Information Systems in Digital

Age
CSIT-217

MODULE-IV
BUILDING INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN THE DIGITAL FIRM
 Planning

Planning may be defined as selecting the best course of action in

anticipation of future trends so that the desired result may be
achieved. It must be stressed that the desired result takes first priority
and the course of action chosen is the means to realize the goal.
Planning at various organizational level
 Planning at various organizational level

Strategic planning

●
Strategic planning refers to the process of determining the major goals of the organization and the Policies and strategies for
obtaining and using resources to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the concern of top management.

Intermediate Planning:

●
Intermediate planning refers to the process of determining the contributions that subunits can make with
allocated resources. This type of Planning is the concern of middle management.

Operational planning :

●
Operational planning is the process of determining how specific tasks can best be accomplished on time with available resources. This type of planning is the responsibility of lower management. It must be performed in
support of the strategic and intermediate plans.
 Types of plan

Plan

Plans with varied frequency of

Functional Area Plans Plans with time horizon
Use
 Planning Process

Setting Objectives

●
A water purifier company sets the objective to sell 4,00,00 units next year, which is double the current sales.

Developing Planning Premises

●
The company has set the objective based on the government data about poor water quality.

Identifying Alternative Courses of Action

●
The company has many alternatives like reducing price, increasing advertising and promotion, after sale service etc.

Evaluating Alternative Course of Action

●
The company will evaluate all the alternatives and check its pros and cons.
 Planning Process

Selecting One Best Alternative

●
The company selects more T.V advertisements and online marketing with great after sales service.

Implementing the Plan

●
The company hires salesman on a large scale, creates T.V advertisement, and starts online marketing
activities and set up service workshops.

Follow Up Action

●
A proper feedback mechanism was developed by the company throughout its retail chain so that the
actual customer response, revenue collection, employee response, etc. could be known.
 Approaches of Planning

Top Down
 A top-down planning approach to planning is often associated
with highly centralized decision making. large-scale investments.

Bottom Up
 The bottom-up perspective involves people at the lowest levels
of the organizational hierarchy and/or those who are most
directly involved in the delivery of the organization's products
and services, and they establish their goals and plans.

Planning through CSF

 Top down Vs Bottom Up planning
Organizational Level
Role of organizational unit
Specificity of Plan
Potential advantage
To p Down Bottom Up
CEO, Board of directors People closest to product,
service and customer.
As the plan moves down Units develop goals and
the hierarchy, units plan move up the
determine actions needed hierarchy, they are
to support the plan evaluated and adjusted for
accuracy and feasibility
Begins broad becomes Begins specific and
more specific as it moves fragmented becomes
down the hierarchy. cohesive and integrated as
it moves up the hierarchy,
Plans are driven by more Those closest to customer,
knowledgeable top-level and the operating system,
managers. provide focus of the plan.
 Planning through CSF

The Critical Success Factor method, can

augment strategic planning efforts by illuminating
an organization’s present situation and potential
future.
Critical Success Factor Hierarchy
 Sources- Critical Success Factors (CSF)

Critical Success Factors (CSF) arise from five important sources or areas that
influence an organization.

Environmental Management/Strat Temporary

Industry
Competitive Factors Critical
egic Critical Critical Success
Critical Success Success Factors
Factors (CSF). Strategy and Success Factors Factors (CSF)
(CSF)
For instance, Industry (CSF) This could
Temporary
Position CSF. These political, include the way factors are
a chemical
Available economic, your linked to
company
social and organization short-term
demands means and
technological chooses to situations. 
specific capabilities factors create position and For example
technology and the CSFs for every market itself, the
and a clothing current company. The and whether it's
organization
producer organization a high-volume,
position low-cost
may consider
absolutely should recruiting
generates producer, or a
requires consider these during
cotton. 
CFS very seriously.
low-volume,
high-cost one. expansion.
 Identifying and developing CSFs

Create a team
●
The team members should include top level people to have senior level buy-in. Sometime consultants can also be a part of the team.

Idea generation
●
Ideas about the CSF’s should be gathered from all corners of the organization.

Use multiple frameworks to examine the key elements of your long-term goals.
●
OAS statement: OAS is an acronym for “Objective, Advantage, Scope.” 
●
SWOT analysis
●
Strategic Plan-(mission, vision, priorities, rollout plan, Hold  people accountable, Review)
●
Change agenda

Determine which factors are key in achieving your long-term organizational plan.
●
Determine a way to see if you’re hitting your critical success factors.
●
Establish a champion for each CSF.
●
Track each CSF regularly.

Implement your company-wide strategic plan with your critical success factors in mind.

