution cycle time, cost per user, and function points. Vendor compensation is typically based on a pricing schedule for technology services. It is often difficult to determine future costs, so it is critical to create a very competitive vendor selection process to ensure costs are competitive. Companies also need to incorporate frequent benchmarks into the contract to allow renegotiation if there is a substantial change in business and technology conditions. The relationship should depend on the risks and uncertainty associated with delivering the outsourced services. When requirements are well defined and outcomes observable, the relationship should focus on contractual elements. However, when there is uncertainty about requirements, a partnership approach may be more desirable The requirement for success is to strike the right balance between risk and reward for both the vendor and client, and ensure that the client is significantly involved in any improvement initiatives. Transferring ownership and responsibility for IS/IT assets from the customer to the outsourcing vendor is extremely important as ownership provides the incentive to continue investing in those assets. Shift to Virtual Some of the driving forces behind this shift to the virtual include a shortage of skilled workers, an expanding global economy, and significantly increased competition. To survive in this extremely fluid environment, companies need to quickly identify, design, and engineer new IS/IT products and services. Unfortunately, no single company can do this on its own and no single vendor can do it for them. The only way to compete is by creating a constantly shifting network of alliances and partnerships to achieve a dynamic set of corporate objectives. With the explosion of technology, outside vendors can see significant dollar amounts waiting if they are able to fill the gap brought on by the changing business environment. Because it often takes too long to develop technology in-house, vendors is often the answer. Use Process Models as GuideThe first general reason why one must use software process modeling is that real-world organizational processes can be surprisingly complex. As a result, it requires considerable effort to weave together the various components of the process into a cohesive whole. To detail, Process Models are processes of the same nature that are classified together into a model. Thus, a process model is a description of a process at the type level. Since the process model is at the type level, a process is an instantiation of it. The same process model is used repeatedly for the development of many applications and thus, has many instantiations. One possible use of a process model is to prescribe how things must/should/could be done in contrast to the process itself which is really what happens. A process model is roughly an anticipation of what the process will look like. What the process shall be will be determined during actual system development. Each process model follows a particular life cycle in order to ensure success in process of software maturity. Think like a userLet me repeat the key aspect of business modeling: lump processes of the same type into a model so you can see how those processes work together. This is an important fact to understand. For some reason, a good many business analysts try to make the process more difficult than it is. They might try to lump dissimilar processes together, for instance, to prove that an entire architecture needs an overhaul. They bite off more than they can chew doing something like that, and they run the risk of alienating potential allies during the process. Business modeling isn't rocket science: It's a straightforward process with the ultimate goal of understanding whether modifications are needed in a specific process and, if they are, what those modifications should be. Speak for the userAs a business analyst, your biggest role is to speak for the user—to create processes that work with users instead of against them. When you're modeling new business processes, it's imperative that you intimately understand what that user will experience with any change in the process. Writing user stories and use cases will help you do this and will also help you essentially speak for the user when the business modeling process gets underway. Although some say that user stories and use cases are technically pieces of the requirements process, I'm going to address them in this section. Get the tools for the jobIf you're in the requirements stage, check out IBM Rational RequisitePro . It's integrated with Microsoft Office Word, so if you use Microsoft Office products, you'll see a familiar environment. It also helps you write strong use cases with a database infrastructure that lets you easily organize requirements, trace them in processes, and analyze what needs to happen in a business process. Information-based enterprises must be planned in an integrated way whereby all stages of the life cycle are engaged to bring about agility, quality, and productivity. This integration is similar in nature to the integration of product life cycle for an enterprise. The existing methodologies, however, tend to support information planning as an island separated from the wealth of the enterprise’s information resources. A needed new approach would tap into these resources which capture and characterize the enterprise to allow for integration of the planning stage with information systems development stages and support a shortened and adaptive cycle. This paper is a small first step towards a big task: developing a framework and a theory for strategic information systems planning. The need for such a framework is established by the existing problems in implementing SISP methodologies and also by what these methodologies themselves lack. A possible approach to building a framework is traced to the theoretical work of Hsu and Rattner (1993) and that is where the thrust of this line of research is expected to lie. ConclusionsI would say that the task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Planning 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 (in my case, the task to meet the needs of our university). I (should I say ‘we’) must remember that 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. One must remember, as what was stated above, that 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.
References: Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu. 1995. Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 21-24, Atlanta, Georgia . [January 1995] Slack, S.E. 2008. Understanding business process modeling: Learn what it is, how it works, and why it's a must for any organization IBM [Aug. 28, 2008] Gary Stoneburner, Alice Goguen, and Alexis Feringa. 2002. Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems: Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 1Booz Allen Hamilton Inc .[July 2002] Please visit my blog: SAD1- http://usbnotsupported.blogspot.com MIS2- http://gibitok-pitokpitok.blogspot.com | |
| | | Roy Cuevas
Posts : 41 Points : 43 Join date : 2009-06-21 Age : 35 Location : Dabaw
| Subject: Expedition Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:01 pm | |
| So the scenario is, the USEP President just gave me a mission. And that was to prepare an IS (Information Systems) plan for the university. But how? I mean, I’m just a student, and I haven’t been in workshops, seminars or trainings on strategic planning or other related topics. And I don’t have the credentials that would make me the right person to make the said plan. But, the president picked me, so I’ll just have to do my job.
In this post, I’ll be putting my insight and opinions not just as a student, but also as an imaginary Information Systems (IS) Professional whom the president hired to make an information systems plan. Of course, I won’t be putting here very hardcore terms and terminologies like I’m a very good information systems planner. I’ll just put here what I want for the university. And also, the requirement for this assignment is that I have to discuss the steps on how to expedite the implementation plan that I’m going to make. By the way, expedite means: to speed up the progress of something, or to deal with quickly and efficiently. So I have to discuss the steps on speeding up the implementation plan that I’m going to make. And not only do I have to speed it up, but I also have to ensure that the implementation of the information systems plan is done well and efficiently.
So we’ve been mentioning here all the time this particular group of words: Information Systems Plan, or simply called IS Plan. But what really is this IS Plan? Here are some definitions that may prove useful:
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). The same article emphasizes the need to note that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data processing views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems. SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information technology (IT) to a firm’s strategic activities has been one of the most common and effective ways to improve business performance.
IS Plan or ISP was also called SISP or Strategic Information Systems Plan. They’re really just the same, basically. They just somehow modified it for it to be more descriptive.
An ISP is very essential for a company that utilizes and relies on information technology in their processes and their activities. Why? Because for the company or organization to have a successful and efficient information system, they first have to make a plan of what to implement, why to implement it, and how to implement it, so that all their goals, objectives and expectations will be met. And making an IS Plan will help it out very much.
We can compare IS Planning to strategic planning. Strategic planning is planning for good business. It is the planning of all the activities of a business to ensure competitive advantage and profitability. It’s much like the same for the Information Systems Plan, it’s just so that an IS Plan is for the information system. Discussed here in the IS Plan are: the objectives and priorities of the information system; the required equipment and its maintenance; future projects, and many more.
Here is something I got from an article (actually, it’s a PDF file) which talks about Information Systems 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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. King (King, 1995) in his recent article has argued that a strategic capability architecture - a flexible and continuously improving infrastructure of organizational capabilities – is the primary basis for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. He has emphasized the need for continuously updating and improving the strategic capabilities architecture.”
So what the paragraph above says from the article I got is somewhat understandable. Don’t you think? Information systems planning has to consider many factors before its implementation, just like strategic planning in management. IS Planning has to have objectives so that the plan will not go astray. The plan must have a direction that it will follow, if it doesn’t want to end up with lame results. Priorities also have to be considered, because if the management just plans and plans and it won’t consider which tasks to perform first before another one is implemented, tendency is those more important tasks that have to be fulfilled first would be on queue. Those tasks that aren’t that important would be implemented first, and it would be a big waste of time, effort and money if you did not accomplish what you want for the information system of the company just because you didn’t prioritize the more important tasks. The higher-ups should also have the right power and authority to authorize and lead the information systems plan, because the information plan won’t go anywhere if the persons-in-charge are all incompetent and unqualified for the job. The information system plan should look forward to the future. It should be ready for future and probable projects that might happen or occur during the projected time span of the plan. The resources should also be considered if the plan will look forward to the future. And the plan should not forget that there will be constraints to the plan, because there is no planning that is perfect. Before I’m gonna talk about the steps on how I would expedite the implementation of the IS Plan of the University of Southeastern Philippines, I should really first talk about how I would implement the IS Plan, its processes, etc.
Based on research and based also on our topic in our sharing in this subject, there is a basic process on how to implement an information systems plan, and that is to follow the basic Four Stage Model of IS Planning. Although other organizations have their own ways and processes on how to implement their IS Plan, basically, the key components of their procedure are found in this basic four stage model. Well, let’s not make the long wait any longer. The steps in the four stage model are:
Strategic planning Requirements analysis Resource allocation Project planning
Strategic Planning -establishes the relationship between the overall organizational plan and the IT plan Basically, what happens here in this stage is the alignment of the IT plan and the overall organization plan, so that the IT unit and the management personnel will work toward the same goals, using the competencies and the resources that they can use. After they have talked about what they really need and they must do for the company, and how they will team up for the company’s success, then they proceed to the next stage.
Requirements Analysis -identifies broad, organizational information requirements to establish a strategic information architecture that can be used to direct specific application development The phrase says so itself. Requirement analysis. An analysis of requirements. This stage here is the part where the company analyzes the needs of the users, and how it relates to their work. Also, what the planners here must be aligned with what they agreed upon in the strategic planning stage. The requirement analysis here encompasses a broad spectrum. It doesn’t just focus on small applications, but it focuses on all of the systems, databases, data, etc. The requirements analysis stage shall also serve as a guide for the next stage, which is resource allocation.
Resource Allocation -consists of developing the hardware, software, data communications and networks, facilities, personnel, and financial plans needed to execute the master development plan as defined in the requirements analysis. This stage provides the framework for technology and labor procurement, and it identifies the financial resources needed to provide appropriate service levels to users. This is where the budget for the information systems plan comes in. This is the stage where the budget is allocated to the needs of the information system. First, it is important to take care of the more important matters, just like processors, hard disks, network equipment that are nearing their capacities and must be replaced or upgraded. Then after the priorities have been taken care of, they could use the remaining budget to improve their information architecture, topology and stuff like that.
Project Planning -It provides an overall framework within which specific applications can be planned, scheduled, and controlled. Milestones are a great help here in this stage. By declaring milestones, planners can evaluate the work that they have accomplished. We all know what milestones are, right? We always put milestones in our Gantt chart to specify the points in our study where we accomplished something. By looking at the milestones, the planners can deduce if they still need further improvement, or have they done what they had to do.
Wow, so much has been talked about. That’s a long introduction right there. Now, let’s talk about the steps that I would most likely take to expedite the implementation of my IS Plan for the university.
STEPS TO EXPEDITE THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLAN:
Coordination of all the involved parties: To speed up the plan and deliver it efficiently, all the involved people should coordinate with each other harmoniously. All of them, or majority of them, must agree on a certain decision that they make, because a plan shall only be carried out if the people that are implementing it like it. Nothing would happen if only a certain party is the only that approves a certain part of the plan and the other does not. If the other party does not want to implement the plan, then there’s no use in doing what you have planned. It will only result in the other party complaining against what the other party has done. It is also important to coordinate with the people involved in the plan, because if problems occur during the implementation of the plan, then it would be easier for them to get over it. That’s because the IS team will not only be the ones who will troubleshoot the plan, but also the other people involved in the plan. They could also help and give input on what to do because they might have some additional information on the subject matter. And also, they could have the necessary resources and influence to hasten up the plan.
Make a Deadline: Just like what a certain teacher of mine said, if there would be no deadline, then there would be no motivation for the people to accomplish a certain task. A deadline keeps the people working on the information systems plan dedicated to a certain task that they are assigned to, because if they don’t accomplish what they have to accomplish on the deadline, something would happen. Just like consequences to the person’s work status. And who wants consequences? No one. If there’s a deadline involved, pressure will come up. But if they just do their work right, then there wouldn’t be any pressure involved. There would only be pressure if the people working on the plan would let their mañana habit rule over them. That’s a problem with most Filipinos. If they just plan and manage their time correctly, then their “plan to fail” act would be gone.
Explain the plan’s importance: Explaining the plan’s importance to the “right people” shouldn’t be ignored. If you explain the importance of what you’re doing to the higher-ups, and they agree on what you have in mind, then they themselves will want the plan to be pushed through faster and you will have the right leverage and also get the needed resources immediately to complete the plan efficiently.
Effective Resource Utilization What I mean by this “Effective Resource Utilization” is that we have to use the right resources needed to accomplish our goal and not waste time on other resources that could hinder us on what we want to achieve. The resource analysis should come handy here in this step to expedite the IS Plan. For example, the equipment. The planners had planned bulk orders of computing equipment for the company. So that means large amounts of money in consideration. But what if those computers and other piece of equipment were just for basic business tasks and computations and stuff like that? And the equipment ordered were state of the art, new models and computers with high specs? Where would be the planning in that, right? The company could save a lot of money if they just purchased cheaper priced machines instead of the high performance but more expensive ones. There’s no shame in buying cheaper ones because the task for them doesn’t require heavy duty performance. If they bought the cheaper ones, then the money left could still be used for other things, like upgrading of more important equipment and other stuff like that. Or the money could be allotted for other projects that could be of great help to the IS plan, so that the IS plan could progress more.
Training: We shouldn’t forget the peopleware component in our information systems planning. The people are the most important component that could make or break a company, so their involvement in the IS plan should not be ignored. That’s why every person involved in the IS plan must have the knowledge and the skills to his/her job efficiently. If there are some who don’t have that knowledge and skill, then they should undergo the proper training for it. Although training will also cost the company some money, it should be worth it because the investment will be big. If these people who have undergone the training just do their job well and follow the information systems plan, then the expedition of the IS plan should be progressing as fast as it could (that is if the IS plan is well-made). If there will be trainings that will happen, then it will be for the management and the IT staff. The trainings for the management will be different from the trainings of the IT staff because the management only require the basic skills for handling new equipment, software and processes, unlike the IT people, which require technical training and more sophisticated stuff. The trainers for these specific trainings should be qualified for the job and should have the credentials for the task. He should be a certified professional, because implementing a new system or improving a system plan should not be taken lightly. Although this will cost the company money, it will be a good investment for them. And it would be better if the ones to conduct the trainings would be the employees of the company itself. If they were the ones to propose a system for the information systems plan, and what they proposed is a plan where they have already have a background in, then there would be less expenses for the company.
Assigning Responsibilities: There should be responsibilities assigned to each person of which he is qualified to do. It would be a waste of energy, time and resources if a certain task is given to a person who is not qualified for the job. Like if he/ she is assigned to do a task and it is taking a lot of time for him to finish it because he isn’t that experienced in that field. Wouldn’t the task be finished faster if the right man for the job were in there instead of him / her? That’s why if you want the plan to be done faster and more efficiently, then the right man for the right job will be necessary. Assigning responsibilities shall also lessen the confusion of the employees on which specific task they might do. That’s because sometimes, a person is doing many things that he doesn’t even have to do. He or she might be unaware that some of the tasks that he or she is doing aren’t for the job description that he applied for. That’s why the clear assigning of responsibilities would be a help for the hastening of the information systems planning.
Monitor the Results: If you thought monitoring results is just jotting down what happened after a task is done, then think again. It’s not just like that. By monitoring the results, the IS team and the company will know whether they have really progressed with their plan or not. Also by doing this, they will be able to see if they are still on the right track of their plan or not. With the results in hand, they might know what to do and what not to do next, to avoid failure. By interpreting the results of a certain activity, one can always know if there should be large improvements done or if only small scale alterations would just be enough. And who doesn’t want to know the results of what they do, right?
All of these steps to expedite the implementation of the IS plan of the university, if done well, would greatly help the university (That’s only from my point of view. I don’t know if I’m perfectly right or wrong, but I think I’m close to the real thing). But all of these steps shall become useless if the University doesn’t cooperate. So it is important that the business plan that they have should be aligned with the agreed IS Plan
Talking about the alignment of the university’s business plan alignment with the information systems plan, the university’s VMG should also be incorporated with the IS plan. I think we tackled about that earlier in the process on how to implement an IS Plan. Well, here are the university’s vision, mission and goals, for the clarification of everyone:
VISION By becoming a premier university in the ASEAN Region, the USEP shall be a center of excellence and development, responsive and adaptive to fast- changing environments. USEP shall also be known as the leading university in the country that fosters innovation and applies knowledge to create value towards social, economic, and technological developments.
MISSION: Particularly, USEP is committed to: • Provide quality education for students to grow in knowledge, promote their well-rounded development, and make them globally competitive in the world of work; • Engage in high impact research, not only for knowledge’s sake, but also for its practical benefits to society; and, • Promote entrepreneurship and industry collaboration.
GOALS: Aligned with the university’s vision and mission are specific goals for Key Result Areas (KRA) on Instruction; Research, Development, and Extension; and Resource Management. KRA 1.Instruction Produce globally competitive and morally upright graduates KRA 2. Research, Development, and Extension (RDE) Develop a strong RDE culture with competent human resource and responsive and relevant researches that are adopted and utilized for development KRA 3. Resource Management Effective and efficient generation, allocation, and utilization of resources
As you see here, the University of Southeaster Philippines envisions in becoming a premier university in the ASEAN Region. That’s a very heavy task, really. First, the USeP should surpass local outstanding schools here in Davao City. Then, the USeP should surpass the schools in the regional perspective. Then the university can progress and fight its way in becoming a premier university in the Philippines. And after that, work its way in becoming a premier university in the ASEAN region. Our IS plan should also have standards that could be compared to the local, regional, national and international systems of other heavy duty schools. I won’t be mentioning names though, because I don’t know if they really have those systems that are up to the task.
The IS Plan could really help the university in its Mission statement. First it talks about providing quality education to students. By including the improvement of the facilities and educational equipment of the school in the information systems plan, then students would have less burden in studying and doing their assignments (Fast Internet, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint). Research. This is something that information systems are worth putting up for. Most researches I think require lots of information. And by storing this information in computers, there will be archives and archives of data for the university. And that’s all because of information system planning for the university. And if information systems are made to help different functions in the university, why not make it promote entrepreneurship and industry collaboration? For sure, entrepreneurship students are utilizing the information system of the school in their entrepreneurship activities. Income generating projects of the school I think are also using the university’s information system to make their transactions easier and less complicated. All transactions would go to the database of the school so there would always be an involvement with the information system. Even though if the involvement is just small, the integration with the IS is still there. And if the IS Plan has a part in it where entrepreneurship and the IS will coordinate with each other for the progress of the university, then better. And with the industry aspect, hardware is always involved with computers, and computers are used to boost the tasks and activities in an industry-driven institution (which includes the University of Southeastern Philippines).
Well, for the goals of the university (especially the KRAs or Key Result Areas), the IS plan is also of importance. The IS is connected with: Resource Management (effective use of resources and managing them efficiently); Research, Development and Extension (tackled earlier with the mission of the university) and; the production of globally competitive and morally upright students (well, why shouldn’t the IS plan help the university in this area, right? After all, the information system is really made to help the university in all its tasks, and part of it is to help students have the standards it needs to face the world).
The preparations of the IS plan should also be like how the university has prepared for its strategic plan. For the university, the preparations for the strategic plan had the involvement of the university constituency and also the stakeholders. A Project Management Group (PMG) was created, which would spearhead activities leading to the preparation of a Strategic Plan for the USEP for the next 15 years (2007-2021). A Documentation Group (DG) was likewise created to as¬sist the PMG in carrying out the various activities for the preparation of a strategic plan. The DG is composed of personnel from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) XI, the Department of Science and Tech¬nology (DOST) XI, and USEP. Among the major activities conducted by the PMG was a series of stakeholders’ consultation work¬shops conducted in the four campuses of USEP. The main purpose of the activity was to ensure that the objectives of the strategic plan are appropriate and acceptable to the diverse groups of university stakeholders. The conduct of the stakeholders’ consultations provided an avenue where problems, issues and concerns of the various university stake¬holders are ventilated. The nature of participation of the various stakeholders in the consultation allowed the generation of diverse inputs. The information derived from the series of consultation-workshops were then consolidated and validated with official university records. Con¬sequently, the processed information served as in¬puts to the succeeding activity, which is the Multi- Stakeholders’ Strategic Planning Workshop. The Multi-Stakeholders’ Strategic Planning Workshop served as a venue for the university constituency to firm up long-term directions. The activity likewise enabled the participants to define strategic actions to achieve the ultimate vision for the university. The outputs were then refined and served as the main reference for the writing of the strategic plan. Given the extent of stakeholders’ participation in the
This should be somewhat also be similar to how the IS plan should be formulated. There should be teams that would have particular tasks to accomplish, just like the USeP’s PMG and DG. Although the preparation for the IS plan would be on a smaller scale, it must not be given less importance, because a good IS plan would be a good help to the university. These particular teams should assess what still has to be done with the university’s current information system. Does it need improvement? Do we have to make an over-all change? These are just some of the points that they have to tackle in order to make a good IS plan. I’d like to mention also that in the university’s strategic plan, they have included some realities that are concerned with IT: The inclusion of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in the Davao Region’s Medium-Term Development Plan, the creation of cyber corridor, which is an ICT channel running 600 miles across the country, and the Emergence of ICT-Based Program Delivery System (which also includes academic programs that do not require the student to attend the class physically).
Well, that ends my post.
References:
Encarta Dictionaries
Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review Authors: Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu
University of Southeastern Philippines Strategic Plan, 2007-2021 | |
| | | Michelle Adlawan
Posts : 34 Points : 36 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 34 Location : Lupon, Davao Oriental
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:39 pm | |
| The use of technology is a process of continuous activity in all business operations. Managing of any business is said to be a highly creative activity in which planning should be first discussed before deploying certain tasks in an organization. Such example is the school wherein specific planning should be chiefly formulated in performing certain function in the institution primarily concerning in the use of software programs. The need of utilizing information system planning is needed in order to achieve the essential goals of the institution. Information system planning (ISP) is the arrangement of information systems for an organization. It asses the information needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases and technologies that best satisfies those needs. ISP involves advance thinking and future action designing. It is important in dealing systematic approach with future uncertainties. It focuses efforts and resources of a certain organization on its long-term objectives and yet provides a foundation for short-term activities. ISP also provides a framework for action. It is performed in any organization that has interest in getting the best out of its IT investments. It is expected to be done if and when an organization faces problems; grabs opportunities; and its information system fails to satisfy huge, diverse and complicated information requirements of their end-users. 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. Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business. Because information technology is playing an increasingly strategic role in today's highly competitive business world, the need for effective strategic information systems planning (SISP) has become more and more critical. SISP can contribute substantially to an organization. It can bring IS users and IS professionals together and establish a mutual understanding of the value of information systems and the problems associated with them (Hackney & McBride, 2002). It also can help the organization develop priorities for information systems development by ranking such systems in terms of their efficiency, effectiveness, and strategic value. In that manner, it helps the organization identify its portfolio of planned computer-based applications, which both align well with corporate strategy and can create an advantage over competitors (Doherty et al., 1999). Implementing an IS Plan in such a wide scope of organization is very risky. Several risks will be encounter while working or just preparing an IS plan. As a student it is a hard time for me to implement a plan in such organization bust still there are things to do overcome those risks and accelerate the implementation of the said plan, and we call that risk management. Every organization has a mission. In this digital era, as organizations use automated information technology (IT) systems1 to process their information for better support of their missions, risk management plays a critical role in protecting an organization’s information assets, and therefore its mission, from IT-related risk. An effective risk management process is an important component of a successful IT security program. The principal goal of an organization’s risk management process should be to protect the organization and its ability to perform their mission, not just its IT assets. Therefore, the risk management process should not be treated primarily as a technical function carried out by the IT experts who operate and manage the IT system, but as an essential management function of the organization. Risk is the net negative impact of the exercise of vulnerability, considering both the probability and the impact of occurrence. Risk management is the process of identifying risk, assessing risk, and taking steps to reduce risk to an acceptable level. This guide provides a foundation for the development of an effective risk management program, containing both the definitions and the practical guidance necessary for assessing and mitigating risks identified within IT systems. The ultimate goal is to help organizations to better manage IT-related mission risks. In addition, this guide provides information on the selection of cost-effective security controls. These controls can be used to mitigate risk for the better protection of mission-critical information and the IT systems that process, store, and carry this information. Organizations may choose to expand or abbreviate the comprehensive processes and steps suggested in this guide and tailor them to their environment in managing IT-related mission risks. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. A strategic information system planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Although strategic information systems planning are a major concern, most organizations find it difficult to undertake it. It is possible that the advances in Information Technology and their applicability in organizations have outpaced all formal methodologies evolved in past years. Moreover, classified key activities are also identified in performing information system planning in the organization. These are the following: 1. Describing the current situation. It includes a listing of the manual and automated processes, listing of manual and automated data, technology inventory and human resources inventory. 2. Describing the future situation. It includes blueprints of manual and automated processes, blueprints of manual and automated data, technology blueprints and human resources blueprints. 3. Describing the scheduling of the project. It includes scheduling of manual and automated processes, scheduling of manual and automated data, technology of scheduling and human resources scheduling. Every institution needs information systems planning and the school is not an exemption. The school needs a distinct plan for the development and improvement of the human resource of the school and the school itself. The reason why it is needed to plan for the information system of the school and also with other organizations is to ensure that IS both complements and assists in the achievement of the school goals, to ensure that the use of scarce resources are maximized within a business, to maximize the benefits of changing technology and to take account of the different viewpoints of the administration and staff of the university. In addition, performing ISP allow a detailed analysis of anticipated future events prepared by the staff responsible for achieving those plans. It also provides a frequent measuring tool to utilize in evaluating process and enables frequent reassessments and frequent updates. It is also an advantage to determine in advance who is responsible for the development of the plan. The planning is performed by the people involved in the transformation of the business process. In the case of the university, the planning should have a IS Planners/System Analyst, the top management of the school, its staff and faculty and if given a chance the students as well. In information system planning, well-versed characteristics should be identified and considered before proceeding in the next phase of developing the system of the institution. The concrete characteristics are presented in the following: It should be timely. The information system planning should be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Since its timely, well I would be more critical in dealing the plan because it is for the good of the university the time the plans are put into action. It should be useable. The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. The ISP is useable in a way that when the implementation part is in action, the system that is planned can be used as a means to achieve the concerns of the university. It should be maintainable. The ISP should be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimate technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Well this point takes place on the latter part when the plan system runs eventually. It should consider its quality. While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. The ISP must be a quality product since no ISP ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed in the university, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new technologies, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports the system implemented. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. It should be reproducible. The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same and can merely adapt to changes. If a proposal is created for the development of the Information System Planning, the said five characteristics should be assessed. And if otherwise a failure is produced by not assessing the said characteristics in creating ISP in an optimum way, the entire set of funds for the development of information system planning is risked. And also, People is the basic equipment of an IS Plan since they're the ones using the systems or they're the one involve in the plan. They must be well trained so that they have the knowledge on how the system works and how to deal with the changes might occur. Just to review I will just state some of the content of the Information Systems Plan of the university which was create in the year 2007. The university planned a 15-year Strategic Plan for the betterment of the said organization. The 15-year Strategic Plan of the University of Southeastern Philippines specifically aims to provide the University with a roadmap to reposition itself toward becoming more competitive and responsive to the needs of its stakeholders. Essentially, this would mean USEP achieving academic excellence in the future and the leader in research, development and extension in Southern Philippines and the rest of the country. The Strategic Plan covers the period 2007 to 2021.If by chance I was invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, I would probably converse the following measure in order to expedite the implementation of the information system plan of the university. 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. Strategic capability architecture - a flexible and continuously improving infrastructure of organizational capabilities – is the primary basis for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. It has emphasized the need for continuously updating and improving the strategic capabilities architecture. Planning an Information System specially our university there are numerous or constraint to be consider that may encumber or cause a delay to the success of the plan or worst failure. This is a high risk and costly plan. Before doing the plan make sure that you got the support of the entire organization and the project will be funded accordingly. Assuming that there is no problem with that, the project will be funded, be given enough time to conduct the feasibility study, assessment and entire duration of the plan, ensure cooperation of every member of the organization in the planning and all the resources is available. In this fast changing world a good strategic information plan is a need to be more competitive and to have an edge over competitors. This plan must be flexible and have addresses all the need of the organization. Information System Plan is the process of assessing, developing, creating and implementing an Information System within a particular organization. Planning an Information System generally starts with identifying the organization needs or what we called system requirements. A good and effective 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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 1. Look at the business structure, function, culture and processes in the university. It is sensible to create a wide observation on the current structure of the system used, its functionalities, the cultures being practiced and the process in utilizing the system that is being applied in the university. From then, you can observed what is the need of the organization and how can it be apprehended. Moreover, constructing the mission, vision, and goals of the plan can also be well-addressed and created. 2. Look at existing information technology. It is advisable to consider the existing system that is used in the university. It will not just help in creating a distinct feature of the system to be plan in developing but also to acknowledge the problems that had been encountered during the use of the current system. 3.Look at available technology. In planning should also consider the available technology within the vicinity of the organization. It is a help if the available technology will be used. It is accessible and easy to obtain. 4.Carry out interviews. Carrying out interviews will be a big help in conducting the IS plan. This is utilized to collect data in developing an accurate schema in accessing and recognizing needs of the university. 5.Develop policies. Every organization has a set of rules to be followed. And in planning the information system of the university, policies should be contemplated and addressed. These policies conduct a definite and clear operation of the plan. This also enhances discipline in following what is planned. 6.Develop application portfolio. Information system planning should not be just verbally addressed but to create a complete rest of strategic plan document. In this case, the information system plan will be addressed formally and legally. 7.Plan a schedule for implementation. The formation of the plan should establish a time frame for implementation. This depends on the scope and size of change needed in the university; this time frame might extend from weeks to years. It is important to recognize that this is a complex process. Project management systems like Microsoft Project, Welcom’s Open Plan Professional, or Primavera’s P3e all require PERT (activity network charts) to effectively schedule an entire RLC network of RLC node assigned projects. When WBSs are brought into a project management system, they are treated as self- contained subprojects within the overall set of RLC node network of projects. The figure below shows a RLC network. The resource life cycles are depicted from their first to last node in a top- down fashion. The precedence vectors are shows from one node of a RLC to another node of a different RLC. Multiple precedence vectors do not exist between resource life cycles. When this RLC network is turned on its side, as shown on the next page, it resembles a PERT chart. The chart naturally contains parallel sets of nodes that intersect. From this diagram it is easy to see that the network of RLC nodes can be traditionally scheduled. Establishing a timeline allows to sequentially following the tasks and duties has been laid out for all of those participating in web accessibility in the organization. It also stimulates action and accountability in everyone involved by creating deadlines by which work must be completed. Plans should be made for both initial changes and the long-term establishment of web accessibility as a priority at the university. Information-base organization just like the university must be planned in an integrated way whereby all the stages of the life cycle are engaged to bring about agility, quality, and productivity of the university’s system. If the mentioned processes of properly performing information system, it is possible that the university can manage to conduct a plan that can be develop and help the people in the university. This integration is similar in nature to the integration of product life cycle for an enterprise. The existing methodologies, however, tend to support information planning as an island separated from the wealth of the enterprise’s information resources. A needed new approach would tap into these resources, which capture and characterize the enterprise to allow for integration of the planning stage with information systems development stages and support a shortened and adaptive cycle. | |
| | | carla comoda
Posts : 50 Points : 54 Join date : 2009-06-20 Age : 32 Location : Davao City
| Subject: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:37 pm Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:57 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. Assuming that i am invited by the university president to prepare a IS plan. So it is very important to be prepared. So it needs to gather informations of what is the content of ISplan. Information has emerged as an agent of integration and the enabler of new competitiveness for today’s enterprise in the global marketplace. However, has the paradigm of strategic planning changed sufficiently to support the new role of information systems and technology? We reviewed the literature for commonly used or representative information planning methodologies and found that a new approach is needed. There are six methodologies reviewed in this paper. They all tend to regard planning as a separate stage which does not connect structurally and directly to the information systems development. An integration of planning with development and management through enterprise information resources - which capture and characterize the enterprise - will shorten the response cycle and even allow for economic evaluation of information system investment. The Perspective of Strategic Information Systems Planning In order to put the planning for strategic information systems in perspective, the evolution of information systems according to the three-era model of John Ward, et al.(1990) is pertinent. According to this model there are three distinct, albeit overlapping, eras of information systems, dating back to the 60’s. The relationship over time of the three eras of information systems. 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 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. The key point here is that organizations have to plan for information systems not merely as tools for cutting costs but as means to adding value. The magnitude of this change in perspective of IS/IT’s role in organizations is highlighted in a Business Week article, ‘The Technology Payoff’ (Business Week, June 14, 1993). According to this article, throughout the 1980s US businesses invested a staggering $1 trillion in the information technology. This huge investment did not result in a commensurate productivity gain - overall national productivity rose at a 1% annual rate compared with nearly 5% in Japan. Using the information technology merely to automate routine tasks without altering the business processes is identified as the cause of the above productivity paradox. As IT is used to support breakthrough ideas in business processes, essentially supporting direct value adding activities instead of merely cost saving, it has resulted in major productivity gains. In 1992, productivity rose nearly 3% and the corporate profits went up sharply. According to an MIT study quoted in the above article, the return on investment in information systems averaged 54% for manufacturing and 68% for all businesses surveyed. This impact of information technology on re-defining, re-engineering businesses is likely to continue and it is expected that information technology will play increasingly important roles in future. For example, Pant, et al. (1994) point out that the emerging vision of virtual corporations will become a reality only if it is rooted in new visionary information technology. It is information technology alone which will carve multiple ‘virtual corporations’ simultaneously out of the same physical resources and adapt them without having to change the actual organizations. Thus, it is obvious that information technology has indeed come a long way in the SIS era, offering unprecedented possibilities, which, if not cashed on, would turn into 4 unprecedented risks. As Keen (1993) has morbidly but realistically pointed out that organizations not planning for strategic information systems may fail to spot the business implications of competitors’ use of information technology until it is too late for them to react. In situations like this, when information technology changes the basics of competition in an industry, 50% of the companies in that industry disappear within ten years. 3. Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies 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 strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes 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. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it. Vitale, et al. (1986) classify SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment. Impact methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methodologies in the “alignment” category align IS objectives with organizational goals. Reference: http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf | |
| | | basith_jumat
Posts : 49 Points : 59 Join date : 2009-06-22 Age : 37
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:43 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan.
