Information System Plans

BY DINESH THAKUR Category: Information and System Concepts

Planning is the key to success in developing a good IS. IS planning brings to

focus the reason for existence of the IS and helps the developers to
undertake the task of development of IS in a structured manner.
Organizations undertake planning for IS for several reasons. Typically IS,
plans have a hierarchy with different levels of management handling
different plans.

Flow Chart to Identify the Need for a New Information System

Strategic Information Systems Planning

This is the first plan of information systems within an organization. It is

foremost for defining the role information systems will play in the overall
scheme of things. Typically, top management formulates a charter for
information systems or the CIO formulates the charter and gets approval of
the top management. With the charter, the mission of information system
in the organization is also formulated. Thereafter the constraints and
environment in which IS is to be implemented is analyzed. In this, the
strategic objectives, policies, human resource, maturity of IS usage of the
organization and the present and future information needs of the
organization in view of changes in technology is analyzed. Following the
broad mission and analysis of environment and constraints, concrete
objectives of information systems is laid down along with the plan of
achieving the objectives. The plan will include broad guidelines on
allocation of resources, mechanisms of control of the process of
information system development and other guidelines for implementing
the strategies of the plan.

Long Range Information System Planning

This is the second stage of planning done primarily to understand the user
needs and objectives. This sort of plan does not go into project specific
details but rather focuses on the expectations of users from the system.
Typically, this kind of planning is done with a time horizon of five to ten
years in mind. Broad characteristics of information systems based on the
needs of the users are dealt with in this plan along with the technology
trends in the information technology space and long-term objectives of the
organization. The long-term plan requires greater detailing than a strategic
plan and is normally prepared by senior executives in the organization
which is then approved by the top management. Ideally, senior executives
from different departments are involved in this process. The following step-
wise course of action is normally taken to prepare a long-range information
systems plan:

Collecting background data

All kinds of data that helps in creating a background or perspective for the
planning with regard to the technology scenario, organization objectives,
changing needs of the users, competition scenario, potential set of
information services in future, availability of resources in future, suitability
of organizational culture, etc., is collected and presented as a background.

Analyzing the broad long-term needs

Based on the prepared background, analysis of the overall long-term

information system need of the organization is defined. This entails an
analysis of demand on resources for such information systems and the
means to provide them.

Developing the long-range plan document

Formally documenting the above steps into a plan of action results in the
creation of this document. This document typically contains information
about the objectives, resources to be made available for the IS, future
trends in demand for information within the organization, risks and
opportunities in developing the IS and organizational issues pertaining to
installation of such IS.

The medium-range information systems planning

This is a very important plan for developing the IS. It looks to satisfy the
present information needs of the organization by implementing a portfolio
of projects. The planning time horizon is one to two years and the focus is
on the present. It normally contains the plan of action for the portfolio of IS
projects, resource requirements for each, procurement of necessary
resources for implementing the projects, staffing needs analysis, budgeting
and funding issues, priority setting of the projects under development. This
process of planning, resulting in the information systems, master plan
document containing details on:

 The present IS situation with regard to usage, ·technology, work force

and other resources.
 Analysis of the present IS situation.
 Plan of action including prioritization of projects aligns it with the
long-term plan of IS.
 Policies under several operational heads like training, procurement,
hiring, outsourcing, and security are given in these documents.
 Financial implications.
 Risk to projects.
 Process of development and present status of each project under
development.