Telecommunications
The liberalization of the telecommunications industry opened the doors for more players in the sector, which resulted in a dramatic rise in the country’s telecommunications facilities and services. Starting 1992, cellular mobile telephone services (CMTS) were offered by public carriers with approved franchises on either regional or national coverage. In 1997, the cellular phone density was at 18.78 phones per 1,000 persons, or about 53 users for every cell phone. Figures 1-1 and 1-2 show that about 5.4 million land-based telephone lines were installed from 1993 to 1997 with the implementation of the Service Area Scheme of the DOTC’s Basic Telephone Program. Telephone density increased nearly 10 times from 1992 to 1998. Three new alternative backbone networks are now being built to meet the increasing demand of the public for faster, more efficient, and more modern telecommunications facilities: the National Digital Transmission Network, a fiber optic network to run from La Union through Western Visayas to Davao City; the Domestic Fiber Optic Network which will provide nationwide digital coverage; and a network that will link Manila and Cebu. Through the Municipal Telephone Program, the government, as of September 1997, had put up 867 Public Calling Offices (PCOs) in municipalities nationwide, on top of the 427 set up by the private sector. Still, about 700 municipalities had no telephones as of 1998. In August 1997, the Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation launched the first satellite communications link connecting Metro Manila hub stations with all regions in the country. A second satellite is being built by the Philippine Aguila Satellite Inc., a consortium of private telecommunications operators. Personal Computers Market The personal computers market increased tremendously with average annual sales estimated at 350,000 units. About 20% of total sales is bought for home use, the rest for office and business use (Velasco, UAP/CRC 1999). Internet Service Providers From 19 in 1995, Internet service providers rose to about 160 in 1997. Other services using the Internet also expanded. Some new services using the Internet The Internet aXess card launched by WebQuest which provides telephone services over the Internet; The first Philippine Internet Exchange (PhiX) established by PLDT, interconnects Infocom, Iphil, Mozcom, Virtualink and Worldtel which allows service providers to exchange local Internet traffic within the Philippines without having to connect to the host servers overseas. As of end 1997, Internet subscribers numbered 50,000 to 75,000 while an additional 150,000 to 225,000 nonsubscribers have access to the Internet through schools, offices, and cyber cafes (Velasco, UAP/CRC 1999). Software Service Providers A UNIDO study (1997) showed that local software providers are small, with very limited capital and capacity to develop products that will satisfy government’s sophisticated requirements. Government needs to address this through policies and strategies that will stimulate capital formation and encourage partnerships between local software and solution providers and government. The situation also calls for a government study on the possibility and implications of opening up the procurement of huge ICT projects to global competition. Networking Facilities Because data communications facilities hardly exist, "stand-alone" applications are the prevailing mode. A few operate on local area networks. There is minimal use of workgroup applications and decisionsupport systems, which generally add value to ICT application because they facilitate communication and information sharing, and could potentially improve the efficiency and efficacy of government agencies. There are no indications of mission-critical systems fully operating on enterprise-wide networks or linked with other information systems of other agencies. Sharing of database or communication network has not been vigorously explored or adopted. Part of the problem could be the compartmentalized nature of Philippine government offices. Information sharing among government agencies is not encouraged, and ICT planning and procurement are done in isolation, thus preventing the setting up of needed integrated application systems that cut across different agencies. Support Infrastructure and Technological Know IT expertise and knowhow are a vital component of the support infrastructure. Developing and maintaining computerized information and communication systems require a large pool of competent IT professionals for systems beyond office productivity and clerical applications. But we are experiencing another brain drain in this field, as Filipino IT professionals get attracted to the highpaying IT jobs overseas. The situation is aggravated by the comparatively low salaries and limited career opportunities that government offers. Computerization in LGUs The 1997 NCC survey showed that all of the 42 provinces and 32 cities that responded have at least one microcomputer. There are neither mid-range computers nor mainframes among these local government units (LGUs). The most common applications or information systems at the local level are the payroll system and civil registration systems. Seventeen provinces and 22 cities are connected to the Internet. Computers and information systems at the local level are basically used to automate some clerical tasks and to computerize the data they collect from its clientele. Databases are not yet used to generate critical inputs for policy and planning processes at these levels. Only about 6% of the total 81,678 government personnel in the surveyed local government units use computers, and even a smaller proportion (2.3%) had training on information technology. Less than 1% or only 259 employees comprise the IT personnel at the local level.
Network Infrastructure and Telecommunications Issues
The telecommunications and network infrastructure—consisting of basic telephone lines and networking equipment like servers, routers, hubs, modems and computers—must be available, accessible, affordable, reliable, and of good quality. The presence of these fetures is crucial to the implementation of an electronic governance (and electronic commerce) strategy. For government, business and industry, as well as for the public, telecommunications are essential to the rapid growth of IT. Hence, government must provide the necessary policy environment that will ensure the following: 1. Level-playing field for all players to allow credible competition to flourish; 2. Transparent and clear rules to encourage innovation and therefore satisfy consumer demands on quality, affordability, and product variety; 3. Workable public-private sector scheme to encourage private investments to flow, thus enhancing the quality of services; and 4. Legislated institutional reforms that will allow the regulatory body to have sufficient autonomy, free from any political interference, in the exercise of its functions.
Financing Issues
The key issues related to the financing of IT projects in government are: 1. Need for a clear budget policy and framework. There is at present no clearly articulated budget policy for IT in government. Hence, individual agency budget requests submitted to DBM and Congress on a yearly basis are evaluated independently of each other with no integrating IT budget plan or framework. The need for an IT budget framework is especially necessary in view of the numerous contending priorities of the National Government for budgetary appropriation. This budget policy will help guide the agencies, the DBM, Cabinet and Congress in allocating and prioritizing budget requests for IT development in government. 2. Need to sustain allocation of resources. There is clearly a need to sustain support to government IT efforts to ensure the continued viability of these projects. Such support will give a clear signal of the government’s commitment to the continued development of IT. More importantly, it will give a certain degree of permanence to the cash flow for IT contracts, most of which are multi-year in gestation and multi-year in delivery. As a result of the government’s allocation, private business may be encouraged to go into the IT industry, and hopefully at least match the government’s level of expenditure, thereby creating some degree of multiplier effect. A government funding commitment will also allow a more rational prioritization of projects as identified in the Implementation Program of GISP. 3. Need to mobilize Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other resources. The government should actively pursue creative ways to generate the needed resources for government IT projects. This may include the synchronization of the allocation of ODA and other resources for IT projects in government. Likewise, it should develop mechanisms for tapping new sources of funding for local government computerization activities to further spread out the benefits of IT to the regions and communities.
Development Framework
PHASE 1: Setting Up the Enabling Environment Formulate and adopt, within five years after IS approval, policies to establish funding; streamline procurement; provide incentives and guidelines for private sector investment and participation; establish technology standards and benchmarks to ensure interoperability, networkability, and security; and set up systems functionality standards and guidelines that will improve public services, promote efficiency, effectiveness and transparency in government operations, and upgrade public sector management capacities. Improve and strengthen, within five years of IS implementation, existing institutional structures and capacities, including those of the NITC, NCC, DBM, COA, DILG, CSC and implementing agencies and local government units. Such capacity building effort will include, among others, a proper definition and delineation of roles, authority, and accountability, training of users and IT people in the government, conduct of advocacy and culture change programs, infusion of adequate financial, material and other resources. Generate the necessary investments from the private sector, government, and other funding institutions in accordance with the scheduled implementation of the various information systems projects. Phase 2: Building the IS information infrastructure Develop, within five years of the IS implementation, the necessary information and communications technology infrastructure. Adopt guidelines on hardware and software platforms in all participating government agencies to ensure compatibility, interoperability, and sharing of applications and to achieve savings through economies of scale. Set up shared nationwide telecommunications infrastructure for use by all government agencies. A shared facility will not only reduce total cost to the government, but also allow smaller and/or less sophisticated agencies to benefit from networking and interconnection. Accelerate implementation of the Philippine Information Infrastructure (PII) and RPWEB and promote ecommerce and Internet technologies to improve public access to government and make government transactions easier, more convenient, and more transparent. Identify and prioritize the various systems networks and anchor projects within each systems network. Identify, design, and establish crucial databases and data warehouses to improve the following: enforcement of regulations provision of vital information on markets, opportunities, sourcing of raw materials and production inputs, and assistance; managerial decision-making; and policy formulation and assessment. Establish priority strategies for IS project implementation in accordance with resource availability and learning capacities of implementing agencies and their publics. Reengineer the various mission-critical and public sector management business processes and develop clear definitions of the functional specifications and technological requirements of the systems network and its building blocks. Review and reengineer business processes to do away with redundancies, duplication, and red tape and to prepare them for automation. Review and reengineer housekeeping processes and establish common functional and workflow standards across the bureaucracy. Clearly define the functional specifications of the various building blocks comprising the information systems network. Design, install, and operate the various systems network. Program the installation of the various applications in accordance with the learning and absorptive capacities of the participating government agencies, like transaction processing applications in the first phase, executive decision support systems in the second, and expert systems in the third. Phase 3: Sustaining the IS Clearly define ownership and management responsibilities, authorities, and accountabilities for each information system. Develop benchmarks and indicators for evaluating overall and individual project performance. Establish a mechanism for continuing learning and development of the various participating institutions.
Strategies and Solutions
This two-part chapter presents the detailed University IS strategies and solutions towards the realization of Philippine Government Online. Part 1, University Information Systems, describes the methodology used in the identification of the various information systems, the criteria used in the identification process, the presentation format, and the identified information systems. Part 2, Strategies and Technology Solutions, consists of the identified information systems gaps in government and their corresponding technology solutions, and the indicative system configuration of the technology solutions. Discussed in detail in this chapter are the interrelationships of various groups of information systems, major databases, technology solutions, online services, and users that are covered under the university IS. The group on Information Systems and Major Databases consists of the Public Sector, Sectoral, and LGU Mission-Critical Information Systems. These systems comprise the individual information systems of oversight and line agencies whose data requirements and processing requisites cut across various other government agencies. Users and operators of information systems are found all over the country. The group on Technology Solutions is composed of the various infrastructure technologies that the University IS shall employ. Among these are data warehousing technologies that will be used to store and manage the government’s data on human resources, finance, trade, tourism and industry, health, and other very large government databases culled from various distributed databases housed in individual agency data sources. Also included in this group are electronic document technologies for managing data on human resources, government records and archives, and other document-related activities of the university; and spatial technologies for statistical information, agriculture and agrarian reform data, and public order and safety. The group on Public Services Information System represents the single access window government portal for both government users and the general public. It provides government users with secured Internet connection via Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to access transactional systems and data dedicated for University. The general public uses the public Internet connection to access data for public dissemination, and to engage in electronic transactions such as issuances of permits, licenses, registrations, and other regulatory requirements of the university from the public "university Online" as a strategy and development framework for electronic device is depicted in the diagram below.
Database and Information Systems Architecture To guide information systems development activities over the plan period, the systems content structure will consist of the following elements: 1. Objectives, which articulate the desired end results that the information system intends to achieve, particularly in the areas of improved information quality, efficiency, access, transparency and accountability, integrity, coordination and data sharing, among others. 2. Description of Overall Functionality, which describes general functions of the system, how the system or its components will interact with users and operators in terms of accessing information and inputting information; also describes the general functional relationships between institutional operating units and among business processes. 3. Geographical Dispersal, which indicates the geographical location and scope of the users and operators of the system. 4. Participating Agencies, which itemize all agencies with business processes and databases connected to the system or forming part of the system. 5. Business Processes, Database and Owners, which present a tabulation of the groups of homogeneous and individual business processes together with their possible application systems, and major databases, each serving as a building block of the information system. 6. Systems Architecture, which depicts in graphical format the system’s business processes and data flows. 7. Information Architecture, which depicts in graphical format the relationship of the various databases within the system. 8. Technology Architecture, which depicts in graphical format the physical technology configuration of the system.
Strategies and Technology Solutions A two-step approach was employed to identify the technologies that became the basis of the GISP Technology Strategies. First, the identified IS gaps were analyzed to determine which of the technologies studied in Annex C offer solutions that address most of the gaps. Next, a second group of technologies was identified which provides the most opportunities to improve the current state of transaction and information processing in government. Information Systems Gaps and Corresponding Solutions The analysis of identified IS gaps versus technologies is summarized in the following table. The table identifies four technologies that offer the most solutions to the identified gaps. Depicted in columns with the most number of dots, these are Internet technologies, which address 15 gaps, Data Warehousing and Distributed Databases, each addressing 10 gaps, and Virtual Private Networks, with the ability to offer solutions for seven gaps. Brief discussions of how these four technologies help solve the identified gaps follow, but more comprehensive definitions, possible applications, considerations and prognoses of these and other scanned technologies may be found in Annex C. Internet-based Technologies, as expected, offer the most solutions for addressing the identified IS gaps. First of all, the adoption of Internet protocols like TCP/IP ensures interoperability and compatibility of ICT equipment, regardless of manufacturer and size. Government websites will allow the general public access to government data, including information on job openings. The use of Intranets in government, as a further example, will address the proliferation of stand-alone applications and PCs by providing access to central resources. Existing PCs can be used as client stations running nothing more than browsers, thereby postponing their upgrading or replacement. The pervasiveness of the Internet can also be used to advantage by government in linking regional offices, provincial of tage by government in linking regional offices, provincial offices, and LGUs to NCRbased systems, thereby providing these remote offices with similar functionality as the central offices, and possibly reducing the time it would take to collect and disseminate information. The Internet can provide a continuing and inexpensive means for government agencies to disseminate and share information among themselves and with the public. Moreover, VOIP and videoconferencing technologies make it possible to use the links for more than just data, allowing possible reductions in travel expenses and time spent away from work. Finally, used in conjunction with online learning technology, the Internet offers an opportunity to address the massive training needs of government, including the need to educate key decision-makers through its ability to deliver on-demand asynchronous training modules nationwide. Data Warehousing, including Executive Information Systems and Decision Support Systems, offer the capability of harnessing transactional data from multiple sources to allow analysis and informationbased decision-making. As such, it can make use of existing ICT infrastructure since existing standalone applications can be used to feed data into the warehouse while current stand-alone PCs may be used to access and analyze data from the warehouse. When installed, the data warehouse servers will provide the capability to store and process voluminous integrated and historical data, something currently missing in the government’s ICT resources. Through the Internet, these data warehouses may be made available not just to government central offices, but to field offices, LGUs and even the general public. Finally, the very nature, cost and implementation requirements of data warehouses will force the issue of information sharing within government and hopefully reduce duplication of ICT efforts. Distributed Databases. The devolution of functions and the nationwide operation of government make distributed database technology ideal for integrated government applications. Harnessed properly, it provides the solution for the proliferation of stand-alone applications in government, and allows existing systems, particularly hardware, to be retained with some modifications. The ability of distributed databases to allow data to be physically kept locally while providing logical integration is ideal for central office-field offices set up in most agencies, allowing data to be accessed wherever it is located. The support for local data entry, processing, and storage of information will also alleviate delays in transmitting data from the field. Distributed databases will facilitate sharing of information across departments and agencies, thereby reducing the need for duplication of data and applications. VPN (Virtual Private Network) Technology is the practical answer to the need for connectivity in government. Instead of using expensive, and sometimes unavailable, dedicated leased lines to implement wide-area networks, VPN allows the use of comparatively inexpensive shared infrastructure such as the Internet and phone system. In addition to reducing costs, VPN also makes it possible to implement connections immediately in areas where Internet service is available. VPN will support field office to central office connections, links between agencies, and even public access. It will provide the infrastructure for addressing the issues of data sharing, stand-alone applications, and proliferation of stand-alone PCs. For example, even notebook PCs used in the field can access the agency’s Intranet and databases through a dial-up connection to a local Internet Service Provider. Finally, because only a single connection to the Internet is required for each site, VPN will provide a single standard for wide area network communications and help reduce the duplications of network infrastructures in government. Aside from these four technologies, five other technologies deserve further consideration, as they offer unique opportunities to improve government operations: Electronic Commerce, Electronic Document Management, Geographical Information Systems, Online Learning, and Wireless/Mobile Computing. Electronic Commerce. E-commerce, particularly over the Internet, is the wave of the future. Practically all big corporations worldwide are looking at e-commerce technology to improve themselves and remain competitive in the future. Government should seriously look into re-engineering its existing processes and procedures to take advantage of the speed, efficiency, and transparency of e-commerce and its applications. Possible applications in government include a centralized electronic procurement system, electronic declarations and payments of taxes and duties, electronic bidding, and electronic registration of businesses. Electronic Document Management. Government records, now in poor state, can be stored and accessed in electronic form so they can be kept longer, maintained at less cost, and made accessible to a greater number of people. Since most documents today are produced using computers, it will berelatively straightforward to implement a prospective (i.e. applicable to all documents from a certain date forward) electronic official document repository. It is also technically feasible to convert existing documents in paper form, but it will take time and money.
Online Learning Techniques. Such techniques will not only help address university massive training and retraining requirements, but more importantly, can be used to improve the deteriorating quality of education and training in the country. At the very least, placement of course materials on CDs and the Web that can be accessed by teachers and students nationwide will help in standardizing instruction. On the other extreme, Web-based asynchronous distance education/training modules will facilitate massive nationwide training efforts for teachers, government workers, and even professionals in need of continuing education. Wireless/Mobile Computing. This offers the unique opportunity to bring the benefits of a computerized university to the remote areas of the country where people in greater need of university assistance reside. Extension and field workers in health, agriculture, social welfare, and livelihood will be more effective if they had the capability to access computing resources and applicable databases while doing their work. This technology will become more important in the future, after the needed university databases and networking have been set up, and when, hopefully, the cost of mobile equipment has gone down.
Implementation and Financing Strategy
Implementation Strategy Activities will be organized according to the following major phases: Phase 1 – Setting Up the Environment, which involves putting in place the appropriate institutional and policy mechanisms, as well as the generation of private sector investments and approval of the medium-term budgetary commitments for the IS. Phase 2 - Building the IS Infrastructure, which will entail the required government networking infrastructure, including the reengineering of the various business processes within the identified building blocks for "Philippine Government Online," the building up of the priority data bases, and the design, installation and operation of the various systems networks. Phase 3 - Sustaining the IS, which involves the stabilization of the systems that have been implemented, clearly defining the ownership and the continuing operational relationships of the various participants, and the installation of a system of indicators and benchmarks with which to evaluate and monitor the continuing performance of the entire IS effort
Connection of all campuses to the Internet and the Web Pervasive use of e-mail in sending reports from field offices. Web homepages set up by all executive departments to allow electronic publishing Pilot data warehouse set up in the area of trade, business registration More active use of e-commerce in government securities auction and trading at the BTr Full-scale implementation of e-commerce at the BOC, particularly electronic submission of required forms and documents like import declarations Development and testing of Government Procurement System based on e-commerce technology Conversion of official documents into electronic forms initiated in all government agencies for the implementation of electronic document management Indicative Hardware System Specification 1. LARGE DATABASE SERVER Four 64-bit processors (minimum) with on-chip cache Symmetrical Multiprocessing field-expandable to at least 8 processors 2 Gigabyte RAM (minimum) 350 GB disk storage with RAID 5 capability High capacity (4 GB Min.) Tape drive 100 Mbps Ethernet port Unlimited user Operating System 2. MEDIUM DATABASE SERVER Two 64-bit processors (minimum) with on-chip cache Symmetrical Multiprocessing field-expandable to at least 4 processors 1 Gigabyte RAM (minimum) 120 GB disk storage with RAID 5 capability High capacity (4 GB min.) Tape drive 100 Mbps Ethernet port Unlimited user Operating System 3. SMALL DATABASE SERVER 64-bit processor (minimum) with on-chip cache Symmetrical Multiprocessing capability to at least 2 processors 512 Megabyte RAM (minimum) 40 GB disk storage with RAID 5 capability High capacity (4 GB min.) Tape drive 100 Mbps Ethernet port Unlimited user Operating System 4. DEPARTMENTAL SERVER / FIREWALL 450 MHz. Pentium III processor (or better) with on-chip cache Upgradeable to dual processor configuration 128 Megabyte RAM (minimum) 12 GB SCSI disk storage 1.44 MB Floppy disk drive High capacity Tape drive 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port (dual for firewall use) Unlimited user Windows NT Server Operating System 5. PERSONAL COMPUTERS 400 MHz. Pentium-class processor (or better) 64 Megabyte RAM (minimum) 6.3 GB IDE hard disk drive 1.44 MB floppy disk drive 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port 56Kbps internal modem (for remote use) 8 MB AGP video card 14 “ SVGA monitor with 1024 x 768 resolution 2-button mouse Latest version of MS-Windows and MS-Office 6. MISCELLANEOUS COMPUTING EQUIPMENT VPN Access Router 2 serial ports (sync/async) 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port Hardware-based encryption 32 Megabyte DRAM 4 Megabyte flash memory 1.2 Terabyte External RAID System Printers (mix of laser, inkjet and dot matrix) Videoconferencing equipment (PC-based) Videoconferencing equipment (room-based) CD Jukebox (100 CDs) CD Jukebox (400 CDs)
BIOMETRICS Description Biometrics is an automated method of recognizing a person based on physiological or behavioral characteristics such as fingerprints, speech (voice), face, retina, iris, handwritten signature, hand geometry, and wrist veins. Biometrics address the need for authentication, the process of identifying an individual, replacing or augmenting verification based on a username and password. Biometrics can be used in identification mode wherein it identifies a person from the entire enrolled population by searching a database for a match. It can also be used in verification mode wherein it authenticates a person's claimed identity from his/her previously enrolled pattern. Biometrics offers some unique advantages because identification is based on a person's intrinsic part. Tokens, such as smart cards, magnetic stripe cards, physical keys may be lost, stolen, duplicated, or left at home. Passwords may be forgotten, shared, or observed. Applications In the Philippines, biometrics would most likely find first application in providing verification and authentication for financial transactions (bank loans and social security claims) and limiting access to highsecurity areas like military establishments and sensitive government buildings. The United States – the US government in particular – currently uses or has proposed to use biometrics in the following ways at the Federal, State, local, and foreign office levels. Electronic and Physical Access Control. One use is to provide robust authentication for access to computer systems that hold sensitive information used by the military services, intelligence agencies, and other security-critical Federal organizations. Physical access control to restricted areas is another key application. There are many law enforcement applications, mostly for fingerprint recognition, at the Federal, State, and local levels. Other law enforcement applications include home incarceration and physical access control in jails and prisons. Fraud Prevention and Detection. One of the most extensive applications of biometrics in the U.S. is for entitlements. Fraud in entitlement programs is estimated by the General Accounting Office at over $10 billion per year. Pilot programs in several States have demonstrated dramatic savings by requiring biometric authentication for applicants for entitlement benefits. Commercial. There are also significant commercial applications of biometrics, principally in financial transactions like use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), credit or debit cards, banking by phone and through the Internet, and buying and selling securities by phone or through the Internet. Biometrics is also being considered to reduce or prevent fraud in the use of cellular telephones, which is estimated to have reached over $1 billion a year, and phone credit cards. There are also commercial applications for computer access control, access to web site servers, access through firewalls, and physical access control to protect sensitive information. Current Applications
http://www.ncc.gov.ph/files/gisp.pdf http://zulsidi.tripod.com/pdf/sisp2.pdf | |
| | | Ma.AnnKristineTomada
Posts : 46 Points : 53 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 35 Location : Davao City
| Subject: ass-4 Thu Dec 24, 2009 5:25 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (at least 5000 words)
Rationale for an Information Systems PlanToday, enterprise database is deployed on distributed, heterogeneous hardware and systems software environments. The hardware platforms are both multiple-vendor and multi-tiered, with different architectures. In short, most businesses have embraced some form of downsizing, decentralization, and distributed processing. Critical to the enterprise database environment is the capture of the business model and the implementation of the enterprise's memory: its data architectures. Once the data architectures are implemented in a sophisticated, generalized manner, software tools can be quickly and effectively deployed to create the necessary business systems to collect, update, and report critical business data. The business systems can be implemented through a network of databases across different computing platforms. To make database a success, each must be carefully defined, deployed along with high-quality processing systems, and effectively utilized through high-level natural languages. To have database success is to be organized. And with an organized enterprise, the past can be researched, the present can be mastered, and plans for the future can be set into place. Information Systems PlanningBecause an organization's business strategic plan contains both organizational goals and a broad outline of steps required to reach them, the business strategic plan affects the type of system an organization needs. Deciding which new system to build should be an essential component of the organizational planning process. Organizations need to develop an information systems plan that supports their overall business plan and in which strategic systems are incorporated into top-level planning. The information systems planning refers to the process of the translation of strategic and organizational goals into systems development plan and initiatives (Figure 3-1). For example, part of the information systems plan for a luxury car company might be to build a new product tracking system to meet the organizational goal of improving customer service. Proper information systems planning ensures that specific systems development objectives support organizational goals. One of the primary benefits of information systems planning is that it provides a long-range view of information technology use in the organization. The information systems plan provides guidance on how the information systems infrastructure of the organization should be developed over time. The plan serves as a road map indicating the direction and rationale of systems development. Another benefit of information systems planning is that it ensures better use of information systems resources, including funds, information systems personnel, and time for scheduling specific projects. The Information Systems Plan Project
The information systems plan project described in this book (Chapters 4 through 13) determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise. The following steps are involved in the development of the ISP:
1. Create the mission model 2. Develop a high-level data model 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node 7. Load resources into each WBS node 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package. 9. Produce and review of the ISP 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time. Characteristics of a Quality ISPA quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These five are presented in the table that follows. Characteristic TimelyThe ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Useable The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. Maintainable The ISP should be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. QualityWhile the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. ReproducibleThe ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. | |
| | | Chris Romarate
Posts : 54 Points : 55 Join date : 2009-06-20 Age : 33 Location : Tagum City
| Subject: Assignment 4 Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:54 pm | |
| If I were invited by the president to present an IS plan, it is such a big work to do but the word “plan” is more important on what I am going to propose. According to our brother dictionary, the word plan defined as a scheme or method of acting, doing, proceeding, making, etc., developed in advance. Another definition is, it is a design or scheme of arrangement. Planning is important especially if you have a big project. Without plan or planning, there is failure in your work.
Both private and public sectors made an information system plan book so that it will guide them on how to implement the new information system they wanted to be implemented. In fact, way back on the Estrada Administration in Philippine government history, the former Philippine President Joseph Ejercito-Estrada has the ICT plan. They wanted the Philippines to be one of the advance countries who used such advance technology. The National Information Technology Council which was under by the Department of Technology under the leadership of Dr. Filemon A. Uriate Jr. and was the secretary of DOST by that time, and with his co-chairman Dr. Felipe M. Medalla which was the secretary of National Economic and Development Authority with the special participation of the Ayala Corporation under the command of Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala III, wanted a Philippine Government On-line by that time. The vision by that big project was that to reform the government through the application of information and communications technology of ICT. And the Government Information Systems Plan or GSIP is the framework and master plan to make this happen.
It is a master plan that sets the enabling policy and institutional infrastructure and environment, as well as the direction, priorities, and benchmarks for computerization of key government operations and activities over the next five to ten years. It is a plan to fully harness the potentials of ICT for good governance and promote transparency and accountability in government operations and transactions. The GISP was formulated in consultation with various stakeholders -- government agencies, the private sector, civil society, media, the academe, and other critical players in governance and the information and communications technology community.
Before we discuss about what was that, here are some guidelines on how to make and effective information system plan. Before that, here are some characteristics of a quality information system.
1. Timely - The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. 2. Useable - The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. 3. Maintanable - The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. 4. Quality - While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. 5. Reproducible - The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.
Whenever a proposal for the development of an ISP is created it must be assessed against these five characteristics. If any fail or not addressed in an optimum way, the entire set of funds for the development of an ISP is risked.
Now, let’s talked about the steps of having an effective information system plan. These guidelines will guide us about the information system on what we want to be implemented. The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner.
The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise. Here are some steps in making an information system plan. To wit:
Step 1: Create the mission model - The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped. Step 2: Develop a high-level data model - The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. Step 3: Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes - Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycsles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource Alives@ through its resource life cycle. Step 4: Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes - Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives@ through its resource life cycle network. Step 5 : Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes - The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work@onto which the Aas is@ business information systems and databases can be Aattached.@ See for example, the meta model. The Ato-be@ databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects@ between the Aas-is@ and the Ato-be@ are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan. Step 6: Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node - Detailed planning of the Adifference projects@ entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. Step 7: Load resources into each WBS node - Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The meta entities are those inferred. Step 8: Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities. - The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the APERT@ chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network. Step 9: Produce and review of the ISP - The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the meta data environment (see Figure 1), the integrated project management meta data (see Figure 2), and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. Step 10: Execute and adjust the ISP through time. - As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is Aautomated@ the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less. Source: The Data Administrator Newsletter (http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262)
According to the Government Information System Plan that released by the Department of Science and Technology under the former Estrada Administration, Computerization in the Philippine government pre-dates similar efforts by our Asian neighbors, having started as early as 1969 with the so called "evangelization" on the fundamental uses of computers by then Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor. On 12 June 1971, the National Computer Center (NCC) was established through Executive order 322. The NCC assumed a pioneering role in the establishment of computerization capacities in the government. Its interventions were direct and total and included systems conceptualization, design and development, implementation, and manpower training. Its role has since expanded to being the government’s regulatory arm in the areas of ICT training certification and procurement and service provider to ICT resource management for the public sector.
While the Philippine government was an early starter, its development speed was so slow it was overtaken by the faster government ICT development programs of other Asian nations. Nevertheless, there has been tremendous effort to catch up. In 1994, government adopted the National Information Technology Plan 2000 or NITP2000 and created the National Information Technology Council as the central policy body on ICT matters in the country. The council was also tasked with coordinating the NITP2000’s implementation. For the first time, government developed a comprehensive plan and mapped out strategies for the development of the ICT industry as well as the development of ICT in the public sector. In February 1998, government launched IT21, which outlines the country’s action agenda for ICT for the 21st century. One of the plan’s goals is for government to harness the use of ICT in improving its overall capacity and efficiency and thus enable local and national governments to be strategic partners in development. The plan promotes best practice ICT in governance and encourages the outsourcing of government ICT projects to stimulate industry growth.
The government formulated the Philippine Information Infrastructure (PII), which will provide the telecommunications systems and facility services, value-added network and communications services, and information or content management and applications services. The setting up of the RPWEB through Administrative Order No. 332 provided the needed impetus for the realization of the PII. The RPWEB will serve as the country’s Intranet to achieve interconnectivity and greater efficiencies in electronic information and data interchange among government, academe, and the industry and business sectors. A most significant development is the recent signing of the E-Commerce Law. The Law, which defines the Philippine government’s policies on electronic transactions and provides the legal framework for the country’s participation in e-commerce, opens vast opportunities for global trade and economic growth. Three ICT parks offering competitive financial and tax incentives for ICT business are now being developed in three strategic sites: the Eastwood Cyber Park in Quezon City; the Northgate Cyber Zone in Alabang; and the Fort Bonifacio-Silicon Alley IT Park in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. The first Software Development Park has been set up at the Subic Economic Zone, and the Ayala Group is planning to develop an ICT park in Cebu. These ideas were all initiatives by the plan which was the so-called Government Information System Plan.
But the question is, can I make a proposal like that project who wanted by the Department of Science and Technology? Maybe, yes but much more time to make that. Let’s go back. As I search over the internet, it came up to my mind that, how can I make that implementation plan such in that big project? Anyway, the answer came in. According to the Wikipedia, Directing Technology “Technology implementation starts at the inception of the planning development strategy. There are two distinct types of technology implementation: implementing developed technology and implementing developing technology projects. They are very similar in that the projects need a plan that has a schedule with clear GO/NO-GO decision points and a project team that has well laid out responsibilities. The technology department will be implementing developed technology(2006)".
Implementation of your technology plan will be the most complicated and time consuming part of the process. It is important to allow yourself at least one year before the actual implementation starting day to make all the necessary arrangements. Your plans will depend on many things including the size of your district, status of your existing technology program, skill set of your teachers and administrators and size of your technology staff. Your plan may need to be implemented all at once or over the course of several years, phasing in different stages. Your technology plan has been accepted by the district. Its time to plan the implementation. At least six months to a year prior to beginning the implementation, several elements of the plan will be carried out simultaneously by several different groups.
The progress of the project should be documented in writing and communicated to all persons involved. A good checklist should be developed to organize the associated details.
Here are some sample checklists: Describe goals & objectives (as outlined in the Technology Plan) Identify participant’s roles and responsibilities Identify impacts Design methods to deal with impacts Identify resources needed and available Identify the completion date desired Identify the constraints Break the implementation into steps Identify milestones / decision points Design project paths Design tracking methods Schedule team meetings Design communication methods Design technical support Design professional development
The technical staff implementing developed technology must not only manage the deployment of the hardware and software, but they must also cope with the daily activities of the school district while they prepare for the transition to the new technology. Project management skills are necessary to provide as smooth a job as possible for all involved. Further information on project management.
At the same time, the administrative team will have researched and decided exactly which laptops will be purchased and from which vendor. They will have determined necessary units and submitted purchase orders. They will include in their orders sufficient quantities of peripheral items like graphic tablets, mouses, headphones with mics, tables, chairs and extension cords.
On evaluating the implementation of your technology plan. There are some guide questions you should know. But before that, Technology implementation is a continuous process that adapts to the organization's changing circumstances and includes ongoing evaluation. Effective evaluation will force planners to rethink and adapt objectives, priorities, and strategies as implementation proceeds. Continuous evaluation also facilitates making changes if aspects of the plan are not working.
Evaluating the implementation of a technology plan can be conducted by arious means. Simple observations, both negative and positive, that have been made by students and teachers using the technology are the most helpful. Interviews and informal meetings with both instructors and students can draw out the lessons that both groups have learned from using the technology. A simple written survey can assist in measuring the extent to which the plan has met its original objectives and expected outcomes. The following questions should be addressed when planning the evaluation of the implementation of your technology plan:
• How and when will you evaluate the impact your technology plan implementation has on student performance? • Who will be responsible for collecting ongoing data to assess the effectiveness of the plan and its implementation? • What windows of opportunity exist for reviewing the technology plan? (For example, the plan might be reviewed during curriculum review cycles.) • How will accountability for implementation be assessed? • How will you assess the level of technological proficiency gained by students, teachers, and staff? • How will you use technology to evaluate teaching and learning? • What is the key indicator of success for each component of the plan? • How will you analyze the effectiveness of disbursement decisions in light of implementation priorities? • How will you analyze implementation decisions to accommodate for changes as a result of new information and technologies? • What organizational mechanism will you create that allows changes in the implementation of the technology plan and in the plan itself?
In making an information system plan, there are some risks also to be encountered. These risks may help us to make our plans successful and sometimes it can lead us to failure in our systems that we want to be implemented. Wait, what is risk? Risk is the probability that a hazard will turn into a disaster. Vulnerability and hazards are not dangerous, taken separately. But if they come together, they become a risk or, in other words, the probability that a disaster will happen. Nevertheless, risks can be reduced or managed. If we are careful about how we treat the environment, and if we are aware of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities to existing hazards, then we can take measures to make sure that hazards do not turn into disasters. Risk management doesn't just help us prevent disasters. It also helps us to put into practice what is known as sustainable development. Development is sustainable when people can make a good living and be healthy and happy without damaging the environment or other people in the long term. For instance, you can make a living for a while by chopping down trees and selling the wood, but if you don't plant more trees than you cut down, soon there will be no trees and will no longer have the means to make a living. So, it isn't sustainable. Well, that definition of risk is too profound to our subject. I found this simple definition of risk that can be fit in our topic. According to Dictionary.com, risk is an exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance. So meaning, while we are still in planning stage especially in information system planning there are some risks that we encountered.
Due to this risks that we may encounter, there is a risk management that will guide us all the way in information system planning. Gary Stoneburner, Alice Goguen1, and Alexis Feringa stressed out that Risk management encompasses three processes: risk assessment, risk mitigation, and evaluation and assessment. Section 3 of this guide describes the risk assessment process, which includes identification and evaluation of risks and risk impacts, and recommendation of risk-reducing measures. Section 4 describes risk mitigation, which refers to prioritizing, implementing, and maintaining the appropriate risk-reducing measures recommended from the risk assessment process. Section 5 discusses the continual evaluation process and keys for implementing a successful risk management program. The DAA or system authorizing official is responsible for determining whether the remaining risk is at an acceptable level or whether additional security controls should be implemented to further reduce or eliminate the residual risk before authorizing (or accrediting) the IT system for operation.
Risk management is the process that allows IT managers to balance the operational and economic costs of protective measures and achieve gains in mission capability by protecting the IT systems and data that support their organizations’ missions. This process is not unique to the IT environment; indeed it pervades decision-making in all areas of our daily lives. Take the case of home security, for example. Many people decide to have home security systems installed and pay a monthly fee to a service provider to have these systems monitored for the better protection of their property. Presumably, the homeowners have weighed the cost of system installation and monitoring against the value of their household goods and their family’s safety, a fundamental “mission” need.
The head of an organizational unit must ensure that the organization has the capabilities needed to accomplish its mission. These mission owners must determine the security capabilities that their IT systems must have to provide the desired level of mission support in the face of realworld threats. Most organizations have tight budgets for IT security; therefore, IT security spending must be reviewed as thoroughly as other management decisions. A well-structured risk management methodology, when used effectively, can help management identify appropriate controls for providing the mission-essential security capabilities.
In risk management, there are some phases to know. To wit:
Phase 1: Initiation Characteristics: The need for an IT system is expressed and the purpose and scope of the IT system is documented . Support from Risk Management Activities: Identified risks are used to support the development of the system requirements, including security requirements, and a security concept of operations (strategy). Phase 2: Development of Acquisition Characteristics: The IT system is designed, purchased, programmed, developed, or otherwise constructed. Support from Risk Management Activities: The risks identified during this phase can be used to support the security analyses of the IT system that may lead to architecture and design tradeoffs during system development. Phase 3: Implementation Characteristics: The system security features should be configured, enabled, tested, and verified. Support from Risk Management Activities: The risk management process supports the assessment of the system implementation against its requirements and within its modeled operational environment. Decisions regarding risks identified must be made prior to system operation. Phase 4: Operation or Maintenance Characteristics: The system performs its functions. Typically the system is being modified on an ongoing basis through the addition of hardware and software and by changes to organizational processes, policies, and procedures. Phase 5: Disposal Characteristics: This phase may involve the disposition of information, hardware, and software. Activities may include moving, archiving, discarding, or destroying information and sanitizing the hardware and software. Support from Risk Management Activities: Risk management activities are performed for system components that will be disposed of or replaced to ensure that the hardware and software are properly disposed of, that residual data is appropriately handled,and that system migration is conducted in a secure and systematic manner.
Risk management is a management responsibility. This section describes the key roles of the personnel who should support and participate in the risk management process. Here are some key roles of risk management. To wit:
Senior Management. Senior management, under the standard of due care and ultimate responsibility for mission accomplishment, must ensure that the necessary resources are effectively applied to develop the capabilities needed to accomplish the mission. They must also assess and incorporate results of the risk assessment activity into the decision making process. An effective risk management program that assesses and mitigates IT-related mission risks requires the support and involvement of senior management.
Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CIO is responsible for the agency’s IT planning, budgeting, and performance including its information security components. Decisions made in these areas should be based on an effective risk management program.
System and Information Owners. The system and information owners are responsible for ensuring that proper controls are in place to address integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the IT systems and data they own. Typically the system and information owners are responsible for changes to their IT systems. Thus, they usually have to approve and sign off on changes to their IT systems (e.g., system enhancement, major changes to the software and hardware). The system and information owners must therefore understand their role in the risk management process and fully support this process.
Business and Functional Managers. The managers responsible for business operations and IT procurement process must take an active role in the risk management process. These managers are the individuals with the authority and responsibility for making the trade-off decisions essential to mission accomplishment. Their involvement in the risk management process enables the achievement of proper security for the IT systems, which, if managed properly, will provide mission effectiveness with a minimal expenditure of resources.
ISSO. IT security program managers and computer security officers are responsible for their organizations’ security programs, including risk management. Therefore, they play a leading role in introducing an appropriate, structured methodology to help identify, evaluate, and minimize risks to the IT systems that support their organizations’ missions. ISSOs also act as major consultants in support of senior management to ensure that this activity takes place on an ongoing basis.
IT Security Practitioners. IT security practitioners (e.g., network, system, application, and database administrators; computer specialists; security analysts; security consultants) are responsible for proper implementation of security requirements in their IT systems. As changes occur in the existing IT system environment (e.g., expansion in network connectivity, changes to the existing infrastructure and organizational policies, introduction of new technologies), the IT security practitioners must support or use the risk management process to identify and assess new potential risks and implement new security controls as needed to safeguard their IT systems.
Security Awareness Trainers (Security/Subject Matter Professionals). Theorganization’s personnel are the users of the IT systems. Use of the IT systems and data according to an organization’s policies, guidelines, and rules of behavior is critical to mitigating risk and protecting the organization’s IT resources. To minimize risk to the IT systems, it is essential that system and application users be provided with security awareness training. Therefore, the IT security trainers or security/subject matter professionals must understand the risk management process so that they can develop appropriate training materials and incorporate risk assessment into training programs to educate the end users.
The University of Southeastern Philippines is one of the state universities in the Philippines which are lack in financial support. State universities in the country cannot work their projects without the funds from the government. These funds or money will cater all the needs not only by the students but also by the faculty and staff of the institution. First, we should know about the financing issues that will happen in the institution whether the fund in enough for making the project. These are the key issues related in financing the ICT projects of the institution. To wit:
1. Need for a clear budget policy and framework. 2. Need to sustain allocation of resources. 3. Need to mobilize Official Development Assistance (ODA) and other resources.
In our university referring to the University of Southeastern Philippines, we are not advance in any technology just like in the big 3 universities. Therefore, at least our ICT infrastructure will enhance and establish appropriately in our hands. The telecommunication networks, hardware, software and information systems within the departments and colleges of the University of Southeastern Philippines will be enhanced and should work properly. Here are some principles for that. To wit:
1. Easy Access - Geographically proximate access to information and services by the public and theprovision of online query/guide 2. Reengineered process - Shorter processing time, "less paper" requirements, nonrepetitive processes and input requirements, simpler compliance and evaluation procedures. 3. Networked systems - Local, regional, interagency and public-private networking of related systems and processes. 4. Privacy Protection and Security - Protection of the right to privacy and institution of measures to ensure security of access to and processing of information at all levels.
Since we are now in fast-paced environment, there are some changing technologies every minute discovered. How can we able to know these latest or updates of the trends of technologies nowadays if we don’t have the easy access of the internet? The students who always bring their laptops are useless if they can’t connect to the so-called wifi connection or the wireless fidelity connection of the internet in the campus.
The best implementation for students especially in the Institute of Computing is the laptop for students. I’m not saying that all of the students of the Institute of Computing in the University of Southeastern Philippines should have laptops. What I’m trying to tell is, the government as well as university can provide a laptop care program.
In the staff development, teachers and administrators will be the first ones to have a chance to get familiarized with the equipment that will be introduced in their classrooms. It will be necessary to prepare comprehensive tutorials or manuals to allow a quick switch into using the new technology. The professional development group will have finalized their plans for training sessions and will have begun designing the instruction. This instruction will include specific information about the change of school structure as a well as content and grade specific methods for conducting student-centered classes. Teacher responsibilities and technology integration strategies for student-centered project-based units of study will be included. The administrative team and the professional development team will be carrying out intensive, paid, summer training sessions to prepare teachers for the changes to come in the fall. Teachers will then be given time to restructure their lessons and will have support available when they have problems. Numerous schools have found ways to adjust schedules and provide one hour of planning and inservice for teachers while maintaining state requirements for students contact time. In some schools teachers have agreed to start earlier and end later each day as well as give up some recess or duty time in order to develop a one-hour block of time per week for inservice and planning. A key is to make sure that at least one early-out per month is devoted to a technology inservice activity. It is crucial that consideration be given to teacher learning well in advance of the arrival of computers in the classroom. The list that follows is a brief synopsis of beneficial staff development suggestions:
Formulate detailed plans for staff development and implementation. Decide who will lead staff development programs and evaluate each stage of implementation. Develop a working schedule for the staff development program. Determine appropriate staff development activities for special services and support staff. Identify who will lead and evaluate staff development for auxiliary staff members. Identify in-house technical consultants who will help teachers deal quickly with problems that might arise.
For the technical support, maintaining and servicing networked equipment continues to be a challenge for schools' effective use of technology. More states are now requiring that districts and schools have a technology specialist or coordinator who supports teachers in integrating instruction and technology before that district can receive state funding. Schools could also have in-house technical support to deal with all the technical problems that could arise. You should foresee a great number of incident reports that deal with student damaging display screen or damaging equipment because of negligence in carrying them.
The summer before the implementation, the same groups will be working to get things ready for the students in the fall. The goals are to have the technology in place to facilitate as smooth a transition as possible. The technology team will receive the laptops, inventory them and load them with the chosen operating systems and software. They will also check connectivity at each school and important points around the district to ensure that the laptops can work from the first day of school. Finally, they will create a yearly maintenance plan for cleaning and preventative care. If staff or students need to use equipment like projectors, digital cameras or even cables, they can request the media center to facilitate the equipment and provide operational guidance.
Also, our database in the university will be updated also. It is useless that there is an established institute which cater for the ICT of the campus which has no updated database server. Database servers should be updated so that all the information stored in that database will be maintained.
Finally, we cannot make easily that projects without the fund and support from the government. If this will happen, we should be grateful, if not, its okay. We ally know that Philippines is not a wealthy country. So therefore, we should not think what our country can do for us but instead, think what we can do for our country.
References: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-30/sp800-30.pdf http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Technology_Planning/Implementation_Plan http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/risk http://www.ncc.gov.ph/files/gisp.pdf | |
| | | Gleizelle Jen Dieparine
Posts : 54 Points : 54 Join date : 2009-06-22 Age : 33 Location : Davao City
| Subject: Assignment Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:07 am | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. In creating IS plan for the university there are many things to tackled and talked about .Some of these are we should analyze positive and negative effect of the plan , understand the role of ISP , know the risk management of the plan ,how to implement those plan .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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. King (King, 1995) in his recent article has argued that a strategic capability architecture - a flexible and continuously improving infrastructure of organizational capabilities – is the primary basis for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. He has emphasized the need for continuously updating and improving the strategic capabilities architecture. 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). The same article emphasizes the need to note that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data processing views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems. SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information technology (IT) to a firm’s strategic activities has been one of the most common and effective ways to improve business performanceThis paper reviews the existing methodologies for SISP in an attempt to answer the critical question: how to move ahead and further improve the effectiveness of strategic planning for information-based enterprises? In particular, we examine their capacity for driving the development of corporate information systems ensuing the planning, and their potential to support economic evaluations of information systems investments The Perspective of Strategic Information Systems PlanningIn order to put the planning for strategic information systems in perspective, the evolution of information systems according to the three-era model of John Ward, et al.(1990) is pertinent.According to this model there are three distinct, albeit overlapping, eras of information systems, dating back to the 60’s. The relationship over time of the three eras of information systems isshown in table 1:business strategy, enable the business -business driven.[ Strategic Information Systems Planning MethodologiesThe 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 strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes 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. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it. Vitale, et al. (1986) classify SISP methodologies into two categories: impact and alignment. Impact methodologies help create and justify new uses of IT, while the methodologies in the “alignment” Characteristics of a Quality ISP A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These five are presented in the table that follows. Characteristic | Description | Timely | The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. | Useable | The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. | Maintainable | The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. | Quality | While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. | Reproducible | The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. |
Whenever a proposal for the development of an ISP is created it must be assessed against these five characteristics. If any fail or not addressed in an optimum way, the entire set of funds for the development of an ISP is risked. [/size] Risk management
[size=12]Risk management can therefore be considered the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events[1] or to maximize the realization of opportunities. Risks can come from uncertainty in financial markets, project failures, legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents, natural causes and disasters as well as deliberate attacks from an adversary. Several risk management standards have been developed including the Project Management Institute, the National Institute of Science and Technology, actuarial societies, and ISO standards.[2][3] Methods, definitions and goals vary widely according to whether the risk management method is in the context of project management, security, engineering, industrial processes, financial portfolios, actuarial assessments, or public health and safety.The strategies to manage risk include transferring the risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of the risk, and accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk.Certain aspects of many of the risk management standards have come under criticism for having no measurable improvement on risk even though the confidence in estimates and decisions increase. Create a risk-management planSelect appropriate controls or countermeasures to measure each risk. Risk mitigation needs to be approved by the appropriate level of management. For example, a risk concerning the image of the organization should have top management decision behind it whereas IT management would have the authority to decide on computer virus risksThe risk management plan should propose applicable and effective security controls for managing the risks. For example, an observed high risk of computer viruses could be mitigated by acquiring and implementing antivirus software. A good risk management plan should contain a schedule for control implementation and responsible persons for those actionsAccording to ISO/IEC 27001, the stage immediately after completion of the Risk Assessment phase consists of preparing a Risk Treatment Plan, which should document the decisions about how each of the identified risks should be handled. Mitigation of risks often means selection of security controls, which should be documented in a Statement of Applicability, which identifies which particular control objectives and controls from the standard have been selected, and why. MethodFor the most part, these methods consist of the following elements, performed, more or less, in the following order.
- identify, characterize, and assess threats
- assess the vulnerability of critical assets to specific threats
- determine the risk (i.e. the expected consequences of specific types of attacks on specific assets)
- identify ways to reduce those risks
- prioritize risk reduction measures based on a strategy
Principles of risk managementThe International Organization for Standardization identifies the following principles of risk management:[4]Risk management should...
- create value.
- be an integral part of organizational processes.
- be part of decision making.
- explicitly address uncertainty.
- be systematic and structured.
- be based on the best available information.
- be tailored.
- take into account human factors.
- be transparent and inclusive.
- be dynamic, iterative and responsive to change.
- be capable of continual improvement and enhancement
Risk management and business continuityRisk management is simply a practice of systematically selecting cost effective approaches for minimising the effect of threat realization to the organization. All risks can never be fully avoided or mitigated simply because of financial and practical limitations. Therefore all organizations have to accept some level of residual risks.Whereas risk management tends to be preemptive, business continuity planning (BCP) was invented to deal with the consequences of realised residual risks. The necessity to have BCP in place arises because even very unlikely events will occur if given enough time. Risk management and BCP are often mistakenly seen as rivals or overlapping practices. In fact these processes are so tightly tied together that such separation seems artificial. For example, the risk management process creates important inputs for the BCP (assets, impact assessments, cost estimates etc). Risk management also proposes applicable controls for the observed risks. Therefore, risk management covers several areas that are vital for the BCP process. However, the BCP process goes beyond risk management's preemptive approach and moves on from the assumption that the disaster will realize at some point. | |
| | | Gleizelle Jen Dieparine
Posts : 54 Points : 54 Join date : 2009-06-22 Age : 33 Location : Davao City
| Subject: continuation Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:08 am | |
| What are the phases and steps in information system development?
· Planning,· Analysis· Design· Development· Testing· Deployment · Maintenance PlanningPlanning is a process for accomplishing purpose. It is blue print of business growth and a road map of development. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in view the resources.What should a plan be?A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.Purpose of PlanJust as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions:
- Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their business's or project's development and prospects.
- Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years.
- Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.
Importance of the planning ProcessA plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it.A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition.Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead. Analysis Business analysis as a discipline has a heavy overlap with requirements analysis sometimes also called requirements engineering, but focuses on identifying the changes to an organization that are required for it to achieve strategic goals. These changes include changes to strategies, structures, policies, processes, and information systems.Examples of business analysis include:Enterprise analysis or company analysisfocuses on understanding the needs of the business as a whole, its strategic direction, and identifying initiatives that will allow a business to meet those strategic goals.Requirements planning and managementinvolves planning the requirements development process, determining which requirements are the highest priority for implementation, and managing change.Requirements elicitationdescribes techniques for collecting requirements from stakeholders in a project.Requirements analysisdescribes how to develop and specify requirements in enough detail to allow them to be successfully implemented by a project team.Requirements communicationdescribes techniques for ensuring that stakeholders have a shared understanding of the requirements and how they will be implemented.Solution assessment and validationdescribes how the business analyst can verify the correctness of a proposed solution, how to support the implementation of a solution, and how to assess possible shortcomings in the implementation. Design The design concepts provide the software designer with a foundation from which more sophisticated methods can be applied. A set of fundamental design concepts has evolved. They are:
- 1.Abstraction - Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose.
- 2.Refinement - It is the process of elaboration. A hierarchy is developed by decomposing a macroscopic statement of function in a stepwise fashion until programming language statements are reached. In each step, one or several instructions of a given program are decomposed into more detailed instructions. Abstraction and Refinement are complementary concepts.
- 3.Modularity - Software architecture is divided into components called modules.
- 4.Software Architecture - It refers to the overall structure of the software and the ways in which that structure provides conceptual integrity for a system. A software architecture is the development work product that gives the highest return on investment with respect to quality, schedule and cost.
- 5.Control Hierarchy - A program structure that represent the organization of a program components and implies a hierarchy of control.
- 6.Structural Partitioning - The program structure can be divided both horizontally and vertically. Horizontal partitions define separate branches of modular hierarchy for each major program function. Vertical partitioning suggests that control and work should be distributed top down in the program structure.
- 7.Data Structure - It is a representation of the logical relationship among individual elements of data.
- 8.Software Procedure - It focuses on the processing of each modules individually
- 9.Information Hiding - Modules should be specified and designed so that information contained within a module is inaccessible to other modules that have no need for such information.
Design considerationsThere are many aspects to consider in the design of a piece of software. The importance of each should reflect the goals the software is trying to achieve. Some of these aspects are:
- Compatibility - The software is able to operate with other products that are designed for interoperability with another product. For example, a piece of software may be backward-compatible with an older version of itself.
- Extensibility - New capabilities can be added to the software without major changes to the underlying architecture.
- Fault-tolerance - The software is resistant to and able to recover from component failure.
- Maintainability - The software can be restored to a specified condition within a specified period of time. For example, antivirus software may include the ability to periodically receive virus definition updates in order to maintain the software's effectiveness.
- Modularity - the resulting software comprises well defined, independent components. That leads to better maintainability. The components could be then implemented and tested in isolation before being integrated to form a desired software system. This allows division of work in a software development project.
- Packaging - Printed material such as the box and manuals should match the style designated for the target market and should enhance usability. All compatibility information should be visible on the outside of the package. All components required for use should be included in the package or specified as a requirement on the outside of the package.
- Reliability - The software is able to perform a required function under stated conditions for a specified period of time.
- Reusability - the modular components designed should capture the essence of the functionality expected out of them and no more or less. This single-minded purpose renders the components reusable wherever there are similar needs in other designs.
- Robustness - The software is able to operate under stress or tolerate unpredictable or invalid input. For example, it can be designed with a resilience to low memory conditions.
- Security - The software is able to withstand hostile acts and influences.
- Usability - The software user interface must be intuitive (and often aesthetically pleasing) to its target user/audience. Default values for the parameters must be chosen so that they are a good choice for the majority of the users. In many cases,
- online help should be included and also carefully designed.
DevelopmentSoftware development is the set of activities that results in software products. Software development may include research, new development, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products.[1] Especially the first phase in the software development process may involve many departments, including marketing, engineering, research and development and general management.[2]The term software development may also refer to computer programming, the process of writing and maintaining the source code. TestingSoftware Testing can also be stated as the process of validating and verifying that a software program/application/product:
- meets the business and technical requirements that guided its design and development;
- works as expected; and
- can be implemented with the same characteristics.