The short-range information system planning

The time horizon for such a plan ranges from a few months to a year.
Operational details and short-term goals and objectives are detailed out in
this document. Normally the personnel of the information systems
department are involved in the preparation of such a plan. It includes
maintenance plan for existing systems, development plans for top priority
systems, technical support required for the development, operations plan,
training plan, staffing plan and financial plan containing practices and
procedures for relevant issues, all in the short term of about a year.
 The Process of Development of Information System: A Typical Software
Development Life Cycle
The process of development of information systems in an organization may vary from
case to case but ideally the stages of development can be clearly demarcated. The
process of development of information system involves the following stages:
1. Planning-planning is required as without planning the outcome will be below
expectations. Planning sets the objectives of the system in clear and unambiguous terms
so that the developer may conform to a well laid set of deliverables rather than a high-
sounding statement that may mean little to him. Planning also enables the development
process to be structured so that logical methodology is used rather than working in fits
and starts. It ensures user participation and helps in greater acceptability and a better
outcome from the development process. It leads to a system that is well balanced in both
the managerial and technical aspects.
2. Analysis-is an activity of technical representation of a system. Over the years many
methods have been developed of which the structured analysis and object oriented
analysis are most widely used. This step or activity is the first technical representation in
abstract terms of the system.
3. Design-is the stage where the model or representation of an entity or a system is done
(in detail). It is based on the idea that the developer will be able to develop a working
system conforming to all the specifications of the design document which would satisfy
the user. ·It is a concept which has been borrowed from other branches in engineering
where the blueprint of a system or entity to be built later is first created on a piece of
paper or digitally to help developers in conceptualization of the system and to
understand the specifications of the system.
4. Coding-is the actual stage of writing codes to develop the application software
according to the specifications as set by the design document. The programming done at
this stage to build the system is dictated by the needs of the design specifications. The
programmer cannot go beyond the design document.
5. Testing-is the testing of the system to check if the application is as per the set
specification and to check whether the system will be able to function under actual load
of data. The testing is also done to remove any bugs or errors in the code.
6. Implementation-is the stage when the system is deployed in the organization. This is
a process which often is a difficult one as it involves some customization of the code to
fit context specific information in the system.

Nolan (1979) indicated that there are six stages in the information system evolutionary
process. It is an improvement over the four-stage model. The stages are:
1. Initiation- in which the organization has an operational focus and tries to get
operational efficiency and thereby limited value from the information systems.
2. Contagion-in which the organization moves towards online systems after having tasted
success in the initiation stage. More users are added.
3. Control-in which the management exercises control and makes a cost-benefit type of
assessment.
4. Integration-in which the organization moves away from an ad hoc isolated solutions
based on information system to a service based information system. This is the stage
when the organization transitions from a data processing outlook about information
systems to more holistic information-based decision-making approach towards
information systems. A more comprehensive approach towards information systems
results in changes in the organization's behavior towards information systems and
initiates a new appreciation for data and information.
5. Data administration-in which the organization begins to appreciate the value of
information and makes efforts to centralize the data management to take advantage of
the benefits of information based decision-making.
6. Maturity-in which the organization creates synergies in its corporate objectives and
information systems planning so that the two can work in a synchronized manner.

Four Stage Model of IS Planning

BY DINESH THAKUR Category: Information System Planning

A wide variety of techniques are being applied for IS panning. However,

organizations select these techniques based on the persuasive power of IS
developers rather than on a sound logic.
The main reason of selecting wrong techniques is attributed to the non-
identification of the stage the information system of the organization is in. this
model describes the four generic planning activities, namely, strategic planning,
requirement analysis, resource allocation and project planning.

The four stage IS planning model, besides providing insight into the planning
process, reduces confusion about the selection of competing planning
methodologies.

Four stages of IS planning model

IS planning activity Description

Strategic Planning Matches the overall organizational plan with

the IS plan.
Information Requirement Analysis Identifying broad, organizational information
requirements.

Resource allocation Allocating resources for IS development and

operation.

Project planning Formulating a plan giving resource

requirements for specific IS projects and schedules.

Strategic Planning:

In this planning stage, objectives, goals and strategies are compared with the
objectives, goals and strategies of the organisation. The following techniques are
used:

i) Derivation from the organsiational plan

ii) The strategic information system grid

iii) Strategic fit with organsiational culture

iv) Strategy set transformation

Information Requirements Analysis:

This stage deals with the current and future needs for IS to support decision-
making and operations of the organisation. To undertake information
requirement analysis, the following steps are followed

i) Define underlying organisational requirements

ii) Develop sub-system matrix

iii) Define and evaluate information requirements for organisational sub-systems

Resource Allocation:
After identification of the need for information system applications for entire
organisation, the next phase is allocation of resources.

Project Planning:

The last stage of four-stage model of MIS planning is project planning which
provides an overall framework for system development planning, scheduling and
controlling. A wide variety of tools of project management are available, which
include milestones, critical path method (CPM) and Gantt Charts.