Software Testing, depending on the testing method employed, can be implemented at any time in the development process. However, most of the test effort occurs after the requirements have been defined and the coding process has been completed. As such, the methodology of the test is governed by the Software Development methodology adopted.Testing can never completely identify all the defects within software. Instead, it furnishes a criticism or comparison that compares the state and behavior of the product against oracles—principles or mechanisms by which someone might recognize a problem. These oracles may include (but are not limited to) specifications, contracts[2], comparable products, past versions of the same product, inferences about intended or expected purpose, user or customer expectations, relevant standards, applicable laws, or other criteria.Every software product has a target audience. For example, the audience for video game software is completely different from banking software. Therefore, when an organization develops or otherwise invests in a software product, it can assess whether the software product will be acceptable to its end users, its target audience, its purchasers, and other stakeholders. Software testing is the process of attempting to make this assessment.A study conducted by NIST in 2002 reports that software bugs cost the U.S. economy $59.5 billion annually. More than a third of this cost could be avoided if better software testing was performed. Deployment activitiesRelease The release activity follows from the completed development process. It includes all the operations to prepare a system for assembly and transfer to the customer site. Therefore, it must determine the resources required to operate at the customer site and collect information for carrying out subsequent activities of deployment process.Install and activate Activation is the activity of starting up the executable component of software. For simple system, it involves establishing some form of command for execution. For complex systems, it should make all the supporting systems ready to use.In larger software deployments, the working copy of the software might be installed on a production server in a production environment. Other versions of the deployed software may be installed in a test environment, development environment and disaster recovery environment.Deactivate Deactivation is the inverse of activation, and refers to shutting down any executing components of a system. Deactivation is often required to perform other deployment activities, e.g., a software system may need to be deactivated before an update can be performed. The practice of removing infrequently used or obsolete systems from service is often referred to as application retirement or application decommissioning.Adapt The adaptation activity is also a process to modify a software system that has been previously installed. It differs from updating in that adaptations are initiated by local events such as changing the environment of customer site, while updating is mostly started from remote software producer.Update The update process replaces an earlier version of all or part of a software system with a newer release.Built-In Mechanisms for installing updates are built into some software systems. Automation of these update processes ranges from fully automatic to user initiated and controlled. Norton Internet Security is an example of a system with a semi-automatic method for retrieving and installing updates to both the antivirus definitions and other components of the system. Other software products provide query mechanisms for determining when updates are available.Version tracking Version tracking systems help the user find and install updates to software systems installed on PCs and local networks. · Web based version tracking systems notify the user when updates are available for software systems installed on a local system. For example: VersionTracker Pro checks software versions on a user's computer and then queries its database to see if any updates are available.· Local version tracking system notifies the user when updates are available for software systems installed on a local system. For example: Software Catalog stores version and other information for each software package installed on a local system. One click of a button launches a browser window to the upgrade web page for the application, including auto-filling of the user name and password for sites that require a login.· Browser based version tracking systems notify the user when updates are available for software packages installed on a local system. For example: wfx-Versions is a Firefox extension which helps the user find the current version number of any program listed on the web.Uninstall Uninstallation is the inverse of installation. It is a remove of a system that is no longer required. It also involves some reconfiguration of other software systems in order to remove the uninstalled system’s files and dependencies. This is not to be confused with the term "deinstall" which is not actually a word.Retire Ultimately, a software system is marked as obsolete and support by the producers is withdrawn. It is the end of the life cycle of a software product. Maintenance This international standard[1] describes the 6 software maintenance processes as:
- The implementation processes contains software preparation and transition activities, such as the conception and creation of the maintenance plan, the preparation for handling problems identified during development, and the follow-up on product configuration management.
- The problem and modification analysis process, which is executed once the application has become the responsibility of the maintenance group. The maintenance programmer must analyze each request, confirm it (by reproducing the situation) and check its validity, investigate it and propose a solution, document the request and the solution proposal, and, finally, obtain all the required authorizations to apply the modifications.
- The process considering the implementation of the modification itself.
- The process acceptance of the modification, by checking it with the individual who submitted the request in order to make sure the modification provided a solution.
- The migration process (platform migration, for example) is exceptional, and is not part of daily maintenance tasks. If the software must be ported to another platform without any change in functionality, this process will be used and a maintenance project team is likely to be assigned to this task.
- Finally, the last maintenance process, also an event which does not occur on a daily basis, is the retirement of a piece of software.
There are a number of processes, activities and practices that are unique to maintainers, for example:
- Transition: a controlled and coordinated sequence of activities during which a system is transferred progressively from the developer to the maintainer;
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and specialized (domain-specific) maintenance contracts negotiated by maintainers;
- Modification Request and Problem Report Help Desk: a problem-handling process used by maintainers to prioritize, documents and route the requests they receive;
- Modification Request acceptance/rejection: modification request work over a certain size/effort/complexity may be rejected by maintainers and rerouted to a developer.
Some steps in successful implementing IS Step 1. Define what should be IS be implemented, what it should accomplish, and how to accomplish this goal, including an explanation of the terms” and “functional status.” Step 2. Evaluate the IS and their limitations. Step 3. Identify the communications operating issues. Step 4. Define data requirements. Step 5. Identify promising emerging technologies. Step 6. Decide what data should be shared, with whom, and when. Step 7. Decide who should operate, use, and maintain the system. Steps 8. Identify potential participants involved Step 9. Consider cost and funding issues.This would help to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. It shows the analazation the effect of implamented plan .What is its function,limitation,requirement and the people who handle the plan implamented.References :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_maintenancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_deploymenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_planninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_testinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_debvelopmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_managementMy blog:http://gleizelle.blogspot.com/ | |
| | | jojimie
Posts : 51 Points : 52 Join date : 2009-06-20 Location : Davao City
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Jan 07, 2010 4:43 am | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (5000 words) ISP is the planning of information systems for an organization. Information system planning is assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases and technologies that best satisfy those needs.
Information systems planning Planning terminology •mission: it is a broad enduring statement giving the organizations “reason for being”. •objectives-: are desired future positions and destinations the organizations intend to reach in order to fulfill its mission •Strategies-it’s a general direction in which an objective is to be sought •Policies-is a general guideline that directs and constraints decision –making within an organization.
ISP essentially involves •I) Identification of the stage of IS in the org. •ii) Identification of the applications of organizational ISs, •iii) Evaluation of each of these applications, based on established evaluation criteria •iv) Establishing a priority ranking for these application, and •V) Determining the’optimum’architectutre of IS for serving the top priority applications
THE NOLAN STAGE MODEL •Stage 1-initiation stage-in this, the technology is placed in the organization's • Few applications in the organization are computerized
•Stage-2 expansion stage-rapid and uncontrolled growth in the number and variety of IT applications takes place
•Stage-3 formalization or control stage because in this stage organizations gain control over the technology’s resources by implementing formal control processes and standards.
Stage-4 •Nolan has described this growth stage as maturity or integration stage as by this stage organizations gain sufficient experience and maturity in IS/IT applications. •In this stage, applications are integrated, controls are adjusted. •Planning is well established and so, we call this stage as the stage of perfection also.
Stage 5-integration stage •In this the use of new technology increases rapidly, providing new benefits.
•Stage 6-data administration, in this controls are further lowered to encourage development of systems which contribute to strategic advantage of the organization.
•Stage 7-in the enhance growth model this stage is termed as the maturity stage which indicates the application portfolio is complete and matches the objectives of the org.
4 stage model of IS planning 1. Strategic planning •A) derivation from the organizational plan •B) Strategic fit with organizational culture •C) Strategy set transformation
2. Information requirement analysis •A) Define underlying organizational requirements •B) Develop sub system matrix •C) Define and evaluate information requirements for organizational sub-systems
3. Resource allocation •A) Return on investment •B) Charge out •C) Portfolio approach •D) Steering committees
4. Project planning •A) milestones •B) critical path method •C) Gantt chart
Organization structure of MIS •Should be located in the overall structure of the organization •A) as a part of financial department •B) MIS under direct control of chairman •C) MIS is a distinct function.
Information Systems (IS) are those systems which employ some form(s) of information technology in the handling and processing of specific collections of information (eg student enrolment information).
• Why plan?
– To obtain resources •Financial •Facilities – “Capacity planning” •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? •Reactive vs. proactive? •Planning vs. forecasting?
–Forecasting is predicting the future –Planning is being prepared for that future
•Establish a mission statement •Assess the environment •Set goals and objectives •Derive strategies and policies •Develop long-, medium-, and short-range plans •Implement plans and monitor results
Establish a mission statement •These are the services that you are responsible for; it is your place in the organization •It is not what you are supposed to achieve, it is who you are and what you do in the company Assess the environment(s) . . . 1.The capabilities of the IT department 2.The readiness of the company to use IT 3.The status of our customers, our industry 4.The status of the economy, government regulations, environment, society, etc. 5.Technology
This is similar to a SWOT analysis – Strengths and Weakness – items no. 1 & 2; and Opportunities and Threats – items no. 3, 4, & 5
Goals and Objectives • Set goals – what do you want to achieve? • Set objectives – what are your specific, measurable targets? Derive strategies and policies • Strategies for – Technology focus – Personnel and career development – Aligning with the company – Others . . . • Policies for – Funding criteria; how much to spend on IT? – Allocation criteria; priority setting – Organizational arrangements – Use of outside IT services, outsourcing – Selling IT services to outside organizations – Others . . . Short-, medium-, and long-range plans • Short-range – the next year, the next budget period; developing and operating current systems • Medium-range – committing to development efforts for applications that will take more than one year to complete; meeting management’s current information needs, projected into the future for as many years as needed to complete them. This is what most organizations call “Long-Range Planning.” • Long-range planning – preparing for management’s future information needs. These are not application specific; they are investments in infrastructure; it is creating an information architecture.
And finally, implement plans and monitor results!
Key Elements of the Strategic Plan With the above in mind, the following elements constitute this revised IT/IS Strategic Plan. The key imperatives are identified as: a. Teaching and Learning. A teaching and learning environment enriched by imaginative and effective employment of IT b. Research. Research activity which is facilitated and empowered by enriched IT/IS capabilities, and an e-Research strategy which enhances international research capabilities. c. Management. Improvement to the management processes, structures and funding for IT/IS to allow the University to achieve a consistently high-quality IT/IS environment in the most cost-effective fashion. d. Service Quality. Adoption of a “service quality” approach, supported by more obvious delineation of central/decentralised services, accountabilities and performance standards. e. Infrastructure. Realisation of opportunities to achieve scale benefits from a more consistent and comprehensive IT/IS infrastructure employing appropriate standards. f. Applications. The integration of core administrative applications providing shared access to reliable corporate information.
1. Technologies Supporting Teaching and Learning
In this collaborative context the Teaching & Learning Committee will develop an eLearning policy, and associated educationally sound good practice guidelines for online learning in areas such as: _ developing content for online environments _ providing lecture content on line _ online assessment _ provision of lab material online _ help desk functions for student users
2. Access to IT Facilities & Services
Students will be provided with those IT facilities, services and resources deemed necessary to improve their learning experiences. These facilities may include for example, Internet access, Wireless LAN, dedicated or laboratory computers, printing, basic productivity and specialized application software, electronic learning material, Help Desk support. Access will be free wherever it is considered essential to students’ studies, and will take into account those with special needs. Where quotas for IT facilities or services are necessary, they will be adequate to meet student needs. They will be reviewed annually. Provision will be made to encourage and support students’ ability to access electronic resources across the University campuses, and off-campus as far as this is practicable. Research students will be provided with adequate dedicated access to network-connected computers.
3. Communications A communications environment will be developed which encourages a rich exchange between staff and students and students with each other, employing a wide variety of media in both synchronous and asynchronous modes.
4. Partnerships color=green]Recognizing the size of investment which may be necessary to fully exploit the capabilities of learning technology, the University will seek to enter into appropriate strategic partnerships and alliances, nationally and internationally, to enable it to benefit from the combined efforts of a group of similar universities or other organizations.
The University has a reputation for high quality research which it intends to extend, especially in the context of major national and international shifts towards collaborative, IT- and communications-enabled research programmes. It intends to position itself to engage in this global e-research environment, and to attract and retain national and international researchers. This necessitates the provision of high performance computing resources and networks which enable the development and transfer of large, complex databases, access to remote high-performance research equipment, and seamless online collaboration.5. e-Research StrategyA strategy will be developed for enabling researchers within the University to engage in national and international e-research; collaborating with researchers elsewhere in the use of major network-accessible high-performance research facilities, such as supercomputers, telescopes, high-energy physics equipment, major data resources, etc.6. Research ResourcesResearch staff and research students will be given access to a range of IT-based research resources, including high-performance computing, high volume secure data storage, reliable high-speed campus, national and international networks, access grids (providing semi immersive videoconferencing). 7. Research Infrastructure SupportThe University will identify and facilitate the development of generic research resources and requirements which can be shared across the University. In order to realize the full potential of its investment in technology, the University will refresh a range of structures, systems and services. The strategic management of technology will necessitate clearer definition of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders which involved in planning, implementation and assessment of IT/IS services. It will also introduce management strategies, processes and project management controls that may reduce the total cost of ownership and limit risk to the IT/IS environment. The ultimate aim is to establish a clearly defined governance structure that effectively delivers quality services, eliminates duplication and ensures all stakeholders benefit from the provision of IT/IS services.8. GovernanceEstablish a clearly defined IT/IS governance structure with clear terms of reference for IT/IS committees, in which relevant stakeholders are represented and which make decisions which reflect University-wide interests.9. StrategyDevelop University-wide IT/IS strategy, plans, policies and standards in collaboration with relevant key stakeholders (particularly learning, teaching and research) and review regularly to ensure currency10. PolicyBuild and communicate university-wide IT/IS policies and standards for core services, ensuring that appropriate local innovation is encouraged, that it works to support the overall good of the University and means are found to institutionalized innovations of general value. 11. IT OrganizationDevelop an IT/IS organization structure and approval and funding processes which best aligns policy development with implementation capability. Establish coordinated support for University-wide common applications, processes, systems and user servicing, enabling faculties and business units to leverage the core infrastructure without duplication. Implement formal project and process management and ensure major IT initiatives are supported by business cases which are aligned to university objectives. Ensure business cases are adequately evaluated to ensure University-wide benefits will take precedence over benefits to individual business units. Manage risk to the IT/IS environment by developing and implementing and testing common, co coordinated Disaster Recovery and Continuity Plans for all key items of infrastructure for the whole University. The University intends to provide high quality, responsive services and support to its diverse community operating in multiple locations. The provision of a coordinated, efficient and professional IT services, which offer staff and students the requisite level of support, is one of the main goals of this strategic plan. This model recognizes the need to combine central and devolved support in a seamless fashion. Support activities in all locations will be underpinned by a consistent set of service standards, clearly delineated roles, effective escalation systems, and well coordinated processes. Support staff will be provided with a supportive framework enabling them to be fully competent, professional and efficient in assisting users to become self reliant. 12. Help DeskEstablish a University-wide Help Desk which operates as a “One Stop Shop” for all major IT/IS enquiries, accessible 24x7, supported by Help Desk software which formalizes escalation procedures, coordinates responses (central and local), and integrated seamlessly with any continuing local Help Desks and with local IT/IS support, ensuring responses are to a consistently high quality across the University.13. Hardware and Software ProvisioningEnsure economies of scale and improved efficiencies are gained by rationalizing procurement arrangements for equipment and software.
Provide online streamlined ordering, approval and status of provisioning cycle. Establish an asset management and equipment replacement program that recognizes the total costs of ownership and addresses lifecycle replacement requirements and achieves a uniform capability of deploying emerging applications and technologies. Establish formal license management standards and processes for distribution, auditing and management of software licenses, so that more effective use is made of centralized software acquisition.14. Service Level AgreementsDevelop service level agreements which define University-wide, consistent standards for service provision and user support, and measure performance against those standards. 15. Staff and Student IT skills Establish a baseline set of IT literacy skills for staff and students which are the minimum necessary to make optimal use of Universities’ IT infrastructure. Provide comprehensive and appropriate opportunities for staff and students to recognize their skill levels and the benefits of enhanced skills and to improve their IT skills accordingly. The University community will be given an IT/IS infrastructure which enables seamless communication and facilitates mobility, but which is also flexible enough to support specialized computing requirements. In response, a key strategy is to provide university-wide, common software and hardware platform (with a standard software suite of productivity tools), which will support the immediate need for improved information sharing, but also address the increasing requirements for data storage, computing power and total system security. The infrastructure will be appropriately flexible to respond to, and support, users with specialized needs. An increasingly mobile user community requires an enterprise wide network infrastructure which supports multimedia delivery off-campus. This will necessitate the provision of highly functional web and portal systems, integrated voice, data and video services and broadband capabilities.16. Standardized Core InfrastructureEstablish a University-wide consistent and common infrastructure consisting of a secure, reliable and fast universal network, along with individual personal computers with a common suite of office-productivity software connected to the network, and network-accessible electronic resources and application systems. Ensure these core services are managed and supported in accordance with common guidelines for development and deployment of specific applications and services. Deploy a very limited number of Standard Operating Environments with core basic components to all University computers used by staff and students, to enable improved asset lifecycle management, reduced administrative overheads associated with supporting various operating systems, and ready deployment of security and productivity-enhancing software. Ensure appropriate allowance is made for certain specialized requirements for Research or for Teaching and Learning.17. Web CapabilitiesDevelop a Web environment which is user friendly, easily managed and maintained, consistent across all web sites, up to date and readily navigable. Recognize the Web as a primary facility to Support teaching and learning, research, administrative and marketing activities of UWA. Provide portals for all student and staff applications. Support, extend and improve the provision of Website content management. Establish simple, consolidated Web access to all repositories for electronic resources used for teaching and research. 18. CommunicationsImprove consistency and functionality of primary electronic communications capabilities, including email, address lists, document sharing and calendaring, integrated with each other.
Enable integrated communications, with voice, video and data communications accessible from anywhere within the University, from fixed and mobile locations, utilizing a variety of devices and platforms. Examples could include the provision of common email, Voice over IP, videoconferencing, SMS and instant messaging, where it is cost effective to do so. 19. ComputersProvide local and shared computational resources for teaching and learning and for research (including e-Research) needs. Coordinate the provision of student computer labs recognizing the increasing use of mobile computing platforms to support comprehensive provision of student computing resources. 20. NetworkMaintain a high performance network, with local and global high speed links. Provide a wireless infrastructure. Provide a Virtual Private Network (VPN) capability for secure access from off-campus and Wireless locations. 21. SecurityDevelop university-wide standards, processes and resources for proactive and reactive management of all security threats including hacking, viruses, denial-of-service attacks, spam and inappropriate or illegal use of IT facilities including physical and electronic security. Enable consistent access to key applications and electronic resources by use of a common account name and password, with appropriate user authentication and authorization where appropriate. 22. Data StorageProvide shared and local facilities for data storage needs of staff and students, involving (where cost-effective) the deployment of network-attached storage, extended use of portable storage devices, etc. Formulate and implement policies for data storage including back ups, archives, disaster recovery, data protection and privacy.23. Disaster Recovery and ContingencyEstablish tested disaster recovery and contingency plans for all major IT/IS systems, applications and infrastructure.
The University will ensure that data which is sourced from core systems is reliable, consistent and easy to access. It intends to redress current shortcomings which see duplication of data entry and limitations in reporting compromising the reliability of information extracted from corporate systems. The aim will be to improve support for decision making by providing consistent information, achieved through closer integration of core administrative applications. The development of innovative applications to support specific administrative, teaching and research needs has been an important element of local technical support for many years. The university will aim to leverage local innovation and deploy widely to common benefit. The development of applications will be supported by formal procedures and standards. 24. Data IntegrationProvide central aggregation points for administrative information such as staff and student information. Provide integration of current major administrative applications to enable UWA to continue to acquire and integrate new application technologies, utilizing real-time sharing of data between applications where appropriate. Ensure corporate information systems and data collections are owned, developed, managed and operated for the benefit of the whole University.25. Electronic Resource ManagementEstablish appropriate mechanisms to enable proper management of electronic material used for teaching and research purposes, to ensure it is reliable, discoverable, re-usable, and can be integrated into existing or new teaching and research electronic environments, such as learning management systems and e-Research applications; also so that Copyright and other IP requirements are satisfied. 26. Application DevelopmentEstablish an effective development capability, adequately resourced and accessible to all sections of the University, which is responsive to local requirements for new application development and which broadly deploys innovative solutions for University-wide benefit. 27. Application DeploymentEstablish consistent desktop software configurations and implement software distribution tools to reduce the support tasks of installing, maintaining and updating desktop software environments and to ensure corporate information systems are accessible on the standard desktop environments with a minimum of effort. Quality ISP A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These five are presented in the table that follows.
1. Timely - An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned.
2. Useable - It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started.
3. Maintainable - New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away.
4. Quality - While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly.
5. Reproducible - That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned. Benefits of Strategic Systems Planning• The strategic systems planning process provides many benefits to the organization. The process: • Enables senior management to view the enterprise in terms of key business functions and data. • Identifies information and systems needed to support the business priorities. • Establishes a technology platform and a framework for information systems development. • Anchors system development to business plans. • Sets priorities and expectations for systems projects.
Reference: http://www.its.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/130001/IT_Strategic_Plan.pdf http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf http://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=2&ved=0CA4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cis.gsu.edu%2F~emclean%2FIS%2520Strategic%2520Planning.ppt&rct=j&q=what+is+information+system+strategic+planning&ei=uf5ES47sE4K0NuLK5bIB&usg=AFQjCNHN-eCGwVXRbUO6UcjoDFmZlqVq7Q http://www.scribd.com/doc/9651267/Information-Systems-Planning You are always welcome to visit on my personal blog: http://www.megsgang050890.blogspot.com/
Last edited by jojimie on Thu Feb 11, 2010 9:59 am; edited 2 times in total | |
| | | Ma.AnnKristineTomada
Posts : 46 Points : 53 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 35 Location : Davao City
| Subject: ass-4 Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:40 pm | |
| You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (at least 5000 words)
Rationale for an Information Systems Plan Today, enterprise database is deployed on distributed, heterogeneous hardware and systems software environments. The hardware platforms are both multiple-vendor and multi-tiered, with different architectures. In short, most businesses have embraced some form of downsizing, decentralization, and distributed processing.
Critical to the enterprise database environment is the capture of the business model and the implementation of the enterprise's memory: its data architectures. Once the data architectures are implemented in a sophisticated, generalized manner, software tools can be quickly and effectively deployed to create the necessary business systems to collect, update, and report critical business data.
The business systems can be implemented through a network of databases across different computing platforms. To make database a success, each must be carefully defined, deployed along with high-quality processing systems, and effectively utilized through high-level natural languages. To have database success is to be organized. And with an organized enterprise, the past can be researched, the present can be mastered, and plans for the future can be set into place.
Information Systems Planning
Because an organization's business strategic plan contains both organizational goals and a broad outline of steps required to reach them, the business strategic plan affects the type of system an organization needs. Deciding which new system to build should be an essential component of the organizational planning process. Organizations need to develop an information systems plan that supports their overall business plan and in which strategic systems are incorporated into top-level planning.
The information systems planning refers to the process of the translation of strategic and organizational goals into systems development plan and initiatives (Figure 3-1). For example, part of the information systems plan for a luxury car company might be to build a new product tracking system to meet the organizational goal of improving customer service. Proper information systems planning ensures that specific systems development objectives support organizational goals. One of the primary benefits of information systems planning is that it provides a long-range view of information technology use in the organization. The information systems plan provides guidance on how the information systems infrastructure of the organization should be developed over time. The plan serves as a road map indicating the direction and rationale of systems development. Another benefit of information systems planning is that it ensures better use of information systems resources, including funds, information systems personnel, and time for scheduling specific projects.
Characteristics of a Quality ISP
A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. These five are presented in the table that follows.
Characteristic
Timely The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned.
Useable The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started.
Maintainable The ISP should be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away.
Quality While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly.
Reproducible The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.
The Information Systems Plan Project
The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner.
The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise.
The following steps are involved in the development of the ISP:
1. Create the mission model 2. Develop a high-level data model 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node 7. Load resources into each WBS node 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package. 9. Produce and review of the ISP 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time.
Step 1. Create Mission Model
Missions and mission descriptions are represented through hierarchically composed text. They are natural and are devoid of the effects from organizational structure stylistic effects. Missions from enterprises from the same “line of business” are very similar. In contrast, their function models may be quite different because of effects imposed by management styles and organizational structures. Simply stated, mission descriptions are goal and objective oriented and are best seen as characterizations of the idealized end-results, without any regard for “who and how.”
For many organizations, the mission description document often represents the first overall statement of their raison d’etre (reason for existence).
It is important to distinguish between missions and functions. At first, missions and functions look very much alike. However they are not. The following table illustrates their key differences.
_____________________________________________________________________________ Missions are descriptions of the characteristics of the end result. Missions are noun-based sentences
Functions are descriptions of how to accomplish an end result. Functions are verb-based sentences _____________________________________________________________________________
Missions are a-political. They are devoid of “who and how.” There should only be ONE mission description for a mission.
Function hierarchies are commonly tainted by organizations and styles. There can be any number of equivalent versions of a given function. _____________________________________________________________________________
Databases and Business Information Systems are based on missions
“Human” activities and organizations are based on business functions
When you “Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)” functions you still have the same business.
When you “BPR” mission you have a different business. _____________________________________________________________________________
Mission descriptions are strategic and long range
Functions are tactical to operational, and medium to short range, and are organizationally sensitive _____________________________________________________________________________
Reminder: Building an information systems plan on the basis of functions is a 100% guarantee of failure.
Step 2. Build the High Level Data Model
The high level data model is created in two steps: building database domains, and creating database objects.
It is critical to state that the objective of this step is the high-level data model. The goal is NOT to create a low level or fully attributed data model. The reason that only a high-level data model is needed is straight forward:
No database projects are being accomplished, hence no detailed data modeling is required The goal of the ISP is to identify and resource allocate projects including database projects and for that goal, entity identification, naming and brief definitions is all that is required for estimating.
The message is simple: any money or resources expended in developing a detailed data model is wasted.
Create Database Domains
Database domains are created from the “bottom” leaves of the mission description texts. There are two cases to consider. First, if the mission description’s bottom leaves are very detailed, they can be considered as having being transformed into database domains. That is they will consist of lists of nouns within simple sentences. The other case is that the mission descriptions have been defined to only a few levels, and the lists of nouns that would result from the development of database domains have yet to be uncovered.
The example on the next page presents the database domain for accounts payable. Whenever a database domain describes complex sets of data, multiple levels of the database domain description may be required. These sub domains are expressed as additional paragraphs. Reviews of these paragraphs clearly show that the text is “noun-intensive.” The “who and how” is clearly missing. That is the way it should be. If the “who and how” were contained in the database domains then they would not be independent of either process or organization.
A series of diagramming techniques created especially for data and the relationships among data is called entity-relationship (ER) diagramming. Within one style of this technique, the entities are drawn as rectangles and the relationships are drawn as diamonds. The name of the relationship is inside the diamond. Another style of ER modeling is to just have named lines between the entities. In this methodology, since the domain of the diagram is data, it is called the database domain diagram.
Accounts payable effects the satisfaction of debts of the Systems Engineering Corporation. These debts are satisfied through disbursements. Disbursements are generated as a result of payable invoices. Disbursements are paid to either an outside agency or to someone who is affiliated with the corporation.
Certain payable invoices, when funds are disbursed result in fixed assets to the corporation. Payment invoices arise because of accepted receipts resulting from received shipments, accepted procurement orders against various types of contracts, scheduled payments against one or more forms of a contract.
Each payable invoice consists in invoice header information and a set of one or more invoice line items.
Procurement orders consist of procurement header information and one or more procurement order line items.
Each procurement line item may result in one or more receipt line items from different receipts, one or more payable invoice line items.
Each receipt consists of receipt header information and a set of one or more receipt lines.
Payables are properly recorded against budgeted lines of an authorized budget.
Disbursements result in journal entries that are recorded in the general ledger.
Contracts of the corporation are the following types: service, materials/goods, or real estate. Materials or goods contracts can be for purchases or rentals from vendors. Real estate contracts can be for real estate purchases or rentals. Real estate purchase contracts may result in one or more loan agreements. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Database Domain: Accounts Payable
Define Database Objects
In today's parlance, a lucid policy-procedure pair is called a business object. When the policy procedure pair are completely defined within the language constructs of ANSI/SQL and is stored, retrieved, and maintained in an ANSI/SQL database through a sequence of well-defined states, the business object is a database object. The goal of database object analysis is to enable the definition of both the data structure and the data structure transformations that:
Installs a new database object in the database Transforms a database object from one coherent state to another Removes a database object from the database
Database objects are found by researching business policies and procedures. Database objects are however much more than just collections of policy-homogeneous entities. In fact database objects consist of four main parts:
[database object] Data Structure: the set of data structures that map onto the different value sets for real world database objects such as an auto accident, vehicle and emergency medicine incident.
[database object] Process: the set of database object processes that enforce the integrity of data structure fields, references between database objects and actions among contained data structure segments, the proper computer-based rules governing data structure segment insertion, modification, and deletion. For example, the proper and complete storage of an auto accident.
[database object] Information System: the set of specifications that control, sequence, and iterate the execution of various database object processes that cause changes in database object states to achieve specific value-based states in conformance to the requirements of business policies. For example, the reception and database posting of data from business information system activities (screens, data edits, storage, interim reports, etc.) that accomplish entry of the auto accident information.
[database object] State: The value states of a database object that represent the after-state of the successful accomplishment of one or more recognizable business events. Examples of business events are auto accident initiation, involved vehicle entry, involved person entry, and auto accident DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs) involvement. Database object state changes are initiated through named business events that are contained in business functions. The business function, auto accident investigation includes the business event, auto-accident incident initiation, which in turn causes the incident initiation database object information system to execute, which in turn causes several database object processes to cause the auto accident incident to be materialized in the database.
A database object is specified to the SQL DBMS through the SQL definition language (DDL). All four components of a database object operate within the “firewall” of the DBMS. This ensures that database objects are protected from improper access or manipulation by 3GLs, or 4GLs. A DBMS that only defines, instantiates, and manipulates two dimensional data structures is merely a simplified functional subset of the DBMS that defines, instantiates, and manipulates database objects .
Database objects are completely defined within the database object column of the Knowledge Worker Framework. They are interfaced to the “outside world” by means of business information systems through SQL views. Each view represents the entire set of data, or some subset of a set of data that truly reflects a known value state of the database object.
Culling out the database objects from 600 or so entities requires three simple questions:
Does the entity represent only a single value? For example, when the entity, Salary is really a business fact, it should be represented in the metabase as a data element
Does the entity represent a collection of business facts from within another context? For example, when the entity, Critical Contract Dates, represents multiple business facts, but within the context of the contract, the entity is a property class, and is stored in the metabase as such.
Does the entity represents multiple collections of business facts and is self-contained as to context? For example, when the entity, Contract, contains multiple property classes such as critical dates, signatories to the contract, terms and conditions, items and item quantities, and the like, the entity is a database object and is stored in the metabase as such.
The purpose of the database objects is to present a high level model of the data that embraces the data-scope of what must be accommodated in the ISP. Consider the two diagrams. When senior managers meet around a table to discuss database projects, the conversation will certainly be restricted to “big” nouns such as those in the database object diagram rather than the “little” nouns contained in the ER diagram.
During the efforts associating with executing the ISP, that is, during activities associated with creating specified, implemented, and operational data models, there is more than enough opportunity for the development of third normal form databases.
Step 3. Create Resources and the Resource Life Cycles (RLC)
Missions are the idealized characterizations of end results of the visionary state of the operating enterprise. Database objects, founded squarely on missions are the high-level declarations of the data required to reflect the achievement of the mission’s vision. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions, and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which when exercised achieve one or more aspects of the missions. Each life cycle is composed of RLC nodes.
A mission might be human resource management, where in, the best and most cost effective staff is determined, acquired and managed. A database object squarely based on human resources would be employee. Within the database object, employee, are all the data structures, procedures, integrity constraints, table and database object procedures necessary to “move” the employee database object through its many policy-determined states. A resource might also be named employee, and would set out for the employee resource the life cycle stages that reflect the employee resource’s “journey” through the enterprise. While an enterprise may have 50 to 150 database objects, there are seldom more than 20 resources.
Enterprises build databases and business information systems around the achievement of the life cycle states of its resources. Business information systems execute in support of a particular life cycle stage of a resource (e.g., employee promotion). These information systems cause the databases to change value-state of contained database objects to correctly reflect the resource’s changed state. The state of one or more database objects in the database is the proof that the resource’s state has been achieved. Resources become the lattice work against which database and business information systems are allocated. The table that follows presents the basic components of resources and their life cycles.
The ultimate goal of resource life cycle analysis is the identification and description of the major resources essential to the enterprise’s survival, and the ultimate goal of the ISP is the identification and accomplishment sequencing of the information systems projects required to implement the enterprise resources in the most effective manner possible.
Determine the Resources
The enterprise’s product and/or service resources are defined; they may be either concrete or abstract. Ron Ross provides two guidelines to assist in resource identification: *Define the product or service that constitute the enterprise’s resources from the customer perspective. *Define the resource as it is managed between the enterprise and its customers.
Additional tests for resources are:
-The resource must be monitored and forecasted. By the time the resource is required, it is too late to be produced. -The resource must be optimized. The resource is of such a cost that an unlimited supply is not possible. -The resource must be controlled and allocated. The resource is desirable and necessary, and must be shared among functions of the enterprise. -The resource must be tracked. Each stage of the resource is important to the enterprise, including its demise.
Determine The Resource Life Cycles
The second step is to determine a life cycle for each resource. Each node in the life cycle represents a major state change in the resource. The state change is accomplished by business information systems and is reflected through the enterprise’s database objects (conformed into databases). The three figures below, developed in support of an enterprise database project for a state-wide court information system, shows the resource life cycles for Document, Case, and for Court’s Personnel.
Step 4. Allocate Precedence Vectors among RLC Nodes
After the resources and life cycles are complete, precedence vectors are established. There are actually two types of precedencies: Within the value chain and between resources. Precedencies within the value chain are established during the life cycle analysis. These are the lines that connect one node to the next.
A precedence between resources is created when a resource life cycle state, that is, a specific life cycle node, cannot be effective or correctly done unless the preceding resource life cycle state has been established or completed. A precedence arrow, renamed precedence vector, is drawn from the enabling resource life cycle state to the enabled resource life cycle state.
The most difficult problem in establishing the precedence is the mind set of the analyst. The life cycle is not viewed in operational order, but in enablement order: that is, what resource life cycle state must exist before the next resource life cycle state is able to occur. This is a difficult mind set to acquire, as there is a natural tendency to view the life cycle in operational order. The test of precedence becomes: what enables what, and what is it enabled by what? For example, project establishment precedes the award of a contract. This does not seem natural, since a project would not operationally begin until after a contract is awarded. However, there must be an established infrastructure to create the project and to perform the work prior to the contract award. A workforce must be in place to perform work along with the ability to assign work to the employee on the contract, and the ability to bill the customer. Therefore, the project enables the contract.
There are three possible meanings for enablement. That is, a resource life cycle state precedes another resource life cycle state because:
1. The accomplishment of the preceding resource life cycle state saves money. 2. The resource life cycle state leads to rapid development of another resource life cycle state 3.The resource life cycle state permits faster, more convenient accomplishment of another resource life cycle state.
If one or more indicators exists, then a precedence vector should be created.
Two alternatives exist relative to the existence of the enterprise: newly established or existing. Experience shows the preferred perspective is that of an already-existing enterprise.
RLC states may or may not occur during a life cycle, or events may occur in parallel. For example, an employee may receive an award, but then again, may never receive an award. An employee may work before and after a security clearance is granted. The strategy to deal with parallel or optional RLC states is to create a single stream of RLC states in which none are parallel or optional by “pushing down” the parallel or optional RLC states to a lower level. The figure on the next page presents the resource life cycle network for documents, cases, and court personnel. | |
| | | Ma.AnnKristineTomada
Posts : 46 Points : 53 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 35 Location : Davao City
| Subject: ass-4 cont. Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:42 pm | |
| Step 5. Allocate Business Information Systems and Databases to the RLC Nodes
Once the resource life cycle network has been created, it is stored into the metabase. Once there, its lattice can be employed to attach the databases and business information systems. Databases and their business information systems exist within a data architecture framework. The five distinct classes of databases are:
! Original data capture (ODC) ! Transaction data staging area (TDSA) ! Subject area databases (SDB) ! Data warehouses (wholesale and retail (a.k.a. data marts)) ! Reference data
Step 6. Allocate Standard Work Break down Structures (WBS) to Each Business Information Systems and Database Project
The key reason for having a well engineered check list for identifying the types of work involved in either a database or business information system project is the ability to then used canned work breakdown structures (WBS). When these WBSs are coupled with experience-honed metrics that are embedded in a project management system that “self-learns” from on-going projects, accurate, reliable and repeatable project plans result.
The figure below presents a very high level view of how project management and the projects associated with RLC nodes are interrelated. In actuality, there are many more tables within the Whitemarsh project management software. But, from this perspective, when the assessment checklist is compiled, the specific WBSs that are applicable are selected from the project template table. The are five distinct classes of projects are: ! Administration and management ! Specification ! Implementation ! Operation and maintenance ! Multiple category
Step 7. Load Resources into Each Project
Once the WBS is selected, the WBS list and associated deliverables and metrics are automatically brought into the project. When the quantities for each deliverable type is computed, then the overall gross hours estimate for the project is created. The gross hours estimate is then finalized (either upwards or downwards) by the selection of work environment factors (e.g., nobody even knows who the users are (that’s a bad work environment factor)), and also by the specific persons assigned who have varying levels of capabilities in certain experience levels (e.g., someone is assigned to create the data model who doesn’t yet even know the meaning of the term, “ER diagram”). That’s a bad staffing factor.
The value in having highly engineered work environment and staffing experience factors that adjust the gross hours is that project managers can then relay back to management the exact reasons why a project will cost more or less than another project of even the same construct and size.
The resources are then exported to a text file that is able to loaded into a project management system such as Microsoft Project. This is necessary because the purpose of the Whitemarsh project management system is to support the planning of projects on an enterprise wide basis rather than the scheduling of individual projects.
Step 8. Schedule through a Project Management Package
Project management systems like Microsoft Project, Welcom’s Open Plan Professional, or Primavera’s P3e all require PERT (activity network charts) to effectively schedule an entire RLC network of RLC node assigned projects. When WBSs are brought into a project management system, they are treated as selfcontained subprojects within the overall set of RLC node network of projects. The figure below shows a RLC network. The resource life cycles are depicted from their first to last node in a topdown fashion. The precedence vectors are shows from one node of a RLC to another node of a different RLC. Multiple precedence vectors do not exist between resource life cycles. When this RLC network is turned on its side, as shown on the next page, it resembles a PERT chart. The chart naturally contains parallel sets of nodes that intersect. From this diagram it is easy to see that the network of RLC nodes can be traditionally scheduled.
Step 9. Produce and Review the ISP When the resource loaded network of projects is scheduled through a project management system, normal results are produced. That is, the enterprise is faced with the requirement for: ! Infinite resources ! Infinite time ! Infinite computer capacity and speed, and ! Zero time allocated by “management” to accomplish all the work.
The ISP produced by this technique is thus no more able to be accomplished on the first pass than is any other information systems plan. Now, where the Whitemarsh starts to become very different from other ISPs is that the Whitemarsh ISP is fundamentally data within a database. Because the Whitemarsh ISP is “data,” it can be reported, queried, updated, recalculated, and reprinted any number of times with only reasonable effort.
A second key distinction is that the data that supports the ISP is primarily contributed by and thus supported by management. After all, it is their missions, their database domains, their database objects, their resources, their resource life cycles, and their precedence vectors between the resource life cycles. The only parts that are truly owned by information technology are the proposals for IT projects that transform an “as-is” database or information system to a “to-be” database or information system. Since “management” is the source of the information systems projects, as they should be, the key questions that they must answer in order to bring the information systems plan within the boundaries of “mere mortals” is: ! What really needs to be done? (That’s expressed as the allocated databases and information systems against the resource life cycle nodes.) ! When is it appropriate to do it? (That’s expressed through the enablement vectors.) ! Why does it benefit the enterprise? (That’s expressed as the resources and their life cycle nodes.)
In support of answering these questions and thus being able to adjust the resource life cycle network, precedence vectors, resource loadings and the like, the following should be considered: ! Determine essential results versus optional results ! Re-examine and adjust precedence vectors to minimize critical path sequences ! Examine and adjust benefits derived from technology because benefits are soft or can be postponed ! Examine and adjust technology for each system implementation, that is, . Old technology will suffice . 4GL versus 3GL . Code generator versus 4GL/3GL . Package versus (4Gl/3GL/Code generators)
These questions can only be answered within a team relationship between business management and the technical staff. As management makes new assertions or adjustments, the ISP team can adjust assumptions, WBSs, levels of staff skill, quantities of staff, contractor resources, and the like. As these change, the RLC resource loaded network that has been loaded into the project management system can be rescheduled. Iteratively, a realistic schedule will emerge. One that will not be pleasing to all, but fully justified and understood. It will not be an ISP that is based on black magic or that is shrouded in technical mystery. Once the finalized ISP is generated, the following work products will have been produced: *Mission descriptions *Database domains and entity relationship diagrams *Database objects *Resources, life cycles and precedence vectors among the resource life cycles *Identified and allocated “as-is” and “to-be” databases and business information systems *Workplans *Loaded Resources *Complete Schedules *Technology choices *Benefits While each one of these items has value in its own right, collectively there then exists an information systems plan that is enterprise wide, grounded squarely on the enterprise’s missions and resources and is accurately scheduled with experience-honed work plans.
Step 10. Execute and Adjust the ISP Through Time Enterprises, once they evolve beyond their first round of information systems, find themselves transformed from a project and package mentality to a release mentality. The diagram on the next page illustrates this new continuous flow environment. It is characterized by:
* Multiple, concurrent, but differently scheduled projects against the same subject area database or warehouse database * Single-database projects that affect multiple subject area and data warehouse databases * Projects that develop completely new capabilities, that can assess required changes to existing capabilities, and that can accommodate a variety of systems generation alternatives (COTS, package, and custom programming)
The continuous flow environment contains four major sets of activities. The user/client is represented at the top in the small rectangular box. Each of the ellipses represents an activity list to accomplish a specific need. The four basic needs are essentially:
* Need Identification * Need Assessment * Design * Deployment
The box in the center is the metabase. Specification and impact analysis are represented through the left two processes. Implementation design and accomplishment are represented by the right two processes.
RESOURCES: | |
| | | Fritzielaine A. Barcena
Posts : 53 Points : 54 Join date : 2009-06-20 Age : 32 Location : Tagum City
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:35 am | |
| “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
No one wants to think about a time when they might need long-term care. So planning ahead for this possibility often gets put off. Most people first learn about long-term care when they or a loved one need care. Then their options are often limited by lack of information, the immediate need for services, and insufficient resources to pay for preferred services. Planning ahead allows you to have more control over your future. Planning ahead helps you understand what service options are available in your community, what special conditions may apply for receiving services, for example, age or other eligibility criteria, what services cost, and what payment options – public and private – apply. Having this information helps ensure you will have a range of options when you need long-term care, and makes it more likely that you will have more choice and control over where and how you receive services.
Planning ahead is important because the cost of long-term care services often exceeds what the average person can pay from income and other resources. By planning ahead, you may be able to save your assets and income for uses other than long-term care, including preserving the quality of life for your spouse or other loved ones. With planning, there is a greater likelihood of being able to leave an estate to your heirs, because you are less likely to use up your financial resources paying for care.
Planning ahead also means less emotional and financial stress on you and your family. It can provide a way to involve your family in decisions without depending on them to bear the entire burden alone.
Here are the steps of Information Systems Development Plan: 1. Create the mission model - The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the Awho@ and the Ahow. 2. Develop a high-level data model - The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes - Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource Alives@ through its resource life cycle. 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes - Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives@ through its resource life cycle network. 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes - The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work@onto which the Aas is@ business information systems and databases can be Aattached.@ See for example, the meta model in Figure 2. The Ato-be@ databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects@ between the Aas-is@ and the Ato-be@ are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan. 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node - Detailed planning of the Adifference projects@ entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. 7. Load resources into each WBS node - Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The meta entities are those inferred by Figure 2. 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities. - The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. 9. Produce and review of the ISP - The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the meta data environment, the integrated project management meta data , and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time. - As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is Aautomated@ the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less.
Reference: http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
| |
| | | kristine_delatorre
Posts : 58 Points : 60 Join date : 2009-06-21 Age : 33 Location : davao city
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:11 am | |
| introduction
Very simply put, strategic planning identifies where the organization wants to be at some point in the future and how it is going to get there. The "strategic" part of this planning process is the continual attention to current changes in the organization and its external environment, and how this effects the future of the organization. Skills in strategic planning are critical to the long-term success of your organization. This form of planning includes: a) Taking a wide look around at what's going on outside the organization and how it might effect the organization (an environmental scan) b) Taking a hard look at what's going on inside the organization, including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (a SWOT analysis) c) Establishing statements of mission, vision and values d) Establishing goals to accomplish over the next (usually) three years or so, as a result of what's going on inside and outside the organization e) Identifying how those goals will be reached (strategies, objectives, responsibilities and timelines)
Strategic planning determines the overall direction and goals of the organization. Consequently, strategic planning influences numerous aspects of the organization, including what:
a) Products and services will be provided by the business and how those products and services will be designed b) Organizational design and roles are needed by the organization c) Performance goals are established for positions throughout the business d) Board committees should be developed (in the case of corporations) e) Resources are needed to reach those goals, and consequently, how much money is needed to procure those resources -- ultimately, the goals determine the content of various budgets
Two key points to remember while proceeding through this module: 1) The planning process is at least as important as the planning document itself. 2) The planning process is never "done" -- the planning process is a continuous cycles that's part of the management process itself.
To many people, strategic planning is something meant only for big businesses, but it is equally applicable to small businesses. Strategic planning is matching the strengths of your business to available opportunities. To do this effectively, you need to collect, screen and analyze information about the business environment. You also need to have a clear understanding of your business - its strength’s and weaknesses - and develop a clear mission, goals and objectives. Acquiring this understanding often involves more work than expected. You must realistically assess the business you are convinced you know well. Familiarity can breed contempt for thorough analysis; you cannot properly evaluate your firm's strengths or shortcomings.
The Business Environment
Strategic planning focuses largely on managing interaction with environmental forces, which include competitors, government, suppliers, customers, various interest groups and other factors that affect your business and its prospects. Your ability as a small business owner-manager to deal with these groups will vary widely depending on the group and on the timing. Also, you may be able to get more of what you want from a supplier than from a competitor (although size, distance, the percentage of the supplier's business you represent and your record of dependability as a customer can affect this relationship). How you manage these and other relationships is one of the decisions you will make during the strategic planning process.
Because of major changes in the business environment, your familiarity with strategic planning and your ability to implement it is critical. At one time, business owner-managers assessed the environment on a continuum that ran between very stable and very unstable. Businesses, such as the producers of automobiles, furniture and other consumer goods, operated in a relatively stable and predictable world. This also was true of many service firms, such as banks and savings and loans. Typically, the environment included competition that was limited to a stable group of competitors, loyal customers and a relatively slow transfer of information. Many small businesses could thrive in this environment. Other small investors entered fields such as xerography, computers and computer component production, software design and chemical research. Some of these grew rapidly, becoming names with which we all are familiar: Xerox, IBM, Apple and Microsoft. But many more failed.
Today, experts agree that more businesses face an unstable business environment. Improvements in information processing and telecommunications have made major changes in most industries. Along with this, improvements in transportation and the growth of foreign economies (specifically in Europe and Asia) have created a global marketplace and redefined certain industries. In addition, as consumers are exposed to more choices, loyalty has become less important than it once was; a slightly better deal or a temporary shortage of stock can easily result in the loss of customers. Competitors also can change rapidly, with new ones appearing from out of nowhere (often this means the other side of the globe). With the instability of the global market, it is important that you make strategic planning part of your overall business strategy.
Proactive Versus Reactive Management
A few years ago, you could establish and maintain a business by reacting to and meeting changes in tastes, costs and prices. This reactive style of management was often enough to keep the business going. However, today changes happen fast and come from many directions. By the time a reactive manager can make the necessary adjustments, he or she may lose many customers -- possibly for good.
Proactive planning is the anticipation of future events. Decisions are based on predictions of future states of the environment as opposed to reactions to various crises as they occur. Proactive planning in an unstable, technology-driven business environment is critical to continuing success in almost any endeavor. Rather than reacting to the situation as it changes, proactive planning requires that you analyze environmental forces and make resource-allocation decisions. By doing this you will take your business where it needs to be in the next month, year and decade. Barry Worth, a consultant specializing in small business management, puts it this way: Today's entrepreneur must be a business architect. Anything built in today's business environment must have a step-by-step blueprint or plan on how to achieve success.
The blueprint for today's business owner is a business plan.
To Strategic Planning: How To Develop A Strategic Plan
The Need For a Strategic Plan
Planning plays an important role in any business venture. It can make the difference between the success or failure of your business. You should plan carefully before investing your time and, especially, your money in any business venture. The need for a plan is best illustrated by the following scenario - "A Tale of Two Businesses."
Two franchises (A and B) were started by individuals who had worked in management in much larger companies. While Franchise A provided a product and Franchise B a service, the output of both franchise systems had been sold exclusively in the United States before the current owners became involved. The output of both was readily available in other developed countries as well. The franchises opened about the same time and neither franchisee had a strong market presence, nor do they at present. Today Franchise B is bankrupt. By contrast, Franchise A is selling products in the Midwestern United States and in Europe.
What was the deciding difference in the two franchises' success? You probably expect it to be that one had developed a strategic plan and the other hadn't; however, it isn't this simple. Many factors can influence the outcome of a business venture. There were many similarities between the franchises, but there also were many differences.
Most notably, Franchise A sold a product and Franchise B a service (although this does not clearly limit options). Another difference was that Franchise A had a carefully thought-out plan. The investors knew as they looked for a franchise partner that they wanted to find a product that could satisfy international markets and a franchiser who would support that kind of sales effort. These investors were based in the Midwest, but negotiated for exclusive rights to export the franchiser's product. Once they had obtained the franchise, and as they began to establish their business domestically, they also began to contact government experts in the U.S. Department of Commerce as well as educators and local managers with international experience.
Clear plans were developed outlining how they would position, market and distribute the product and which foreign markets would be targeted first. Even as they were building sales in one European market, they were attending trade shows and planning entry strategies in others.
By contrast, the second investor (Franchise B) started his business strictly because he wanted to leave a former employer. Of course many small businesses get started this way; however, in this case no investigation of franchising alternatives was done. The business was located in an area that, as it turned out, contained virtually no consumers for the kind of service being offered. When this mistake was realized, it was too late to move--the investor simply did not have the money or the desire to risk starting again.
Other examples further show the need for strategic planning and for developing a clear business plan. The owner of a business that seemed to be doing quite well in two locations was about to open in a third. The authors were called in to develop a benefits policy and discovered cashflow problems that could be found only after operations had begun in the new location. After analyzing the situation, an expansion and financial plan was developed for the sound locations only. In another case, the authors determined that a business had purchased more equipment than was necessary to accomplish the current workload.
After careful analysis, plans to make further purchases were put on hold, and the equipment available was used effectively to meet immediate needs.
A business enterprise is to complex to assume that failure to develop a sound business plan will be the cause for problems Nevertheless, this failure often counts among the factors contributing to business difficulties. As Worth has said, "Being a business entrepreneur today takes constant vigilance in order to be able to take advantage of new opportunities and the availability of new information and technology as they come into being." The first step in doing this is to have a plan.
Mission Statement
The first step in the strategic planning process is an assessment of the market. Businesses depend on consumers for their existence. If you are facing a rapidly growing consumer base, you probably will plan differently than if your clientele is stable or shrinking. If you are lucky enough to be in a business where brand loyalty still prevails, you may take risks that others cannot afford to take. Before you begin to assess the market, it is important that you complete a careful assessment of your own business and its goals.
The outcome of this self-assessment process is known as the mission statement. According to Glueck and Jauch, "The mission can be seen as a link between performing some social function and the more specific targets or objectives of the organization." Another definition states that the mission statement is a "term that refers to identifying an organization's current and future business. It is viewed as the primary objective of the organization".
Because these authors are writing for an audience of managers or would-be managers of larger businesses, their definitions may sound a bit lofty. If, however, you go back to the earlier example of a successful small business, you can see it started with a clear direction--what was to be achieved and, in a broad sense, how best to achieve it. While your own goal may be to survive, make a profit, be your own boss or even be rich, your business must first perform a social function, i.e., I must serve someone. Given this you must determine (1) the ultimate purpose and (2) the specific targets or objectives of your business.
The investors of Franchise A discussed above clearly had determined they wanted a business with the potential for international sales. With this objective they were able to determine the kind of franchise they wanted and the terms. They knew that some goods and services were more likely to be marketable overseas than others. Early research helped them determine which areas of the world would be the best places to start. This, in turn, helped them to further narrow their list of potential products. Also, they were able to assess the financial demands of various approaches to overseas markets. Their financial analysis enabled them to affirm that a franchise would be one of the alternatives with a high profit potential. All of these directions were derived from an initially vague desire to "go international." And, as the investors developed their ideas into a clearly defined business purpose, many issues were discovered that were critical to success.
Defining Your Business
A primary concern in defining a mission statement is addressing the question "What business are you in?" Answering this may seem fairly easy: however, it can be a complex task. Determining the nature of your business should not be strictly tied to the specific product or service you currently produce. Rather, it must be tied to the result of your output--your social function--and the competencies you have developed in producing that output.
Management theorist Peter Drucker suggests that if the railroad companies of the early 1900s or the wagonmakers of the 1800s had defined their business purpose as that of developing a firm position in the transportation business, rather than limiting themselves strictly to the rail or wagon business, they might still enjoy the market positions they once did. The obvious concern here is to ensure that you do not define your business too narrowly, leaving yourself open to economic changes or competitive challenges that make you vulnerable. The primary reason the service company mentioned earlier (Franchise B) failed was that it lacked a consumer base. These consumers were already being served by the current market. In another example, an entrepreneur developed a device to provide greater security for homes and vehicles. But, by focusing on the product rather than the service it was meant to provide, he failed to consider other services that already provided essentially the same level of protection at lower costs.
Your Firm's Philosophy
Once you have defined your mission statement, the next step is to define the firm's basic philosophy. Such a statement will help explain to your employees and associates how you would like to see the firm operate. Are you a risk taker, or would you prefer to build your business slowly from a solid base? How will you relate to customers, suppliers and competitors? What type of community involvement do you plan for your business, e.g., participation in recycling and volunteer activities? These questions, and many more, need clear answers to help your employees make operational decisions and conduct themselves in a manner consistent with your wishes. Much has been written about this concept in business literature under the term corporate culture. A clear explanation of your business's philosophy in the mission statement will provide a basis for the development of a consistent business culture.
Your Firm's Goals
The next step is to set clear goals to guide and maintain the business on a path consistent with its mission. Daniel Robey provides an excellent list of the key functions of business goals. To summarize his comments, goals serve to:
* Justify or legitimize the organization's activities. * Focus attention and set constraints for member behavior. * Identify the nature of the organization and elicit commitment. * Reduce uncertainty by clarifying what the organization is pursuing. * Help an organization to learn and adapt by showing discrepancies between goals and actual progress (providing feedback). * Serve as a standard of assessment for organization members. * Provide a rationale for organization design.
At one time, it was widely assumed that the owner of a company set that firm's goals. Glueck and Jauch refer to this as a "trickledown" theory because it was assumed that others in the organization simply accepted these goals. Chester Barnard, believing that it was naive to assume such ready acceptance, suggested that organizational objectives arose from a consensus of the employees. This "trickle-up" theory, however, is also naive in assuming that an organization is simply the sum of individual perspectives, and that it can achieve direction from an unguided and usually disparate group of people. Modern theories spring from combinations of these two approaches, suggesting goal development is a complex goal-bargaining process that enjoys some advantages of both basic theories.
Bargaining, while seeming a rather negative and poorly developed goal-setting approach, has the advantage of involving most, if not all, employees in the process. As a result, it is more likely that key concerns, internal as well as external, will be taken into account. By involving employees, you improve their understanding of and commitment to the firm.
Pierce and Robinson captured the complexity of goal setting in this statement: Strategic choice is the simultaneous selection of long-range objectives and grand strategy.... When strategic planners study their opportunities, they try to determine which are most likely to result in achieving various long-range objectives. Almost simultaneously, they try to forecast whether an available grand strategy can take advantage of preferred opportunities so that the tentative objectives can be met. In essence then, three distinct but highly interdependent choices are being made at one time. Usually several triads or sets of possible decisions are considered.
To improve the structure of this strategic approach, most experts suggest that a repetitive method be used in developing goals. This begins with the owner and perhaps a few key employees agreeing on a long-term direction for the business and suggesting major goals in line with this direction. Then, other employees are asked to suggest specific objectives, which are then reviewed before being implemented. Goals become the shared purposes of the owner and employees and thus, it is much easier to get the support of employees and their clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished.
Goals are defined as broad, ideal conditions. A possible goal could be "To become the leading small-package delivery service in the Kansas City metropolitan area." In defining goals it is important to understand (1) how the goal was derived and (2) how it provides guidance.
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
The university requires an extensive infrastructure to support its research, instruction, and public service missions. These needs have been well documented in universitywide and campus studies completed in the last five years.1 The basic recommendations of these committees-for enhanced information networks and computing resources, for updated facilities, including modernized laboratories, and for a greater emphasis on service-will become realities in the next decade.
Information technology is becoming increasin2 Many units at the university are already making excellent use of this new technology. The introduction of new technologies must be coordinated and supported within university units as well as with centralized resources. Universitywide high-speed data communications networks between and within buildings and between campuses will provide on-line computer, instructional, library, and administrative services essential to campus operations. Information technology is becoming increasingly critical to economic and personal development. Additional improvements will include an increase in the quantity and kinds of computing available, including work stations and off-campus resources for high performance computing; increased availability of computing for students; enhanced use of teaching technology, including multimedia instructional laboratories and servers, instructional software, two-way interactive learning, and desktop video-conferencing; networked, distributed manage-ment information systems for administrative functions; administrative systems that allow speedy, accurate, and flexible paperless transactions by students, faculty, and administrators; and outreach efforts that provide shared data for citizens, business, industry, and government.
Electronic communities are already a reality for scholars around the globe. As we upgrade our own systems, more members of the Rutgers community will be able to participate in these electronic networks.
Implementation Strategies
Enhancing a sense of community and a renewed commitment to excellence will require augmented resources, an improved service orientation, and new initiatives in interdisciplinary and intercampus collaboration. Success in achieving these goals will require significant collective effort, as well as a commitment to one university. General principles for implementing our goals are briefly described below. Enhanced Resources Strategic plans submitted at every level, from the departments to the campus, note the importance of using existing resources more cost-effectively. They are also consistent in citing the need for restoration of resources as well as for additional resources. Support is needed for hiring faculty and staff, for research programs, for student financial assistance, equipment, innovative academic and social programs, and facilities. The university is committed to allocating resources to units in accordance with the priorities established in this document. Success in achieving these goals will require a commitment to one university. Making the case to the state for higher appropriations and making the case to the federal government and private foundations for enhanced support remain central to our strategy. The university has been successful in leveraging state appropriations to generate extramural federal and private funding. The high quality of our research programs and our significant impact on the economic and cultural life of the communities we serve strengthen our case for state resources. Outreach efforts to generate more support require appropriate staff commitment. We are now positioned to assume these responsibilities. An invigorated university public communication effort, a key component in this strategy, should yield significant improvement in Rutgers' visibility to the general public and to specific constituencies at the state, national, and international level.
Enhanced Service Orientation
The university will continue to focus serious efforts at improving its services to students and faculty, and to the many external constituencies to whom it directs its programs. The QCI program has already made a significant contribution to these efforts by increasing our awareness of the importance of assessing the needs and concerns of our constituents, and subsequently, revising our procedures with a view toward providing more effective service. Our collective aim is to make service orientation an integral part of the culture of the university. A New Perspective The culture of the university embraces the values and ideals of the academic community and guides all of our actions. Strategic planning provides us the opportunity to reform and reshape this culture, to develop a renewed sense of community, and to acquire a new perspective about Rutgers. This new perspective will embody a strong commitment to excellence, a heightened sense of service, and a clear vision of where we want to go as one university. As a community, enlightened by this shared perspective, we will move forward with confidence to face the challenges that lie before us.
ENHANCE Undergraduate Colleges, Faculty Bodies, and Student Support Systems
The university has a strong commitment to strengthening instructional programs, especially for undergraduates. This is evidenced by the development in the last two years of Learning Resource Centers and Teaching Excellence Centers on all three campuses, as well as university grants to encourage the development of innovations in curricula and instructional methods. Coordination among undergraduate colleges, faculty bodies, and student support systems will be improved. Oversight for the provision of instruction will remain at the campus level. Because the undergraduate colleges, faculty bodies, and student support systems make significant contributions to our students' educational experience, the university strongly supports their roles.
ENHANCE University Communications and Government Relations
Effectively communicating the university's message is critical in defining our mission and goals to the public at large and to specific constituencies. Programs sponsored by the Offices of University Communications and Government Relations have been designed to inform and persuade the state's political, corporate, and civic leadership, and the general public that a state university of the highest quality is a critical component of New Jersey's continued economic growth and social progress.
Continuing Education, Outreach Programs, and Distance Learning
Continuing professional education is crucial for an increasing number of Americans. With its long and distinguished history of professional service, Rutgers will play a vital role in providing continuing education programs to prepare and maintain a work force for a competitive global marketplace. Through enhanced continuing education programs, developed in collaboration and partnership with business, industry, and labor unions, as well as education, health care, and government institutions and agencies, the university will become increasingly responsive to the educational needs of davaoweños adults.
The development of the information network will have profound consequences. The ability to deal with information and an understanding of the increasingly complex system for its creation, analysis, organization, and dissemination are already essential prerequisites for any educated person. Emerging technologies offer us the opportunity to actualize the concept of one university. Intercampus integration will be buttressed significantly through the appropriate use of information technology, and especially through the development of new modes of distance learning. For example, information technologies, including desktop video-conferencing, could improve coordination between the campuses. With investments in technological infrastructure, library resources could be shared. Sharing courses via electronic media would increase options for students on both campuses.
New technologies not only promise more effective use of resources among the three campuses, but offer the possibility for significantly enhanced outreach efforts throughout the state, and indeed potentially worldwide.
Highlights of the plan for the university include investments that will:
1. Enhance learning by increasing the number of faculty in undergraduate classrooms and decreasing the reliance on graduate teaching assistants and temporary faculty; providing more experiential learning opportunities through such efforts as internships, study abroad, and community service; and creating new academic and support programs. 2. Expand interdisciplinary research capacity and visionary initiatives. 3. Preserve student access to education through expanded financial aid. 4. Ensure faculty and staff excellence through competitive compensation and supportive resources. 5. Strengthen the University's infrastructure, especially facilities and information technology. 6. Engage government and business leaders to advance economic development.
REFERENCES:
http://oirap.rutgers.edu/strategic/index.html
http://www.purdue.edu/strategic_plan/2001-2006/ | |
| | | IK
Posts : 46 Points : 47 Join date : 2009-06-19
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:18 am | |
| Sir Gamboa,
Due to the accident that I had in the school for the past few months, I wasn’t able to pass my assignments on time. In regards to this, our class Mayor, Ms. Marren Joy Pequiro and I had a conformity that allows me to submit and posts my assignments in this forum with consideration. | |
| | | IK
Posts : 46 Points : 47 Join date : 2009-06-19
| Subject: Re: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:48 am | |
| I am hoping one day that a meeting with my University President to discuss about the expedite implementation of information system in the university would come out good and successful for me to be able to prove to myself that I have really made it! despite the fear that keeps haunting me, I still struggled to survive amidst the confusions that hurled against me everytime the thought of considering it difficult would stir my troubled imaginations. I was thinking...is it a joke? am I just dreaming? I hope I really am for I really could hardly believe that a lay person and just a simple student could ever strategize and develop such a huge plan for the university and who else could? Anyone? How I wished that I really have this very productive mind and skills of an information technology expert so I could present the plan to the university President as needed.
Anyway, with the advent of this technology..the internet...I know I can make it with the help of some searched reliable sources available online. Quoting some published works would be of great help in order for me to present one plan for the meeting. However, it is still in my mind that to consider this meeting successful, maybe I should be honest to talk with the president that his administrative expertise also plays very important role and which is what I need in this venture. I may be very good in my craft but being an administrator of an institution particularly in education sector is not my focus yet, I hope I could turn this meeting into a very interactive and a fruitful one.
Moreover, to define Information system first of all could start this cause rolling. To quote Wikipedia, Information Systems (or IS) is historically defined as a 'bridge' anchored between the business world and computer science, but this discipline is slowly evolving towards a well-defined science. Typically, Information Systems (or IS) include colleagues, procedures, data, software, and hardware (by degree) that are used to gather and analyze information. Specifically computer-based information systems are complementary networks of hardware/software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, & distribute data. Today, Computer Information System(s) or CIS is often a minor track within the computer science field pursuing the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software & hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society. Overall, an IS discipline emphasizes functionality over design.
In a broad sense, the term Information Systems refers to the interaction between algorithmic processes and technology. This interaction can occur within or across organizational boundaries. An information system is not only the technology an organization uses, but also the way in which the organizations interact with the technology and the way in which the technology works with the organization’s business processes. Information systems are distinct from information technology (IT) in that an information system has an information technology component that interacts with the processes components.
An Information System consists of four parts which include: procedures, software, hardware, and information or data, which are essentially the same. There are various types of information systems, for example: transaction processing systems, office systems, decision support systems, knowledge management systems, database management systems, and office information systems. Critical to most information systems are information technologies, which are typically designed to enable humans to perform tasks for which the human brain is not well suited, such as: handling large amounts of information, performing complex calculations, and controlling many simultaneous processes.
Information technologies are a very important and malleable resource available to executives. Many companies have created a position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) that sits on the executive board with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technical Officer (CTO).The CTO may also serve as CIO, and vice versa. The Chief Information Security Officer(CISO), who focuses on information security within an organization, normally reports to the CIO.
In this regard, information system professionals and their associates have strong analytical and critical thinking skills to implement large-scale business models within any organization. Although solving problems within an organization is a common practice, IS professionals have the ability to automate these solutions via programmable technologies without violating ethical principles. As an end-result, IS professionals must have a broad business and real world perspective to implement technology solutions that enhance organizational performance.
In computer security, an information system is described by the following components: • Repositories, which hold data permanently or temporarily, such as buffers, RAM, hard disks, cache, etc. Often data stored in repositories is managed through a database management system. • Interfaces, which support the interaction between humans and computers, such as keyboards, speakers, scanners, printers, etc. • Channels, which connect repositories, such as routers, cables, etc..
Now that Information System is very well defined above, the university concerns now must be laid out for the system to work out. But how? reliable sources and information must legitimately be gathered from a very well planned surveys and fora from the faculty, staff and students. But an expedite implementation of this act I believe could only be achieved through a collective and interactive participation and support of the department assigned and concerned. An action plan must be drawn and laid out with the following purposes. With all honesty, if allowed, let me quote a very good sample of this program. Thanks to the University of Wisconsin's plan of action for it helped me made everything easier to have this task and which I found very relevant for this institution.
If this chance to talk with the President is feasible then I would try to bring this sample of a Technology plan of Wisconsin University as a guide to our implementation. I am hoping that this could give an idea for a better resolution of some issues concerning the information system of our university.
Purpose of the Technology Plan Technology is a critical part of the day-to-day operations of the university and is used to enhance student learning, support the preservation, creation and transmission of knowledge and support campus management functions. The purpose of the technology plan is to guide the ongoing development and evolution of technology in support of the campus mission and strategic directions. Faculty, staff and student input is sought in the development and implementation of the technology plan. Technology planning is a collaborative effort to ensure that resources are used wisely to achieve equitable access to information technology for the good of the whole university community. Beyond equitable access, the technology plan should be aligned with university strategic directions. When new technologies are considered, they must be evaluated relative to how they support the campus mission and strategic directions.
Technology Planning Principles Given the limited financial and human resources available to the university the following principles are used when acquiring and implementing hardware, software applications, data bases, academic and administrative systems.
Adherence to standards. The campus is committed to adopting common tools that ensure resources are used wisely to achieve equitable access to information technology for all students, faculty and staff. Adherence to these standards benefits the university community in the following ways: o Reduces the complexity of support and improves service to users; o Enables a shared knowledge base across campus that facilitates collaboration; o Allows for sharing electronic documents without the added burden of converting formats, thus, saving time for users; o Allows users to confidently go from one computer to another knowing how to use the applications; o Reduces down time for repair and overhead costs; o Improves the overall reliability and availability of computing applications; o Reduces the total cost of ownership
Whenever possible the campus should adopt software that is compatible with higher education and/or industry standards. Through the use of standard Application Program Interfaces (APIs) different systems can communicate and share data in the best interest of serving students and enhancing productivity.
Use of integrated groupware. By using integrated groupware users can easily move information and data among applications and between departments to improve collaboration, communication, and efficiency.
Use of a central core database. A central core database managed by data custodians ensures data integrity, data security and protection of privacy. The core database is also used to feed other systems to improve efficiency and reliability, reduce staff workload and enhance communication within the university community.
Assessment of financial and human resources. When considering acquisition or implementation of a new technology it is important to evaluate the budget and staffing resources needed in relation to the anticipated benefits. Start-up costs associated with a particular information technology as well as continuing costs should always be incorporated into the planning and budget for technology projects.
Current Technology Environment An environmental scan of campus technology reveals a complex array of systems and services that fall into three broad categories: infrastructure, instructional technology, and, information /transaction systems.
Infrastructure. UWGB’s philosophy of end-to-end networking provides universal access and common technology tools for all faculty, staff and students. This comprehensive support model enables faculty, staff and students to focus on their creative work and collaboration, rather than spending time trying to get the technology to work. Computing and Information Technology (CIT) staff are responsible for managing the network topology, operating systems, and desktop applications. Before deploying any new technology CIT staff engage in extensive market research, technical evaluation, development and testing of software to ensure that all systems integrate and function in a highly reliable manner.
Technology Infrastructure includes: o Switched and Routed Network Backbone including: • Gigabit Ethernet service to most campus buildings • 100 megabit switched fast Ethernet service to the desktop • Core network data switch with advanced layer 2, 3, and 4 capabilities • Multiple virtual local area networks (VLAN’s) to optimize network traffic and maintain network security. • 2500 active network data jacks in the campus network • 2100 active network data jacks in the residence life network • HP Openview for network monitoring • Servers Alive for network status monitoring and reporting o Wireless network in MAC Hall winter garden, ES-114, and General Access Lab. o Server infrastructure including: • 8 File, print, backup, and web servers • 5 Electronic mail servers • 6 Core desktop software support servers • 3 Directory servers • 4 Network support servers • 12 Peoplesoft SIS servers • 9 Departmental application servers • 3 Firewall servers • 5 test and development servers o Checkpoint Firewall providing: • Advanced stateful packet filtering • Bandwidth management • Wireless and Open access network user authentication • Virtual Private Network (VPN) services • Rudimentary intrusion detection capabilities o Security infrastructure including: • Desktop, server, and electronic mail anti-virus products • Anti-spam electronic mail software • Automatic rollout of anti-virus software updates to desktop PC’s and servers
Desktop Support includes: o Windows or Macintosh computers replaced every three to four years o Standard image for core software* o Anti-virus, intrusion prevention, and basic malware detection/removal o Automated software update and patching o Help Desk services o Training on operating systems and applications
Instructional Technology. Information Services provides a broad range of technology services in support of the academic mission, including: classroom technology, computer labs, library content, online learning software, and instructional design assistance.
Classroom technology. UWGB has 67 computer/video projection systems across campus. Of these, 41 are installed in hi-tech classrooms. Most of these classrooms also have: video and sound systems for VHS, CD ROM and DVDs media; slide projectors; and, electronic overhead units for displaying three dimensional objects, book/journal pages, or transparencies. Every effort is made to assign hi-tech classrooms to faculty who use instructional technology in their teaching; however, this is not always possible due to the high demand. The Media Services Department delivers instructional technology to classrooms as needed to mitigate the shortage of hi-tech classrooms.
Student Computer Labs. In the mid 1990’s UW System established a goal for campuses to provide one computer for every 25 students in a general access computing lab that would be open to all students a minimum of 80 hours per week. UWGB has exceeded this goal and currently provides one computer for every 21 students through two general access computing labs. There are 202 student workstations in the IS computer lab, which is open 100 hours per week, and 54 workstations in the Library, which is open 87.5 hours per week. The IS general access computing lab also has four student project rooms each equipped with 2 PCs, a scanner, and video editing equipment and software. The Library has four student project rooms equipped with a standard student lab PC. The campus also maintains 15 specialized instructional computer labs that are tied to academic disciplines and open to students enrolled in those disciplines 20 to 40 hours per week. The Computer Science program has its own lab with key card access for students majoring in Computer Science. The Technology Council provides oversight on the creation and decommissioning of specialized labs. Workstations in these labs are funded by the Lab/Classroom Modernization Fund.
Library technology. The Library provides extensive instructional technology support with more than 100 electronic databases, 3,500 e-journals, 10,000 e-books and 15,000 cataloged web pages. The library delivers this content to the desktop along with services such as e-reserves, e reference, e-interlibrary loan and digitized archive collections. Through consortiums with UW libraries, private academic libraries and public libraries, UWGB students, faculty and staff have access to the collective resources of Wisconsin and beyond. Librarians organize digital resources on the web to assist students, faculty and staff with their research and also provide individual research assistance in person, over the phone, through e-mail, and online chat sessions.
Faculty support. The Learning Technology Center (LTC) exists to help faculty and staff integrate technology in the teaching and learning process. To this end, it acts as a clearing house for instructional technology information and training opportunities, showcases new technologies, and assists faculty and staff in developing technology expertise. LTC staff provide pedagogical and technical advice on technologies such as digital imaging, web page development, presentation software, electronic discussions, scanning, courseware and multimedia software. The LTC offers primary support for the Desire2Learn course management system, which is used by more than 50% of the faculty and students.
Current Trends & Future Directions in Higher Education
Academic Support e-learning/Distributed Teaching and Learning. Student and faculty interest in online learning opportunities has continued to grow over the past five years. Across the UW System usage of online learning systems has grown from 16,000 enrollments in 1999 to over 300,000 enrollments in 2004. On the Green Bay campus about 50% of faculty and students are using online learning tools. The campus is well positioned to support the expansion of online learning through the Learning Technology Center staff and the Desire2Learn course management system. Published research indicates that fully online learning is as good as traditional classroom learning, and, blended learning (a combination of face-to-face and online) is superior to either just online or just traditional face-to-face instruction. Listed below are some areas that should be addressed in the technology plan: o faculty development o course management systems o repositories o intellectual property o video over IP o Streaming audio/video
Instructional Technology. Technologies that support learning inside and outside the classroom continue to evolve. The following tools and issues are part of this evolution:. o Portfolios o “smart” classrooms o Course management systems o e-grading o intellectual property, copyright, plagiarism o digitizing content (text, music, video, images) o web page development o differences in learning styles (gaming, video, text messaging, etc.) o online student work groups and discussion groups o interactive, experiential learning online o simulation technology, 3-d modeling o tele-immersion technology
Research Computing. Faculty are becoming more dependent on computer technology for their creative work. The Technology Plan should consider support for: o keeping up with the literature o communicating with colleagues across distance and time o collaborating with colleagues (sharing files, critiques, discussion groups) o advanced data modeling and computer applications o accessing and interacting with live data systems at a distance o transferring large data stores across the internet o digital imaging o online surveys o additional workstations to run equipment and support specialized applications
Student Computing. Today’s students have used computers since kindergarten and tend to adapt quickly to new technologies. The Technology Plan should address the changing needs of students, including: o Wireless network o Laptop connections o Kiosks o Technology training o Smartphones & other mobile devices o Simulation and interactive instructional technology o Online student services, including e-payments
Information & Transaction Systems
Enterprise-Level Portals. Many campuses have implemented portals as a way to integrate various information/administrative systems and to make it easier for students, faculty and staff to locate their personal information. Portals can integrate business functions, teaching and scholarship, public relations and promotions. Portals can also provide easy access to institutional repositories. Portals can facilitate: o Managed signature entry point (single sign-on) o Institutional branding and marketing o Opportunity to customize o Role-based security management o Improved searching of the campus web and/or databases o Organization of information content and resources o Integration of various enterprise systems o Push technology – push information out to campus users o Personal information management tools o Institutional repository
Information & Administrative Systems. The campus has more than a dozen enterprise systems and many additional departmental information/administrative systems. As much as possible these systems should be able to share name and address data to maintain accurate information about the UWGB community of users. Ideally, information about an individual should be stored in the central campus database (PeopleSoft Campus Community) with other campus systems using the data and updating it as appropriate. The central campus database will be updated with personnel information from the HRIS system managed by UW System. Local address information and system privileges will be maintained in the central campus database. New information/administrative systems that could be considered are: o library systems (e-reserves, e-books, e-journals, e-reference) o electronic records management o digital collections & assets o archiving digital content o online publishing o preservation of the scholarly record o asset management o content management systems
Web Services/Web-based systems. The campus web-site has evolved extensively over the past five years and will continue to change. A significant challenge will be integrating different applications with secure exchange of data over the Internet. The Technology Plan should address: o Web services o Content management systems o ASP scripting o Web development software (eg, Dreamweaver) o E-commerce o Middleware technology (portals, directory services, security) o Portal technology o Integration among different systems o Messaging between systems o Workflow notification
Infrastructure
Infrastructure Management. IT infrastructure refers to the entire technology architecture that support student, faculty and staff computing activities on campus and from a distance. The IT infrastructure must also accommodate public access to the campus web site and its various information systems, where appropriate. Issues that must be addressed over the next five years include: o Campus backbone: growth, capacity planning, hardware replacement, Quality of Service (QOS); layer 2 and 3 (switch and routing) networking at the edge, power over Ethernet (PEO) support, gigabit Ethernet to the desktop, 10 gigabit Ethernet in the backbone. o Campus Fiber Plant: The current multimode fiber optic cable (installed in 1988) cannot carry data at speeds above one gigabit at distances greater than 250 meters. The fiber plant needs to be upgraded with single mode fiber optic cable that can transmit higher data rates at greater distances. The higher capacity will be required to provide network speeds needed to support current and new applications across the campus network. o Internet: commercial internet, I2 (research apps and video) IPv6, redundant Internet gigapop access routes o Network services: I1, I2, video-over-IP, voice-over-IP o Campus and ResNet Data Switch Replacement: The current 3Com network switches installed in 1998 and 1999 will not be supported by the vendor beyond October, 2005 and must be replaced in the summer of 2005. o Wireless data network services across campus and Residence Life areas
Security and Identity Management. Making information available over the network increases access and efficiency, but also adds the risk of unauthorized access to or inappropriate use of information. The Technology Plan should address the following issues: o Authentication/authorization policies and architecture o Intrusion protection; firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spam o Privacy protection: personal identifiable information o Regulatory issues: FERPA, HIPAA, GLB, Patriot Act, DMCA o Personnel changes relative to authorization o Single sign-on o Manage trust relationships o Illegal file sharing and downloading o Digital signature technology
Objectives through 2010
Technology is a critical part of the day-to-day operations of the university and is used to enhance student learning, support the preservation, creation and transmission of knowledge and support campus management functions. The technology objectives must be designed to serve student learning and student development. Thus, the technology objectives must support the people who are hired to teach and provide academic and business services for the students. If we address the technology needs of the students, faculty and staff the campus will be better positioned to address the larger campus initiatives, such as connecting learning to life and community engagement. The objectives for the campus IT plan were developed from information gathered between April and October, 2004 from the faculty, staff and students through web surveys, open forums and constituent group meetings. The objectives have been organized under three broad themes: o Faculty/Staff Investment: helping people make better use of technology o Technology Investment: maintaining and enhancing usability of current systems o Technology Investment: new initiatives
The first theme focuses on people--assisting them to use our current technology more effectively. The second theme focuses on keeping up-to-date on hardware and software.
The third theme challenges the campus to stretch a bit and explore new technologies. The 40 objectives outlined in this strategic plan will guide technology development over the next five years. Some of these objectives are more critical than others. For example, some of the objectives are necessary to maintaining services for the students, while other objectives are more discretionary. In order for the campus to be successful in achieving these strategic objectives the Technology Council will develop an “action plan” for implementing the most critical objectives during 2005-2007. The Technology Council is responsible for annually assessing progress on the strategic plan.
1. Faculty/Staff Investment: helping people make better use of current technology.
Throughout the process of gathering information the Technology Council heard faculty and staff say that they felt it was more important to use our current technology more effectively than to add more technology. As a result, this strategic plan has identified helping faculty and staff make better use of technology as the number one goal area. The objectives are organized by the learning environment and the work environment. Each of these objectives will require a multi-step approach with collaboration among all areas of the campus.
Learning Environment
1.1 Provide faculty development opportunities on implementing technology in the classroom/curriculum that is adaptive to student learning styles (e.g. video, online discussion, group collaboration, text messaging, simulations and games, etc.) 1.2 Improve availability of hi-tech classrooms. 1.3 Improve reliability and usability of classroom technology. 1.4 Assist faculty in using technology tools to detect plagiarism. 1.5 Assist faculty with incorporating copyrighted material into course content. 1.6 Provide assistance for faculty who wish to expand use of electronic portfolios in the curriculum. 1.7 Support faculty experimentation with instructional software inside and outside the classroom environment.
Work Environment
1.8 Provide opportunities for thinking about technology at a “meta-level.” Beyond navigating a system, how might we use technology to transform what we do? 1.9 Establish two “work groups” per year to discuss best practices with technology. 1.10 Provide opportunities for keeping up with the literature and technology practices in the field. 1.11 Provide opportunities for communicating and collaborating with colleagues across distance and time through file sharing, critiques, discussion groups, etc.
2. Technology Investment: maintaining and enhancing usability of current systems
Keeping our technology up-to-date is also a high priority of the faculty, staff and students. This section of the strategic plan lists objectives that focus on technical upgrades and enhancements that either save people time, improve access or improve usability. The objectives are divided into three groups: learning environment, work environment and infrastructure. Many of the objectives fall within the Infrastructure group and most of these will be carried out by the Information Services staff.
Learning Environment
2.1 Reduce data entry time for faculty by supporting electronic grading and transfer of grades between systems. 2.2 Increase electronic resources available to faculty for research.
Work Environment
2.3 Improve functionality, usability, and access to information through web interfaces. 2.4 Coordinate strategies and infrastructure to manage, support and interface with centrally hosted administrative systems, including: deployment, training and troubleshooting
Infrastructure
2.5 Maintain 2-3 year upgrade cycle for desktop software. 2.6 Maintain 3-4 year replacement cycle for desktop hardware. 2.7 Maintain classroom equipment, including repair or replacement of failing and outdated equipment, as well as evaluating new classroom technology. 2.8 Upgrade campus fiber optic cable plan with single mode fiber optic cabling that is capable of carrying higher bandwidth network services. 2.9 Upgrade campus backbone and ResNet on a 5 year cycle to support. 2.10 Maintain currency on all campus core and administrative software applications. 2.11 Maintain campus network server hardware and software. 2.12 Implement security protocols and policies. 2.13 Discourage illegal file sharing and downloading of copyrighted material. 2.14 Build infrastructure to integrate commonly used, centrally hosted applications on the core software image. 2.15 Expand wireless data networking technology
3. Technology Investment: New Initiatives
It is important that the exploration of new initiatives include business case studies that show the value of the new initiatives relative to the campus mission and the cost. The value analysis should include such items as improving learning, improving access, reducing workload, improving business processes, improving efficiency, or improving effectiveness. The cost analysis should include the staff resources needed to implement and provide ongoing support, hardware and software costs, and potential savings that could be realized as a result of the initiative.
Learning Environment
3.1 Explore expansion of curriculum offerings through Distance Learning technology. 3.2 Explore repositories for faculty developed materials and sharable content. 3.3 Explore delivering video over the Internet, so that every classroom has the potential to be a distance learning classroom, and every network connection could be a conference center. 3.4 Explore digitizing content (text, music, video, images) to increase access to curricular materials for students and faculty. 3.5 Explore the use of new technologies in instruction, such as: simulation technology, 3-d modeling, tele-immersion technology, advanced data modeling and computer applications. 3.6 Research models for web surveys that can be used by students in a variety of courses. 3.7 Explore the degree of interest among the academic programs to pursue a laptop program for students/faculty.
Work & Service Environment
3.8 Develop a virtual student service center incorporating all student services in an online format. 3.9 Develop e-commerce applications to improve service to constituents and to increase opportunities for revenue growth. 3.10 Develop a recommendation regarding an Enterprise-Level Portal for the campus. 3.11 Explore the use of technology to improve communication with all constituents including the public. 3.12 Develop best practices for electronic records management, relative to retention of email, web documents and file-share documents. 3.13 Explore developing an e-journal to publish faculty/staff/student papers online. 3.14 Explore developing an electronic archive for preserving the scholarly record of UWGB faculty 3.15 Explore content management systems and work flow systems to improve overall efficiency of moving “paperwork” across campus. 3.16 Explore use of digital signature technology to support workflow and web-based transactions. 3.17 Explore the idea of a “digital freshman face book” to assist freshman in getting to know their classmates.
It is my utmost hope therefore that this gesture merits the consideration of the President from a student like me who at least tried to find means to be able to help in the implementation of the program by searching for a realistic if not so ideal sample of an action for the institution to look at as guide for a better if not a best future...
Reference: http://www.uwsa.edu/olit/cio/ITplans/UW-Green%20Bay%20IT%20Plan.pdf
Last edited by Ida Karla Duguran on Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:20 am; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | JerusalemAlvaira
Posts : 46 Points : 48 Join date : 2009-06-23 Age : 35
| Subject: Assignment 4 Expediting SISP Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:52 pm | |
| Subject: Assignment 4 (Due: December 17, 2009, before 01:00pm) Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:37 pm. You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. (At least 5000 words)
Assuming that I was invited by the President of the University of Southeastern Philippines to prepare an Information System plan for the university, I will discuss the steps to expedite or to speed up the implementation of the information system plan for the university. Before I discuss the steps, I would like to give you definitions for some words so that we will understand fully what an information system plan is. Let me start with the word, information.
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). 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.
Types of Information System Information systems do not limit itself to management information system only. There are also information systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), Office Automation System (OAS) and the Expert Information System (EIS). These information systems are all computer-based and are needed and used in the business world. These make the business transactions that are involved in the said information systems faster than what any types of manual system can do. A Decision Support System (DSS) is a modern day type of computer-based information system. The Decision Support System, also known as, DSS supports the decision-making activity of the business and/or organization. Among the usual transactions done using the Decision Support System or DSS are accounting or financial information regarding a certain company or business organization. It covers the retrieval of the amount of assets, have sales figures compared depending on the period you want to compare and the results of the different decisions. There are different Decision Support System or DSS types. These are the Communication-driven Decision Support System, Data-driven Decision Support System, Document-driven Decision Support System, Knowledge-driven Decision Support System and the Model-driven Decision Support System.
The Communication-driven Decision Support System is a type of information system that provides or enables communication between two or more people. This type of Decision Support System is capable of facilitating the information sharing between groups of people and also supports decision making activities. Another type of Decision Support System is the Data-driven Decision Support System. This type of information system uses data to give support to decision making. It uses a database as its way of handling certain data that are necessary to assist the company or organization in their decision making activities. It is in the database that large arrays of data or information are being stored, edited or deleted. This data or information are being secured, backed up and even treated as confidential information especially if it the data or information can take down a certain company. Another type of a Data-driven Decision Support System or DSS is the GIS or Geographic Information System. This type of Decision Support System can be used to visualize geographical representations for maps. Another type of Decision Support System that was mentioned is the Document-driven Decision Support System which is new in the field. This type of support system centers on the management and manipulation of unstructured documents in different formats. Next is the Knowledge-driven Decision Support System. This type of system informs the person if a decision must be made. The last system that was mentioned is the Model-driven Decision Support System. This type of system integrates the data to create models such as statistical and graphical representations to give support to a certain company or business organization’s decision making activities.
After having Decision Support Systems discussed, Transaction Processing Systems or TPS is next in the list. Transaction Processing Systems, also known as, TPS handles data or information that must be kept constant. In other terms, Transaction Processing Systems are capable of storing, modifying and retrieving data or information. TPS systems can be used in real time processing of data or information. Examples of these are the transactions done in the banks or it can also be accounting systems. Aside from real time processing, the Transaction Processing Systems are also capable of batch processing. Batch processing allows the company to process or manage large amounts of data in limited resources. TPS are always expected to be reliable systems. The system must have security and recovery management most especially if the transactions involve large amounts of money. The next type of information system that was mentioned is the Office Automation System, also known as, OAS. Office Automation Systems are the designing of the information technology infrastructures in a company. It is where all the computers – hardware and the software are networked together to be able to give way to communication and enabling the company or business organization to transfer or share of data or information.
The functions that are integrated or networked in the Office Automation Systems are Electronic Publishing, Electronic Communication, Electronic collaboration, Image Processing and Office Management. Types of electronic publishing are the Microsoft Office tools such as Microsoft Office Word that enables the user to create and edit word documents; Microsoft Office PowerPoint that enables the user to create and edit PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft Office Excel that enables the user to create and edit spreadsheets, etc. Electronic Communication, on the other hand, refer to email or electronic mail, voice mail and fax. Video conferencing is also a type of electronic communication system. Electronic Mail or email, in short, is a software that is used to allow the users to send and receive mails anywhere in the world in just a few minutes. The users are also allowed to attach different types of files in their message. Voice mails refer to phone answering machines, it stores all the voice messages which allows the user to retrieve and listen to the messages that were stored in the machine. Fax messages is a type of electronic communication system that allows a user to send documents to the receiver through the use of telephones that are capable of printing fax messages. Video conferencing allows two or more people to communicate with each other through the use of video and audio and have face-to-face conversation. It is one of the fast growing systems today. The next type of Office Automation System that has been mentioned is the Electronic Collaboration. This system enables the employees to work on a project or on a document together, simultaneously. They will be able to do such activities through the use of networked microcomputer and other hardware that are necessary to do certain activities. Next is the Image Processing system that converts different types of documents to other file types that can be accessed by the computer. Example of this is charts, graphic, videos, audios and text file conversions. The last type of an Office Automation system or OAS is the Office Management Systems. This refers to the systems that are capable of organizing the employees in the companies, the schedules, activities and the projects that will be done in the future. This type of system is also capable of handling schedules such as storing, modifying and retrieving data or information with regards to the schedules, appointments and activities. The last type of information system that has been previously discussed is the Expert Information System or EIS. This type of information system is capable of providing an answer to a problem which will then be used by the employees for decision making activities. It also provides options to choose for decision making activity.
Steps in preparing for the IS Plan. After having the types of information systems discussed, I will now move my discussion on the steps in preparing for an Information Systems Plan. Before I give my own ideas in information systems planning, let me first give you a definition about the word, objective. For me, an objective is similar to the words purpose, intent, mission and aim. An objective is also similar to the word goal; however, the former can be accomplished within a given time frame. An example of an objective is, “To finish the project in three years time”. I will give a quick recap on the definition of the words, information, system, information system and plan or planning. 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. The word system has 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. . 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. Information system, on the other hand, is the combination of the components of information technology plus the people and allows the company to handle large amounts of data or information. 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. There are also information systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), Office Automation System (OAS) and the Expert Information System (EIS). These information systems are all computer-based and are needed and used in the business world. The word plan can refer to the word preparation. It is also similar to the words arrangement and diagram. It is one 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.
In order for a person to develop an information systems plan, I believe that, first, he or she must have a knowledge or understanding on what an information system is and what it does. Second is that he or she should have a basic information about his or her client. Third, he or she must identify the needs of the client and gather all the necessary information in order to come up with a good information systems plan. One way to identify the needs of the client or the company is to meet with the client. In this way, both parties will be able to discuss the needs and the things that should be done. The objectives, goals and priorities of the project must also be set. The information systems plan must coincide with the priorities and objectives that you formulated. Moreover, the information systems plan must be flexible. The importance of the flexibility of the information systems plan is to make it applicable if for instance, changes will occur. Another thing is to identify the risks that might occur during the planning until after the implementation phase of the information systems plan when the new information system plan is being used. 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.
Why do people plan in the first place? Here is a quick recap. 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.
In developing a strategic information systems plan, a developer can ask few questions. Below are some of the few questions that might help in the development and implementation of a strategic information systems plan. These questions are taken from my previous assignment or article. Together with the questions are the reasons why I wanted to ask these questions for the development and implementation of a strategic information systems plan. 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.
• What are the things that can be improved in your department, company or business organization? o 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.
• How ready is your company or business organization to adapt or apply information technology? o 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.
• What are the effects of having a strategic information systems plan in their company or business organization? o 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.
• Who will be involved in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan in the company or business organization? o 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.
• Who will be affected in the development and implementation of the strategic information systems plan in the company or business organization? o 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.
Here is an excerpt that shows the steps in strategic information systems planning. The excerpt was taken from E.R. McLean and J.D. Soden, Strategic Planning for MIS, Wiley-Interscience, (1977). These steps are the following:
• Establish a mission statement Before I discuss my own views and opinions on the first step that was taken from E.R. McLean and J.D. Soden, Strategic Planning for MIS, Wiley-Interscience, (1977), I would like to define and at the same time, the difference between the words mission and mission statement. The word mission is similar to the words assignment, task or operation. For me, a mission is an assignment or a task that must be done in a specified period of time. People from all walks of life have a mission and their mission has to be completed or accomplished. Nevertheless, a plan must be made first before establishing a mission. The plan that will be completed shall be inclined or shall lead to the success of the mission.
A mission statement, on the other hand is a written statement of a company about what their roles are going to be or going to play in a particular task. Also written in the mission statement is the purpose or intention of the company and its employees in a specific and long term tasks. Moreover, the mission statement of a company is not only limited to the company’s or business organization’s role, purpose and intention within their premises but it is and can be extended to the community or to the society. In terms of strategic information systems planning, it was stated clearly that a mission statement refers to the “services that you are responsible for”, it also refers to “your place in the organization.”
• Assess the environment The next step in strategic information systems planning, which was taken from E.R. McLean and J.D. Soden, Strategic Planning for MIS, Wiley-Interscience, (1977), is assessing the environment. For a second time, I will start with a definition. At this point, I will give you a definition of the words assess and environment. Let us start with the term, assess, first. The word assess may refer to the words evaluate and appraise. When we assess a person, a company or business organization, or even ourselves, we gather data about our subject for the assessment or evaluation; we study thoroughly, the skills, resources, and the things that are needed to be improved. We measure the strengths and weaknesses of our subject. In addition to what I mentioned, we suggest things or a solution to whatever problem was found during the assessment or evaluation that we made.
The next in line for the definition is the word, environment. The term, environment may be defined as a surrounding, a background, or a setting. The environment may come in many forms; it may refer to the place where you work. Environment may also refer to the place where you live. Natural environment is also a form of an environment. It is in the natural environment that all living and non-living things interact with each other. Another form of an environment is the social environment where the people and the government interact. It is where you can find their ways of living or their culture. Environment can also be found in the world of Information Technology. We have the Integrated Development Environment or IDE. This refers to the computer programming development tools that help the computer programmers in developing different software. It can also be called as a source code editor. Examples are NetBeans, C++, Microsoft Visual Studio, Visual FoxPro, PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor Editors, etc. We also have the desktop environment. The desktop environment refers to the GUI or Graphical User Interface of the computer. We have the runtime environment which allows or provides services to programs while it is running.
In my own opinion, when it comes to assessing the environment, the person or team who is assigned to assess the environment will make a thorough study regarding the subject. They gather the necessary information about the environment which in time, they will use for their development of a strategic information systems planning. According to the excerpt that was taken from *E.R. McLean and J.D. Soden, Strategic Planning for MIS, Wiley-Interscience, (1977), the second step in developing a strategic information systems plan is assessing the environment. The following are the necessary points that are needed to be assessed in the environment.
1. The capabilities of the IT department 2. The readiness of the company to use IT 3. The status of our customers, our industry 4. The status of the economy, government regulations, environment, society, etc. 5. Technology
Assessing the capabilities of the Information Technology department or Information and Communication Technology Department of a company or business organization is one step for the evaluators to know whether the said department is capable of having a new project that will be implemented. Aside from that, both the department and the evaluators will also have an idea about the roles and the functions of the Information Technology department or Information and Communication Technology Department of a company or business organization. Moreover, both parties will know what the said department can do to the company or business organization.
The readiness of the company to use information technology will also be identified or known through the assessment of the environment. In the process of evaluation, the company or business organization will be able to know their strengths and weaknesses. Also, they will be able to know whether they are already equipped with the necessary requirements for any upgrade of any plans in putting up an Information Technology department or Information and Communication Technology Department. Moreover, the need of having a said department in the company or business organization will be determined in this type of environment assessment.
Assessing the status of the customers and of the industry is also a very important step in strategic information systems plan. In assessing the status of the customers, you will be able to know the needs of the customers. Knowing the needs of the customers will be able to help the developers and the company or business organization to know what types of strategic information systems plan must be developed in order to have it inclined to their needs. Moreover, it will help the developers and the company or business organization in making the right project. Assessing the status of the industry will help the company or business organization to know how the industry is doing. Furthermore, it will help the developers and the company or business organization to know what kind of strategic information systems plan will be developed and how the strategic information systems plan will help boost the industry or affect the industry, negatively.
Assessing the status of the economy will help the developers and the company or business organization to know what type of strategic information systems plan must be developed in order to have it inclined to their needs. Moreover, the strategic information systems plan that will be developed must be flexible and will be able to help the company or business organization adjust in whatever the situation of the company is. By assessing the economy, the developers and the business organization will be able to know the current situation of the economy. They will be able to know whether the economy is strong or weak and how they will be able to help the economy and their company or business organization plan ahead.
Assessing the government regulations will help the developers and the company or business organization know whether the products or the vision, mission and goals of the company comply with the rules and regulations of the government or that it does not violate the rules and regulations imposed by the government. Moreover, this will help the company or business organization have an idea or help them adjust on the rules and regulations of the government.
Assessing the environment will be able to help the developers and the company or business organization to develop a kind of strategic information plan that will not have negative effects on the environment. Moreover, in assessing the environment, the company or business organization will be able to know the current status of the environment. Moreover, the assessment will help the company or business organization know whether their activities and of the industry does not violate the rules and regulations that concerns the environment. Furthermore, this will help them develop environment friendly products or strategic information systems.
Assessing the society will be able to help the developers and the company or business organization create strategic information systems plan or products that does not violate the culture, rules and regulations with regards to the society. Moreover, this assessment will help the company or business organization know the current status of the society.
The last thing that must be assessed is the technology. In this way, the developers and the company or business organization will be able to know the status of their business whether they are already capable of adapting new trends in technology. Furthermore, this will help them know if the information technology in their business operations is applicable or not. This will also give the developers an idea on what types of technology are fitted to be used in the company’s business operations. The assessments that were discussed above may refer to the SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis done in a particular company or business organization.
• Set goals and objectives After having the environment assessed, it is time for the developers and the company or business organization to set up goals and objectives. As a recap on what I had discussed earlier, in order for a person to develop an information systems plan, first, he or she must have a knowledge or understanding on what an information system is and what it does. Second is that he or she should have a basic information about his or her client. Third, he or she must identify the needs of the client and gather all the necessary information in order to come up with a good information systems plan. One way to identify the needs of the client or the company is to meet with the client. In this way, both parties will be able to discuss the needs and the things that should be done and that refers to the assessment that I had discussed. The objectives, goals and priorities of the project must also be set which I will now be discussing.
Goals and objectives are set when a person, a company or business organization wants to achieve something in the future. Goals and objectives may both be in a long – term or short – term basis. Both words are being used interchangeably. The only difference between these words are that objectives are more concrete compared to goals. The objectives as what I said can be on a long –term or short – term basis. Moreover, as it is concrete, the company or business organization follows a series of steps in order for them to have their objectives accomplished in time. Goals, on the other hand, can be achieved without a definite time specified.
• Derive strategies and policies After establishing the mission statement, assessment and setting up of the goals and objectives, it is time for the developers and company or business organization to create or derive strategies and policies for the development of the strategic information systems plan. According to the excerpt that was taken from *E.R. McLean and J.D. Soden, Strategic Planning for MIS, Wiley-Interscience, (1977), strategies for technology focus, personnel and career development and aligning with the company and policies for funding criteria; expenditures on IT? allocation criteria; priority setting, organizational arrangements, use of outside IT services, outsourcing, and selling IT services to outside organizations must be derived.
Before I discuss the strategies and policies mentioned above, I would like to start the discussion with a definition for the words strategies and policies. The word strategy may refer to the words plan or approach. According to the www.freedictionary.com, the word strategy or strategies are defined as a “plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal and the art or skill of using stratagems in endeavors such as politics and business.” The word policy, on the other hand, may also refer to the words guidelines, guiding principle or procedure. The word was also defined by www.freedictionary.com as “a course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous, prudence, shrewdness, or sagacity in practical matters.”
Deriving the strategies for technology focus, personnel and career development and aligning with the company are needed to have a successful strategic information systems plan. The strategies for technology focus, in my own opinion must be inclined not only to what was needed by the company but also on how to acquire the needed technology and how it will impact the business operations of the company. The needs of the company with regard to the information technology will be identified during the assessment period. Another strategy that must also be derived is the strategies with regards to the personnel and career development. It is important that in every project that will be developed or implemented, there should be a strategy for personnel and career development that is available and must be followed. One example for personnel and career development strategy are seminars, training programs and so on. These will help the employees of the company or business organization to be updated and learn the ways of using any new equipment or project or upgrades to the facilities that will be implemented. These personnel and career development strategies must be inclined to the company or business organization’s operational activities, rules and regulations. Furthermore, the strategies for technology focus, personnel and career development and aligning with the company must lead the company or business organization not only to its success but also to reaching the goals and objectives of the company or business organization.
• Develop long-, medium-, and short-range plans
After setting up the strategies for technology focus, personnel and career development and aligning with the company, it is time for the developers and the company or business organization to develop long-, medium-, and short-range plans. However, before I discuss to you the development of the long-, medium-, and short-range plans, I would like to give you a recap on the definition of the word 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). 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.
Plans can be in a long term or short term basis. Years before, companies or business organizations develop plans for the next ten (10) years. Change is one of the main reason why the companies or business organization nowadays opt for making development plans that is good from three (3) to five (5) years. The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. A lot has already been said about change – that it is the only thing which is permanent, that it changes everything and that change itself is everything. Moreover, whether we like it or not, change happens rapidly. And for the record, most of the time people find themselves trying not to get left behind. The same thing happens in the world of Information Technology. Technology has come a very long way and it never stopped changing. From the very first computer man has ever built, up to the latest technologies man has never dreamed would ever be built. What is new today becomes obsolete in the next few months due to fast innovations and upgrades. It is very important for the developers and for the company or business organization to plan ahead in order for them to be ready in whatever risks that they are going to take. Resistance to change can be one of the problems that they might encounter in the future.
The word change can be defined or referred to as transformation, revolution, adjust, amend or alter. Change is constant. It never stops on changing - changing people, changing economy, changing everything that you could ever imagine. Change can be good, for others, change can be bad. Some like it and some fear it. Yet, no matter how we see change, we still have a choice, either to accept and adapt to change, or to resist and remain unchanged. The truth is, change will always be there. For those who fear it, change will always haunt them. For those who like it, change will always be their sign of opportunity. Resistance to change comes when someone does not want to adapt to change. This change can be referred to the changes in the Information Technology components that they are currently using. Moreover, the end users might have resisted changing for the reason that they do not want to complicate things. The reason may be because the users are already used to the kind of technology or system that they are currently using in their company or business organization. Some people or employees will think that having a new system will only be a time waster since as users, it will only take time and effort for them to learn the new system or technology that is imposed in their company or business organization.
In addition, resistance to change may come in different ways. The Information Technology or Information and Communications Technology department in a certain company or business organization may be doing some project or an Information Systems Plan for the company or business organization. However, the management may not have supported the projects of the development team of The Information Technology or Information and Communications Technology department by not giving enough financial budget or support for the project. In our past interviews, we had an interview with the Dole’s MIS Programmer and the topic was about the barriers in implementing information systems or information technology which I think can also be thought of as common forms of frustrations among the information systems professionals. She described critical barriers that can somehow affect the information technology or information systems project implementation. These are inexperienced staff, lack of defined IS/IT implementation methodology, lack of IS/IT implementation awareness, lack of support, lack of resources, organizational politics, and time pressure. Another problem that they might encounter is the lack of resources. The result of the company or organization’s lack of support for the implementation of the information technology or information system in the company is the lack of resources which in turn becomes a barrier for the implementation of such system. Without any investment by the company for such project, the implementation would be very impossible. Therefore, the management must have sufficient awareness with regards to the full details and benefits of information technology or information system from the planning of the project to the time frame and finally, to the cost of the implementation up to the time when the new system will be implemented in the company. The management should also provide or hire competent and knowledgeable or experienced staff in order for the company to get the best results and to enjoy the benefits of such system.
Proper planning must be done in order to provide all the required resources for the implementation of the information technology or information system. The company must be able to provide rules for the information technology or information system plan and that includes the time frame of the project. The information technology or information system plan must also be composed of experienced staff who will be working for the project. Moreover, they must make a thorough study about the information technology or information system project and the best ways on how it must be implemented to help improve the business operations of the company, to make the best out of end users and for them to be able to improve their performance for not only for their own but also for the company itself.
• Implement plans and monitor results
After having finished the tasks that were discussed it is time for the development team and the company or business organization to implement the strategic information systems plan and monitor the results whether or not, it has achieved the goals and the objectives. Moreover, it is right to check whether the new project went as what has been planned has done whatever it has been expected to do. It would be a very good practice if the developers and the company or business organization document everything about the strategic information systems plan from the very beginning of planning the project until such time that the new project has been implemented. Moreover, the results must also be highly documented for the reason that in the future, the documents might be used as a basis for the new projects to come. In addition, the documents can be used for tracing whatever errors or bugs might occur.
It is a good practice if after the implementation of the strategic information systems plan, the developers and the company or business organization will also monitor the results of the implementation of the strategic information systems plan. Monitoring and assessing the results will help both the developers and the company or business organization to know whether the newly implemented strategic information systems plan has improved the production and other business operation of the company or business organization. Furthermore, monitoring and assessing the results will also show how the employees and the end users of the strategic information systems plan reacted or performed using the new implemented strategic information systems plan.
As a recap, 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. The word system has 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. . 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. Information system, on the other hand, is the combination of the components of information technology plus the people and allows the company to handle large amounts of data or information. 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. There are also information systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS), Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), Office Automation System (OAS) and the Expert Information System (EIS). These information systems are all computer-based and are needed and used in the business world. The word plan can refer to the word preparation. It is also similar to the words arrangement and diagram. It is one 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.
In order for a person to develop an information systems plan, I believe that, first, he or she must have a knowledge or understanding on what an information system is and what it does. Second is that he or she should have a basic information about his or her client. Third, he or she must identify the needs of the client and gather all the necessary information in order to come up with a good information systems plan. One way to identify the needs of the client or the company is to meet with the client. In this way, both parties will be able to discuss the needs and the things that should be done. The objectives, goals and priorities of the project must also be set. The information systems plan must coincide with the priorities and objectives that you formulated. Moreover, the information systems plan must be flexible. The importance of the flexibility of the information systems plan is to make it applicable if for instance, changes will occur. Another thing is to identify the risks that might occur during the planning until after the implementation phase of the information systems plan when the new information system plan is being used. 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.
I would like to recall the question for this article. You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. Assuming that I was invited by the President of the University of Southeastern Philippines to prepare an Information System plan for the university, I will discuss the steps to expedite or to speed up the implementation of the information system plan for the university. In the case of the University of Southeastern Philippines’ technology, change is slow and so is its progress. There are factors that hamper change in the university; few of them are resistance and the lack of facilities and budget. These affect the university, seriously. On the contrary, there had been a lot of attempts made to somehow change and improve the student services of the University of Southeastern Philippines. It took me two to three years to see change in the university’s student services, most particularly, in information technology. I had discussed above, the steps in the implementation of the strategic information systems plan. Now, I will be discussing the steps in expediting the implementation of the strategic information systems plan in my own opinion.
In the implementation of the strategic information systems plan, the developers and the company or the business organization cannot guarantee that they can implement the strategic information systems plan smoothly and without any risks, hindrances or frustrations. Therefore, in order to expedite the implementation of the strategic information system, the developers and the company or the business organization must be able to plan well on how to manage the different risks that may came in their way of implementing the new project. The risks, hindrances or frustrations, if somehow not treated or managed very well, might cause the developers and the company or business organization a series of problems, big or small. It is going to cost them so much time, effort and funds if the risks, hindrances or frustrations are already too much for the developers and the company or business organization to handle. Before planning on how the potential risks, hindrances and frustrations are going to be managed well in the future, the members of the development team and of the company or business organization must be able to identify the possible risks, hindrances and frustrations which might occur that they must handle. After the members of the development team and the company or business organization had identified the potential risks, hindrances and frustrations, it is time for them to measure the level of effects that a certain potential risk, hindrance and frustration not only for the strategic information systems plan but, it is also important to calculate its effect on the end user or employees and even to the business operations of a certain company or business organization. After having the potential risks, hindrances and frustrations identified and after having the level of its effect on the end users and business operations, it is time for the members of the development team and the company or the business organization know or identify the ways on how to treat, handle or manage the identified potential risks, hindrances and frustrations that in the future might come in the way of the implementation of the strategic information systems plan in a certain company or business organization. Whatever ways on treating, handling or managing the risks, hindrances and frustrations that might come in the way of the implementation of the strategic information systems plan in a certain company or business organization will depend on the level of the effect of the risks, hindrances and frustrations. After the ways of treating, handling or managing the identified potential risks, hindrances and frustrations, it is also considered an important move that the members of the development team and the company or the business organization to create, develop or set up alternative plans in implementing the strategic information systems plan that they want to have implemented. After the members of the development team and the company or the business organization has set up the alternative plans for the implementation of the strategic information systems plan, they can now have implement it to the company and monitor its effects on the business operations and how it affects the work of its end users or employees. Moreover, if by chance there are problems during the implementation of the strategic information systems plan are encountered by the members of the development team and the company or business organization, it is not going to be hard for both parties to be able to solve any issues regarding the matter. If these steps are followed, then it will be easy to speed up the implementation of the strategic information systems plan in a certain company or business organization or any kind of institutions most especially, the University of Southeastern Philippines where to tell you frankly, the development and changes most especially in terms of their information technology infrastructure is very, very slow.
I would like to give you some examples of frustrations that some developers undergo which may hinder the implementation of a strategic information systems plan in a certain company or business organization that some information technology or IT personnel has identified. In addition, there are ways that I had identified on how to come up with a good strategic information systems plan. I believe that, first, he or she must have a knowledge or understanding on what an information system is and what it does. Second is that he or she should have a basic information about his or her client. Third, he or she must identify the needs of the client and gather all the necessary information in order to come up with a good information systems plan. One way to identify the needs of the client or the company is to meet with the client. In this way, both parties will be able to discuss the needs and the things that should be done. The objectives, goals and priorities of the project must also be set. The information systems plan must coincide with the priorities and objectives that you formulated. Moreover, the information systems plan must be flexible. The importance of the flexibility of the information systems plan is to make it applicable if for instance, changes will occur. Another thing is to identify the risks that might occur during the planning until after the implementation phase of the information systems plan when the new information system plan is being used. Developing and implementing a strategic information systems plan is a major change in a company or business organization. Planning does not completely save them from frustrations but somehow, it minimizes the level of frustrations and risks that they might undergo. Here is an example, the lack of resources. The result of the company or organization’s lack of support for the implementation of the information technology or information system in the company is the lack of resources which in turn becomes a barrier for the implementation of such system. Without any investment by the company for such project, the implementation would be very impossible. Therefore, the management must have sufficient awareness with regards to the full details and benefits of information technology or information system from the planning of the project to the time frame and finally, to the cost of the implementation up to the time when the new system will be implemented in the company. The management should also provide or hire competent and knowledgeable or experienced staff in order for the company to get the best results and to enjoy the benefits of such system. Another problem is the time pressure which happens when the people or the staff who are developing the information technology or information system implementation is having difficulty in finishing the project within the marked deadline due to the shortness of time. To address this barrier, the development staff should be committed in doing the project and should be given sufficient time to complete the information technology or information system implementation. In this way, time pressure may somehow be avoided and the project can be finished as planned.
Therefore, to speed up the implementation of a strategic information systems plan for the University of Southeastern Philippines, the development team must do some things during the planning of a strategic information systems plan. These steps are first, he or she must have a knowledge or understanding on what an information system is and what it does. Second is that he or she should have a basic information about his or her client. Third, he or she must identify the needs of the client and gather all the necessary information in order to come up with a good information systems plan.
Reference: 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 http://dssresources.com/dsstypes/cdss.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_processing_system http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/transaction-processing-systems.htm http://www.bookrags.com/research/office-automation-systems-csci-01/ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/strategy http://www.thefreedictionary.com/policy
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| | | John Cesar E. Manlangit
Posts : 43 Points : 47 Join date : 2009-06-22
| Subject: Assignment 4 Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:10 pm | |
| First, let us define what an Informations Systems Plan is. Because an organization's business strategic plan contains both organizational goals and a broad outline of steps required to reach them, the business strategic plan affects the type of system an organization needs. Deciding which new systems to build should be an essential component of the organizational planning process. Organizations need to develop an information systems plan that supports their overall business plan and in which strategic systems are incorporated into top-level planning. The information systems planning refers to the process of the translation of strategic and organizational goals into systems development plan and initiativesFor example, part of the information systems plan for a luxury car company might be to build a new product tracking system to meet the organizational goal of improving customer service. Proper information systems planning ensures that specific systems development objectives support organizational goals. One of the primary benefits of information systems planning is that it provides a long-range view of information technology use in the organization. The information systems plan provides guidance on how the information systems infrastructure of the organization should be developed over time. The plan serves as a road map indicating the direction and rationale of systems development. Another benefit of information systems planning is that it ensures better use of information systems resources, including funds, information systems personnel, and time for scheduling specific projects. Overall objectives of information systems are usually distilled from the relevant aspects of the organization's business strategic plan. Information systems projects can be identified either directly from the objectives determined in the first step or may be identified by others, such as managers within the various functional areas. Setting priorities and selecting projects typically requires the involvement and approval of senior management. Once specific projects have been selected within the overall context of a strategic plan for the business and the systems area, an information systems plan can be developed. The plan contains a statement of organizational goals, identifies the project objectives, and specifies how information technology supports the attainment of the organizational goals. When objectives are set, planners consider the resources necessary to complete the projects including equipment (computers, network servers, printers, and other equipment and devices), software, employees (systems analysts, programmers, users and others), expert advice (specialists and other consultants), and so on. The information systems plan lays out specific target dates and milestones that can be used later to monitor the plan’s progress in terms of how many objectives were actually attained in the time frame specified in the plan. The plan also includes the key management decisions concerning hardware acquisition; structure of authority, data, and hardware; telecommunications; and required organizational change. Organizational changes are usually described, including management and employee training requirements; recruiting efforts; changes in business processes; and changes in authority, structure, or management practice. As part of translating the corporate strategic plan into the information systems plan, many companies seek systems development project that will provide a competitive advantage. This usually requires creative and critical analysis. Creative analysis involves the investigation of new approaches to existing problems. By looking at problems in new or different ways and by introducing innovative methods to solve them, many firms have gained a competitive advantage. Typically, these new solutions are inspired by people and things not directly related to the problem. Critical analysis requires unbiased and careful questioning of whether system elements are related in the most effective or efficient ways. It involves considering the establishment of new or different relationships among system elements and perhaps introducing new elements into the system. The impact a particular system has on an organization's ability to meet its goals determines the true value of that system to the organization. While all systems should support business goals, some systems are more pivotal in continued operations and goal attainment than others. These systems are called mission-critical systems. An order processing TPS, for example, is usually considered mission-critical. Without it, few organizations could continue daily activities, and they clearly would not meet the goals. The goals defined for an organization will in turn define the objectives set for a system. A manufacturing plant, for example, might determine that minimizing the total cost of owning and operating its equipment is a critical success factor (CSF) in meeting a production volume and profit goals. This CSF would be converted into specific objectives for a proposed plant equipment maintenance system. One specific objective might be to alert maintenance planner when a piece of equipment is due for routine preventive maintenance (e.g., cleaning and lubrication). Another objective might be to alert the maintenance planners when the necessary cleaning materials, lubrication oils, or spare parts inventory levels are below specified limits. These objectives could be accomplished either through automatic stock replenishment via electronic data interchange or through the use of exception reports. Regardless of the particular system development effort, the development process should define a system with specific performance and cost objectives. The success or failure of the systems development effort will be measured against these objectives. Performance objectives measure the extent to which a system performs as desired. Is the system generating the right information for a value-added business process? Is the output generated in a form that is usable and easily understood? Is the system generating output in time to meet organizational goals and operational objectives? Cost objectives attempt to balance the benefits of achieving performance goals with all costs associated with the system. Balancing performance and cost objectives within the overall framework of organizational goals can be challenging. Systems development objectives are important, however, in that they allow an organization to effectively and efficiently allocate resources and measure the success of a systems development effort. In order to develop an effective information systems plan, the organization must have a clear understanding of both its long- and short-term information requirements. Two principal methodologies for establishing the essential information requirements of the organization as a whole are enterprise analysis and critical success factors. Enterprise analysis argues that the firm's information requirements can only be understood by looking at the entire organization in terms of organizational units, functions, processes, and data elements. Enterprise analysis can help identify the key entities and attributes of the organization's data. The central method used in the enterprise analysis approach is to take a large sample of managers and ask them how they use information, where they get the information, what their environments are like, what their objectives are, how they make decisions, and what their data needs are. The results of this large survey of managers are aggregated into subunits, functions, processes, and data matrices. Data elements are organized into logical application groups--groups of data elements that support related sets of organizational processes. The weakness of enterprise analysis is that it produces an enormous amount of data that is expensive to collect and difficult to analyze. Most of the interviews are conducted with senior or middle managers, but there is little effort to collect information from clerical workers and supervisory managers. Moreover, the questions frequently focus not on management's critical objectives and where information is needed but rather on what existing information is used. The result is a tendency to automate whatever exists. But in many instances, entirely new approaches to how business is conducted are needed, and these needs are not addressed. The strategic analysis or critical success factors approach argues that an organization's information requirements are determined by a small number of critical success factors (CSFs) of managers. If these goals can be attained, the firm's or organization's success is assured. CSFs are shaped by the industry, the firm, then manager, and the broader environment. An important premise of the strategic analysis approach is that there are a small number of objectives that managers can easily identify and on which information systems can focus. The strength of the CSF method is that it produces a smaller data set to analyze than does enterprise analysis. The CSF method takes into account the changing environment with which organizations and managers must deal. This method explicitly asks managers to look at the environment and consider how their analysis of it shapes their information needs. Unlike enterprise analysis, the CSF method focuses organizational attention on how information should be handled. The method's primary weakness is that the aggregation process and the analysis of the data are art forms. There is no particularly rigorous way in which individual CSFs can be aggregated into a clear company pattern. Second, there is often confusion among interviewees (and interviewers) between individual and organizational CSFs. They are not necessarily the same. What can be critical to a manager may not be important for the organization. Moreover, this method is clearly biased toward top managers because they are generally the only ones interviewed.
Strategic information systems planning is a disciplined, systematic approach to determining the most effective and efficient means of satisfying organizational information needs. It is a top-down, structured approach which, to be successful, must employ technical and managerial processes in a systems engineering context. Under this approach, the characteristics of the system’s hardware, software, facilities, data, and personnel are identified and defined through detailed design and analysis to achieve the most cost-effective system for satisfying the organization’s needs. The process must consider system life cycle management and the organization’s policy and budget as important integral factors, and include all organizational participants (e.g., managers, users, maintainers, operators, and designers) throughout the process. It is an iterative process in that changes identified during the process must be evaluated to determine their effect on completed analyses. Strategic information systems planning is not a one-time event-it should be revisited periodically to ensure a system’s continued viability in meeting information needs and achieving long-term missions. For a long time relationship between information system functions and corporate strategy was not of much interest to Top Management of firms. Information Systems were thought to be synonymous with corporate data processing and treated as some back-room operation in support of day-to-day mundane tasks. In the 80’s and 90’s, however, there has been a growing realization of the need to make information systems of strategic importance to an organization. Consequently, strategic information systems planning (SISP) is a critical issue. In many industry surveys, improved SISP is often mentioned as the most serious challenge facing IS managers 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. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management. Objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. The systems development plan should identify specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. 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. King in his recent article has argued that a strategic capability architecture - a flexible and continuously improving infrastructure of organizational capabilities - is the primary basis for a company's sustainable competitive advantage. He has emphasized the need for continuously updating and improving the strategic capabilities architecture. 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 The same article emphasizes the need to note that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data processing views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems. SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information technology (IT) to a firm’s strategic activities has been one of the most common and effective ways to improve business performance. WHAT IS SISP METHODOLOGY? Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specific components such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools. Methodology benefits managers by providing information to plan, review and control projects. Generally methodologies are comprised of the following four elements: providing an opinion of what needs to be solved, defining techniques on what has to be done and when to do it, advising on how to manage the quality of deliverables or products, as well as providing a toolkit to facilitate the process. An SISP methodology can be viewed as an abstract system design that functions to transform organizational inputs (such as business strategy, assessment of current IS environment, and organizational influence) into an IS Strategic Plan as an output. When executing the SISP process, the abstract system design is applied in the context of multiple human activity systems (HAS) involving the SISP stakeholders (developers and clients). SISP methodologies can be categorized into two categories; namely, general and specific-to context methodologies. Three contexts were analyzed in the latter category; namely, business context, government context and educational context (Table 1). While there are numerous SISP methodologies, approaches and frameworks, the majority is oriented for commercial and production-based organizations, and is not suitable to guide SISP formulation in service-oriented industries and government. The business strategy model and a university strategy model are different in terms of time frame, consensus, value system, customers and context. Thus, business-context SISP methodologies are not suitable to guide SISP formulation in public educational institutions and government agencies because they focus primarily on the alignment of ICT strategies to the business objective of profits and competition. Government agencies and PIHLs focus on the formulation of ICT strategies to improve service delivery to the citizen and nation rather than profitability and competition. Although many SISP methodologies provide an overview of how to develop an SISP, the methods, techniques and tools to guide the SISP formulation process are not specified. The SISP initiation approach, the SISP team, and the set of tasks, activities and tools are not suited to the educational institution environment. Thus, the primary objective of the ISP-IPTA Methodology design was to document objectives and tasks in every phase, as well as the methods and techniques that can be used to implement the tasks. The methods and techniques are complimented by an automated toolkit that that can facilitate the SISP formulation process.
Information systems are important tools for effectively meeting organizational objectives. Readily available, complete, and accurate information is essential for making informed and timely decisions. Being unable to obtain needed data, wading through unneeded data, or inefficiently processing needed data wastes resources. The organization must identify its information needs on the basis of a systematic identification and analysis of its mission and functions to be performed, who is to perform them, the information and supporting data needed to perform the functions, and the processes needed to most usefully structure the information. Successful information system development and acquisition must include a rigorous and disciplined process of data gathering, evaluation, and analysis prior to committing significant financial and human resources to any information system development. While implementing such an approach may not preclude all information system acquisition problems, it should produce detailed knowledge of organizational missions and operations, user information needs and alternatives to address those needs, and an open and flexible architecture that is expandable or that can be upgraded to meet future needs. The purpose and use of information system in the beginning was targeted towards reducing manual labor and increasing efficiency and thus reducing cost of doing business. Cost has thus been the ‘primal instinct’ justification for the usage of Information system in companies. Management seems to still use this justification even in today’s day and age because the IT salesman still thinks it’s the best and only way to get management buy-in. Moreover, as most other rationales used for IS have proved hard to sell, both the IT sales teams and their customers find a comfort zone in cost savings. This could also be because both sides (from all their previous experiences) are convinced of their failure before they even start out on a different track. The past experiences, in most cases were times they tried, half heartedly probably, without enough experience and failed. These failures have resulted in the baby being thrown out along with the dirty water. Systems are usually laid out at different levels. The lowest rung in the ladder is taken by the TRANSACTIONAL information system. These are ones like ‘Pont Of Sales’ systems used in the store counters, or book keeping systems mentioned earlier. These are systems targeting cost reduction, capturing repetitive activities and assisting the human using it to become more efficient in handling larger volumes of transactions. The OPERATIONAL or operation support systems are usually build combining several Transactional systems in a logical sequence so as to make the operation of any particular division/functional group more efficient. Classic example is the integration of Accounting, Payroll, HR, and Inventory, Production etc. to form a MRP or ERP system. Or POS, Customer Account Info, Accounting, etc. linked together to form a CRM system. A very critical component for operational systems is their reporting systems. They provide the reports that combine and merge the reports/information from several transactional systems to provide reports to help executives manage operations in a synchronized and optimized manner. Thus, they act as enablers and help managers to keep track of various parameters so as to keep the whole operation smooth and efficient. STRATEGIC systems are little more complicated. They cross the regular operational boundaries and become tools that form the basis for senior management to plan, execute and monitor the organization. They help in keeping track of the Key Performance Indicators by combining and logically sorting information from various Operational and Transactional systems all across the company and at times combining it with external information from sources like the stock market, industry sources, partners and even competitors. Designing STRATEGIC information system requires a thought process of a ‘good’ CEO with an understanding of the business from the top, various information sources present in the company and outside in platforms that need to be collated, combined and extracted into a tool to help run the company in a more informed and responsive manner.
Characteristics of a Quality ISP A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. Timely- The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. Useable- The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. Maintainable- The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away. Quality- While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. Reproducible- The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.
Last edited by John Cesar E. Manlangit on Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:21 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | John Cesar E. Manlangit
Posts : 43 Points : 47 Join date : 2009-06-22
| Subject: Assignment 4 Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:10 pm | |
| The ISP Steps The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise. 1. Create the mission model- The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the Awho and the Ahow. 2. Develop a high-level data model- The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. 3. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes- Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Each enterprise resource Alives through its resource life cycle. 4. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes- Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives through its resource life cycle network. 5. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes- The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work onto which the Aas is business information systems and databases can be Aattached. The Ato-be databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects@ between the Aas-is and the Ato-be are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan. 6. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node- Detailed planning of the Adifference projects entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning. 7. Load resources into each WBS node- Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. 8. Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities- The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the APERT@ chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network. 9. Produce and review of the ISP- The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the meta data environment, the integrated project management meta data, and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized. 10. Execute and adjust the ISP through time- As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is Aautomated at the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less. IT projects are accomplished within distinct development environments. The two most common are: discrete project and release. The discrete project environment is typified by completely encapsulated projects accomplished through a water-fall methodology. In release environments, there are a number of different projects underway by different organizations and staff of varying skill levels. Once a large number of projects are underway, the ability of the enterprise to know about and manage all the different projects degrades rapidly. That is because the project management environment has been transformed from discrete encapsulated projects into a continuous flow process of product or functionality improvements that are released on a set time schedule. Figure 3 illustrates the continuous flow process environment that supports releases. The continuous flow process environment is characterized by: • Multiple, concurrent, but differently scheduled projects against the same enterprise resource • Single projects that affect multiple enterprise resources • Projects that develop completely new capabilities, or changes to existing capabilities within enterprise resources It is precisely because enterprises have transformed themselves from a project to a release environment that information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained on an enterprise-wide basis are essential. There are four major sets of activities within the continuous flow process environment. The user/client is represented at the top in the small rectangular box. Each of the ellipses represents an activity targeted to a specific need. The four basic needs are: • Need Identification • Need Assessment • Design • Deployment
Here are some other steps on how to implement an Information System: Preparation
Before you begin to implement the procedures described in this guide, you already should have prepared your institution for the analysis.1 As a result of your preparation, you should have clearly defined your goals and objectives for the new IS.
Goals
Goal-setting ideally involves establishing specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-targeted objectives. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it can serve as an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants have a clear awareness of what they must do to achieve or help achieve an objective. On a personal level, the process of setting goals allows people to specify and then work towards their own objectives — most commonly financial or career-based goals. Goal-setting comprises a major component of Personal development.
Personal goals
Individuals can set personal goals. A student may set a goal of a high mark in an exam. An athlete might walk five miles a day. A traveler might try to reach a destination-city within three hours. Financial goals are a common example, to save for retirement or to save for a purchase.
Managing goals can give returns in all areas of personal life. Knowing precisely what one wants to achieve makes clear what to concentrate and improve on, and often subconsciously prioritizes that goal. Goal setting and planning ("goalwork") promotes long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses intention, desire, acquisition of knowledge, and helps to organize resources. Efficient goalwork includes recognizing and resolving any guilt, inner conflict or limiting belief that might cause one to sabotage one's efforts. By setting clearly-defined goals, one can subsequently measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. One can see progress in what might have seemed a long, perhaps impossible, grind.
Goal management in organizations
Organizationally, goal management consists of the process of recognizing or inferring goals of individual team-members, abandoning no longer relevant goals, identifying and resolving conflicts among goals, and prioritizing goals consistently for optimal team-collaboration and effective operations. For any successful commercial system, it means deriving profits by making the best quality of goods or the best quality of services available to the end-user (customer) at the best possible cost. Goal management includes: • Assessment and dissolution of non-rational blocks to success • Time management • Frequent reconsideration (consistency checks) • Feasibility checks • Adjusting milestones and main-goal targets
Morten Lind and J.Rasmussen distinguish three fundamental categories of goals related to technological system management:
1. Production goal 2. Safety goal 3. Economy goal An organizational goal-management solution ensures that individual employee goals and objectives align with the vision and strategic goals of the entire organization. Goal-management provides organizations with a mechanism to effectively communicate corporate goals and strategic objectives to each person across the entire organization. The key consists of having it all emanate from a pivotal source and providing each person with a clear, consistent organizational-goal message. With goal-management, every employee understands how their efforts contribute to an enterprise's success.
An example of goal types in business management:
• Consumer goals: this refers to supplying a product or service that the market/consumer wants • Product goals: this refers to supplying a product outstanding compared to other products, perhaps due to the likes of quality, design, reliability and novelty • Operational goals: this refers to running the organization in such a way as to make the best use of management skills, technology and resources • Secondary goals: this refers to goals which an organization does not regard as priorities
Objectives
A goal or objective is a projected state of affairs that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve—a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A desire or an intention becomes a goal if and only if one activates an action for achieving it (see goal-oriented). It is roughly similar to purpose or aim, the anticipated result which guides action, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract object, that has intrinsic value.
You also should have the following elements in place (or concrete plans to establish them) before you select and install a new computerized system:
• Current business plan. • Annual operating budget, including expenditures for IS. • Preliminary cash flow analyses to determine the financial feasibility of the new system. • Formalized policies and practices, updated as appropriate. • Comprehensive system of internal controls, with plans to adapt it to the new information system. • Complete and accurate historical records. • Adequate infrastructure, or plans to upgrade the infrastructure. • Computer-literate personnel, or plans to enhance staff capabilities.
The manner and extent to which you have implemented each element depends, in part, on the size of your institution and the resources that are available to you — but hopefully you have not ignored any of them. The work you do to enhance these aspects of your operations lays the vital groundwork for your needs analysis.
What is a need analysis?
Perhaps surprisingly, the right IS for your institution isn’t necessarily the one that offers the most features — or even the one that offers the most features at the lowest cost. Instead, it is the system that offers the features that you need and want — now and in the foreseeable future — at a justifiable cost. Of course, this definition implies that you have a comprehensive and detailed understanding of your needs and wants, and the ability to distinguish between the two. (From the perspective of your institution, needs are essential attributes in any new system; wants are desired-but-not-absolutely-necessary features.) The process required to develop and document this understanding is referred to as a needs analysis. The needs analysis process generates a comprehensive list or report of your needs and wants, with a priority assigned to each item.
Inevitably, as with any other asset acquisition, you will have to make tradeoffs in designing your IS. Given unlimited time and funds, you could create an IS that matches all of your needs and wants exactly. But most institutions do not have unlimited resources. Instead, they must assemble and prioritize their requirements. Your needs analysis report assists you in making such tradeoffs by providing a framework for evaluating possible systems and for a cost-benefit analysis. A needs analysis also provides the software selection process with important transparency. Alternatively, if you decide to develop custom software, it is the basis for creating functional specifications.
Equally important, the needs analysis helps you to establish realistic expectations for your new system, and enhances your communications with potential consultants, service providers, software vendors and software developers. The preparation of the needs analysis often gives managers important new insights into the dynamics of the institution’s operations. As an additional benefit, the process affords your IS implementation staff an opportunity to develop a positive working relationship with the new system’s users, thereby helping to cultivate a broad endorsement for the new system as well as a sense of common ownership.
Who conduct this needs analysis?
A needs analysis is a participatory process — one that functions best when it draws upon the knowledge and experience of key management and of staff throughout the institution. By incorporating a broad range of perspectives into the process, you ensure that your analysis is comprehensive and accurate, thereby increasing the likelihood that you will achieve your information-management objectives. If your analysis is simply assigned to a consultant or a few staff members, the chance of achieving your goals for the new IS decreases dramatically.
Reflecting the participatory nature of the process, you should create a needs analysis team and appoint a team leader. Often, these same people also will participate in the selection and implementation of the new system (through a longer-term IS team or IS task force). In other cases, the composition of the team varies somewhat over time — for example, you might emphasize operations people during the needs analysis and include more technical people for selection and implementation. Such variations in team composition can reduce the workload for team members. Ultimately, the role of the needs analysis team is advisory. The team provides critical information for the decision-making process and, generally, a final recommendation. It does not, however, make the final information-system decision. That decision is made (or ratified) by the institution’s top management and board of directors.
Selecting a team member
Before you begin to develop the project plan for your needs analysis, an initial team must be assembled from among your institution’s staff.Ideally, each member of your team should possess one or more of the following skills and capabilities.
Detailed understanding of your own organization’s specific practices at even the most hands-on levels, with each major function represented. • Oral and written communications skills. • Interpersonal and listening skills. • Project management skills.
Taken together, the team should possess all of the above skill sets, which means it should consist of at least four or five members. If necessary, you can include consultants to supplement your in-house expertise — in computer hardware and software, for example. However, you generally should not include more than 10 or 12 members, as the size of the team becomes unwieldy and difficult to manage.
This needs analysis team develops the work plan, and then conducts the needs analysis after the plan is approved. Depending on the details of the plan you develop, you might find it necessary to supplement the team’s initial membership with additional members with specific skill sets or new skills.
Although team members can complete specific needs analysis tasks individually or in small groups — reflecting each member’s specific area of expertise — the entire team should hold regular meetings throughout the analysis process. These meetings might extend from weeks up to several months, if necessary, culminating in the production of a final needs analysis report.
To operate effectively, team members must be given access to the resources and key personnel necessary to complete their assignments. To accommodate the new workload borne by the team members, it is generally necessary to temporarily reduce their regular duties, change performance criteria, and/or delay deadliness. Often, team members also are provided with positive incentives to complete their needs analysis responsibilities in a comprehensive and timely fashion.
Selecting a team leader
Selection of the right team leader — sometimes also referred to as a project champion — is critical. Change can be a frightening thing, but managing it well is necessary for the future of any institution. Ultimately, the team leader manages change. She (or he) champions the IS project within and outside of the institution, provides guidance and encouragement, updates management and generates their buy-in, resolves conflicts, and creates consensus.
The leader also wields considerable power and authority to marshal resources and resolve administrative roadblocks. The person assigned to this leadership role should be a creative thinker with good people skills and a vision for the future. The team leader also should possess basic management and project management skills, although many of the ongoing project management tasks can be assigned to other team members.
How do you plan your needs analysis?
At its core, your needs analysis is a project in the traditional sense of the word.2 Therefore, it can be conducted according to established best practices for project management. By adopting such an approach, you significantly increase your chances of achieving your objectives, while enhancing the efficiency and quality of your analysis process. In fact, research demonstrates that, for every hour you spend planning a project, you save at least 20 hours in its implementation.
Using a typical project management framework, you approach a project in terms of stages, or phases, similar to the following:
• The launch phase seeks authorization for the project, in part by creating feasibility and cost-benefit analyses. • The planning phase establishes the project’s overall goals and objectives, scope, deliverables, and required resources, (e.g., team members, consultants, and anticipated expenditures), as well as the initial plan and schedule. • The implementation/performance phase conducts the work necessary to create the desired product or service, including all defined deliverables • The monitoring/controlling phase guides the work during the performance phase, and is generally implemented simultaneously with this phase • The wrap-up phase verifies deliverables, pays final expenses and considers lessons learned
For the most part, this guide describes the needs analysis process in the context of these project management phases, with an emphasis on planning and implementation. It also describes and provides examples of basic project management tools and techniques.
Because your needs analysis is a relatively simple project by project management standards, the guide does not include an extensive discussion of project management activities that might be more appropriate for larger and more complex projects. You should not lose your focus on the needs analysis itself by overcomplicating the project management aspects. As described in this guide, the planning process for your needs analysis includes the following steps: • Establish the project’s goal and objectives. • Define the scope by creating an outline of the main elements of the project — sometimes referred to as a work breakdown structure. Create the project plan including: • List of the major tasks required. • Templates, or scripts, to guide the work for these tasks. • Time and staffing budgets. • Initial schedule or time line. • Work packets for the team. • Define the project deliverables.
If you lack experience in developing and managing project plans, even these basic project management activities can be a bit time-consuming. To minimize the time and effort required, this guide provides samples, optional templates and other tools that you can use or customize as you find appropriate.
Establishing Goals and Objectives
Your project goal is a relatively simple, brief mission statement that answers the question, What do you intend to accomplish by performing the needs analysis? It communicates your purpose. For example: “To develop a comprehensive needs analysis that provides a framework for our transition from manual to computer-based information system.” Your objectives supplement your stated goal, providing additional detail that is generally less abstract and often quantifiable. For example: “Complete the needs analysis project for our accounting, lending and savings functions within three months, commencing 15 May.” “Control expenditures for consultant fees, travel and other project-related expenditures based on the amount allocated for these purposes in the current annual budget.” In addition to the project goals and objectives, you should have determined the goal and the objectives for your new IS.
Determining the Project’s Scope
The process for analyzing your IS needs is essentially a modular one. As described in this guide, it focuses on specific business-function modules.6 This modular approach helps you organize and manage your analysis, and to assign specific duties to individual team members.
Before you can develop a project plan and then proceed with your analysis, you must first establish the scope of your project. This requires you to think strategically, and then make an initial determination as to the business functions that you actually intend to automate — as well as whether your need for each is immediate or future. Often, this scope decision already has been made as a result of an MFI’s business planning process. If not, make an initial determination for the purposes of the needs analysis — you can always refine your selections later. The final decision regarding the business functions to be automated is usually made by top management and the board of directors, based at least in part on input from the needs analysis team. Budgetary constraints are also an important consideration. In conducting your needs analysis, you should only analyze the business functions that you intend to automate within a reasonable period of time, such as the next two or three years.
How do you conduct your needs analysis?
In conducting a needs analysis, you analyze and prioritize important aspects of your institution’s business operations — including information flows, internal controls, and detailed practices and procedures. If you have adequately prepared your institution for this analysis, as described in Guide 1, you already have evaluated certain major aspects of your business practices and reengineered them as necessary. Your needs analysis takes that process a step further in terms of detail. As you analyze the detailed practices involved in your business processes, you also might find opportunities for small improvements or fairly minor reengineering.
Analyzing Your Requirements
Your project plan and WBS provide a road map for analyzing your current and anticipated IS requirements. For each task in the plan (i.e., each business function and activity that your institution intends to automate), you research and document a number of business practices that impact the design of your future IS.
Analysis Method
To conduct your analysis, you and the other members of the analysis team perform the tasks as outlined in each work template. The elements in the template represent potential IS requirements for your institution. Taken together, they describe the IS features necessary to automate your institution’s business operations. Without a work template, you have no assurance that your needs analysis addresses the range of issues that are critical to successfully describing your IS requirements. In other words, a template reduces the risk of an incomplete analysis.
However, it should not restrict your ability to analyze and document additional requirements or business practices if you uncover them in the process of conducting the analysis. Consider the template a working document that can be adapted as necessary or appropriate.
As you conduct your analysis, explore each element as comprehensively or as minimally as appropriate for your unique situation, but give them all careful consideration. If you develop your own IS, the resulting needs analysis is the starting point for developing functional specifications. If you purchase an off-the-shelf IS, the analysis provides the framework for evaluating your available options and for specifying any necessary customizations.
You could employ any or all of the following techniques to gather required information: Personal knowledge and expertise.
• Surveys and interviews with management and staff. • A review of all existing policy and procedural manuals. • A review of research and other materials generated by your business planning process. • Flowcharts of business processes.14 • Business walkthroughs, where you follow a process through from start to finish. • An analysis of your existing IS — whether manual or computerized — including any known limitations, inefficiencies or other serious problems relative to your current and future requirements.
Recordkeeping Options
While working through the needs analysis process, your team must maintain a written record of its findings as well as the work papers it generates. This creates institutional memory. To the extent that information is located only in the minds of team members, rather than on paper, your project risk increases. If a team member changes jobs or becomes ill, for example, you stand to lose critical information. In a worst-case scenario, you might have to repeat completed portions of the analysis. While the work template guides your analysis, it might not provide a sufficiently comprehensive mechanism for recording all of your findings. You can supplement it using any of the approaches described below, or any other that you prefer.
Regardless of the approach you choose, your team members should save all of their rough notes and other working documents to support the analysis results.
Ten key principles to ensure that information management activities are effective and successful: 1. recognise (and manage) complexity 2. focus on adoption 3. deliver tangible & visible benefits 4. prioritise according to business needs 5. take a journey of a thousand steps 6. provide strong leadership 7. mitigate risks 8. communicate extensively 9. aim to deliver a seamless user experience 10. choose the first project very carefully
Principle 1: recognise (and manage) complexity
Organisations are very complex environments in which to deliver concrete solutions. As outlined above, there are many challenges that need to be overcome when planning and implementing information management projects. When confronted with this complexity, project teams often fall back upon approaches such as: • Focusing on deploying just one technology in isolation. • Purchasing a very large suite of applications from a single vendor, in the hope that this can be used to solve all information management problems at once. • Rolling out rigid, standardised solutions across a whole organisation, even though individual business areas may have different needs. • Forcing the use of a single technology system in all cases, regardless of whether it is an appropriate solution. • Purchasing a product ‘for life’, even though business requirements will change over time. • Fully centralising information management activities, to ensure that every activity is tightly controlled.
All of these approaches will fail, as they are attempting to convert a complex set of needs and problems into simple (even simplistic) solutions. The hope is that the complexity can be limited or avoided when planning and deploying solutions.
In practice, however, there is no way of avoiding the inherent complexities within organisations. New approaches to information management must therefore be found that recognise (and manage) this complexity. Organisations must stop looking for simple approaches, and must stop believing vendors when they offer ’silver bullet’ technology solutions.
Instead, successful information management is underpinned by strong leadership that defines a clear direction (principle 6). Many small activities should then be planned to address in parallel the many needs and issues (principle 5). Risks must then be identified and mitigated throughout the project (principle 7), to ensure that organisational complexities do not prevent the delivery of effective solutions. Information systems are only successful if they are used
Principle 2: focus on adoption
Information management systems are only successful if they are actually used by staff, and it is not sufficient to simply focus on installing the software centrally. In practice, most information management systems need the active participation of staff throughout the organisation. For example:
• Staff must save all key files into the document/records management system. • Decentralised authors must use the content management system to regularly update the intranet. • Lecturers must use the learning content management system to deliver e-learning packages to their students. • Front-line staff must capture call details in the customer relationship management system.
In all these cases, the challenge is to gain sufficient adoption to ensure that required information is captured in the system. Without a critical mass of usage, corporate repositories will not contain enough information to be useful. This presents a considerable change management challenge for information management projects. In practice, it means that projects must be carefully designed from the outset to ensure that sufficient adoption is gained. This may include:
• Identifying the ‘what’s in it for me’ factors for end users of the system. • Communicating clearly to all staff the purpose and benefits of the project. • Carefully targeting initial projects to build momentum for the project (see principle 10). • Conducting extensive change management and cultural change activities throughout the project. • Ensuring that the systems that are deployed are useful and usable for staff. These are just a few of the possible approaches, and they demonstrate the wide implications of needing to gain adoption by staff. It is not enough to deliver ‘behind the scenes’ fixes
Principle 3: deliver tangible & visible benefits
It is not enough to simply improve the management of information ‘behind the scenes’. While this will deliver real benefits, it will not drive the required cultural changes, or assist with gaining adoption by staff (principle 2). In many cases, information management projects initially focus on improving the productivity of publishers or information managers.
While these are valuable projects, they are invisible to the rest of the organisation. When challenged, it can be hard to demonstrate the return on investment of these projects, and they do little to assist project teams to gain further funding.
Instead, information management projects must always be designed so that they deliver tangible and visible benefits. Delivering tangible benefits involves identifying concrete business needs that must be met (principle 4). This allows meaningful measurement of the impact of the projects on the operation of the organisation.
The projects should also target issues or needs that are very visible within the organisation. When solutions are delivered, the improvement should be obvious, and widely promoted throughout the organisation. For example, improving the information available to call centre staff can have a very visible and tangible impact on customer service. In contrast, creating a standard taxonomy for classifying information across systems is hard to quantify and rarely visible to general staff.
This is not to say that ‘behind the scenes’ improvements are not required, but rather that they should always be partnered with changes that deliver more visible benefits.
This also has a major impact on the choice of the initial activities conducted (principle 10). Tackle the most urgent business needs first
Principle 4: prioritise according to business needs
It can be difficult to know where to start when planning information management projects.
While some organisations attempt to prioritise projects according to the ’simplicity’ of the technology to be deployed, this is not a meaningful approach. In particular, this often doesn’t deliver short-term benefits that are tangible and visible (principle 3).
Instead of this technology-driven approach, the planning process should be turned around entirely, to drive projects based on their ability to address business needs. In this way, information management projects are targeted at the most urgent business needs or issues. These in turn are derived from the overall business strategy and direction for the organisation as a whole.
For example, the rate of errors in home loan applications might be identified as a strategic issue for the organisation. A new system might therefore be put in place (along with other activities) to better manage the information that supports the processing of these applications.
Alternatively, a new call centre might be in the process of being planned. Information management activities can be put in place to support the establishment of the new call centre, and the training of new staff. Avoid ’silver bullet’ solutions that promise to fix everything
Principle 5: take a journey of a thousand steps
There is no single application or project that will address and resolve all the information management problems of an organisation.
Where organisations look for such solutions, large and costly strategic plans are developed. Assuming the results of this strategic planning are actually delivered (which they often aren’t), they usually describe a long-term vision but give few clear directions for immediate actions.
In practice, anyone looking to design the complete information management solution will be trapped by ‘analysis paralysis’: the inability to escape the planning process.
Organisations are simply too complex to consider all the factors when developing strategies or planning activities. The answer is to let go of the desire for a perfectly planned approach. Instead, project teams should take a ‘journey of a thousand steps’.
This approach recognises that there are hundreds (or thousands) of often small changes that are needed to improve the information management practices across an organisation. These changes will often be implemented in parallel. While some of these changes are organisation-wide, most are actually implemented at business unit (or even team) level. When added up over time, these numerous small changes have a major impact on the organisation. This is a very different approach to that typically taken in organisations, and it replaces a single large (centralised) project with many individual initiatives conducted by multiple teams.
While this can be challenging to coordinate and manage, this ‘thousand steps’ approach recognises the inherent complexity of organisations (principle 1) and is a very effective way of mitigating risks (principle 7).
It also ensures that ‘quick wins’ can be delivered early on (principle 3), and allows solutions to be targeted to individual business needs (principle 4). Successful projects require strong leadership
Principle 6: provide strong leadership
Successful information management is about organisational and cultural change, and this can only be achieved through strong leadership.
The starting point is to create a clear vision of the desired outcomes of the information management strategy. This will describe how the organisation will operate, more than just describing how the information systems themselves will work.
Effort must then be put into generating a sufficient sense of urgency to drive the deployment and adoption of new systems and processes.
Stakeholders must also be engaged and involved in the project, to ensure that there is support at all levels in the organisation.
This focus on leadership then underpins a range of communications activities (principle that ensure that the organisation has a clear understanding of the projects and the benefits they will deliver. When projects are solely driven by the acquisition and deployment of new technology solutions, this leadership is often lacking. Without the engagement and support of key stakeholder outside the IT area, these projects often have little impact. Apply good risk management to ensure success
Principle 7: mitigate risks
Due to the inherent complexity of the environment within organisations (principle 1), there are many risks in implementing information management solutions. These risks include: • selecting an inappropriate technology solution • time and budget overruns • changing business requirements • technical issues, particularly relating to integrating systems • failure to gain adoption by staff
At the outset of planning an information management strategy, the risks should be clearly identified. An approach must then be identified for each risk, either avoiding or mitigating the risk.
Risk management approaches should then be used to plan all aspects of the project, including the activities conducted and the budget spent.
For example, a simple but effective way of mitigating risks is to spend less money. This might involve conducting pilot projects to identifying issues and potential solutions, rather than starting with enterprise-wide deployments.
Principle 8: communicate extensively
Extensive communication from the project team (and project sponsors) is critical for a successful information management initiative.
This communication ensures that staff have a clear understanding of the project, and the benefits it will deliver. This is a pre-requisite for achieving the required level of adoption.
With many projects happening simultaneously (principle 5), coordination becomes paramount. All project teams should devote time to work closely with each other, to ensure that activities and outcomes are aligned. In a complex environment, it is not possible to enforce a strict command-and-control approach to management (principle 1).
Instead, a clear end point (’vision’) must be created for the information management project, and communicated widely. This allows each project team to align themselves to the eventual goal, and to make informed decisions about the best approaches.
For all these reasons, the first step in an information management project should be to develop a clear communications ‘message’. This should then be supported by a communications plan that describes target audiences, and methods of communication. Project teams should also consider establishing a ‘project site’ on the intranet as the outset, to provide a location for planning documents, news releases, and other updates. Staff do not understand the distinction between systems
Principle 9: aim to deliver a seamless user experience
Users don’t understand systems. When presented with six different information systems, each containing one-sixth of what they want, they generally rely on a piece of paper instead (or ask the person next to them). Educating staff in the purpose and use of a disparate set of information systems is difficult, and generally fruitless. The underlying goal should therefore be to deliver a seamless user experience, one that hides the systems that the information is coming from.
This is not to say that there should be one enterprise-wide system that contains all information. There will always be a need to have multiple information systems, but the information contained within them should be presented in a human-friendly way.
In practice, this means: • Delivering a single intranet (or equivalent) that gives access to all information and tools. • Ensuring a consistent look-and-feel across all applications, including standard navigation and page layouts. • Providing ’single sign-on’ to all applications.
Ultimately, it also means breaking down the distinctions between applications, and delivering tools and information along task and subject lines.
For example, many organisations store HR procedures on the intranet, but require staff to log a separate ‘HR self-service’ application that provides a completely different menu structure and appearance. Improving on this, leave details should be located alongside the leave form itself. In this model, the HR application becomes a background system, invisible to the user. Care should also be taken, however, when looking to a silver-bullet solution for providing a seamless user experience. Despite the promises, portal applications do not automatically deliver this. Instead, a better approach may be to leverage the inherent benefits of the web platform. As long as the applications all look the same, the user will be unaware that they are accessing multiple systems and servers behind the scenes. Of course, achieving a truly seamless user experience is not a short-term goal. Plan to incrementally move towards this goal, delivering one improvement at a time. The first project must build momentum for further work
Principle 10: choose the first project very carefully
The choice of the first project conducted as part of a broader information management strategy is critical. This project must be selected carefully, to ensure that it: • demonstrates the value of the information management strategy • builds momentum for future activities • generates interest and enthusiasm from both end-users and stakeholders • delivers tangible and visible benefits (principle 3) • addresses an important or urgent business need (principle 4) • can be clearly communicated to staff and stakeholders (principle • assists the project team in gaining further resources and support
Actions speak louder than words. The first project is the single best (and perhaps only) opportunity to set the organisation on the right path towards better information management practices and technologies. The first project must therefore be chosen according to its ability to act as a ‘catalyst’ for further organisational and cultural changes.
In practice, this often involves starting with one problem or one area of the business that the organisation as a whole would be interested in, and cares about.
For example, starting by restructuring the corporate policies and procedures will generate little interest or enthusiasm. In contrast, delivering a system that greatly assists salespeople in the field would be something that could be widely promoted throughout the organisation.
http://www.flint.umich.edu/~weli/courses/bus181/notes/chapter3.pdf http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.123.3272 | |
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