Communicating Your Critical Success Factors

Tracking Your Critical Success Factors

 IT & IS Planning

The strategic IT plan should reflect the relevance of

technology to each of the organization’s strategic
business goals.
It should outline changes that the organization will
need to make to its information and communications
infrastructure. 
 IT & IS Planning

IT planning has three components:

IT leadership
IT governance development
IT strategic planning.

IT governance defines the processes, IT leadership development defines who IT is embedded in different departments of the
Organization, and IT is central to the operating
components, structures, and participants for will lead and drive IT strategies to a success of the Organization, it is best if there is a
making decisions regarding the use of IT successful conclusion. single IT strategic plan for the entire Organization. 
 IT & IS Planning

The plan should include: 

●
A list of all the technology applications needed to carry out each of the organization’s
strategic goals, objectives, initiatives or innovative business models/operations efficiently,
cost-effectively and securely.
●
Updates to the existing information and communications infrastructure that will be
needed to support the identified technology applications.
●
Business and operational priorities, including a roadmap for technology projects that
delineates the resources required for each project.
●
Continuing education and talent management initiatives that will be designed to ensure
consistency of IT skills and delivery of customer-focused tech support. 
●
A Security Management Plan for your technology infrastructure
 Phases of IT planning

Identify Goals
●
You should have a clearly defined end destination.

Account For Innovation

●
Get a sense of where your industry or technology is headed in the next few years.

Identify Stages And Arrange Priorities

●
Identify the incremental stages for your roadmap and arrange them in order of priority.

Cost Analysis And Review

●
Calculate your estimated costs and revisit your stages and priorities. Check the feasibility.

Timelines
●
Plan for the best and prepare for the worst.

Assign Personnel
●
Assign team members to the various stages outlined in phase 3.  
 Information Technology Architecture

An information technology architecture is a detailed

description of the various information-processing assets needed to
meet business objectives, the rules that govern them, and the
information associated with them. It focuses on three basic tiers
within the organization.
●
Server - generally hardware, this level provides the basic computing
power for the entire organization and is typically centrally located.
●
Middleware - generally software, this level sits on top of the server level
and provides the infrastructure necessary to keep the hardware running
and the information flowing.
●
Client - A combination of hardware and software, this level provides the
capabilities accessible by a user and allows them to access the
information a business has available.
 Key benefits of an IT architecture?

It will help to insure interoperability inside and outside ITB and the
Department.

It's a way to inform developers of Department directions.

It will help in making planning, development and purchase decisions.

It will be useful in aligning information technology providers for the

Department.
It is a way to communicate direction (and changes) both inside and
outside ITB.

It will reduce the maintenance and support requirements.

It will help in planning migration to new technologies.

 Centralized IT architecture

In a centralized IT architecture, all users/ computer

systems/ equipments are connected to a central
server that stores complete network data and user
information.
Centralized IT architecture - Characteristics

Centralized Dependent
Ubiquitous
control failure of
synced data.
mechanism components.
 Centralized IT architecture - Advantages

Easy to physically secure.

A client has a dedicated system.

Dedicated resources (memory, CPU cores, etc)

More cost efficient for small systems up to a certain limit

Quick updates are possible – Only one machine to update.

Easy detachment of a node from the system.

 Centralized IT architecture - Disadvantages

Highly dependent on the network connectivity

No graceful degradation of system – abrupt failure of the entire system

Less possibility of data backup. If the server node fails and there is no backup,
you lose the data straight away

Difficult server maintenance – There is only one server node and due to
availability reasons, it is inefficient and unprofessional to take the server down
for maintenance.
 Decentralized IT Architecture

In decentralized systems, every node makes its own

decision. The final behavior of the system is the
aggregate of the decisions of the individual nodes.
 Decentralized IT Architecture
-Characteristics

Lack of a global Multiple central

Multiple
clock: Every node is units
dependent failure
independent of each (Computers/Node
of components: 
other. s/Servers): 
 Decentralized IT Architecture-Advantages

Minimal problem of performance bottlenecks occurring

High availability –

More autonomy and control over resources

Decentralized IT Architecture-Disadvantages

No chain of command to command others to perform certain tasks

No regulatory oversight

Difficult to maintain

Difficult to assign tasks

 Distributed IT Architecture

A distributed system is a system which consists of several

servers, a cluster of servers be it backend, messaging or
database running together to perform one single task.
Distributed IT Architecture - Characteristics

Concurrency of Lack of a global Independent failure of

components: Nodes components: In a
Control
apply consensus protocols distributed system, nodes
mechanism: All nodes
to agree on same fail independently without
values/transactions/com
maintain their own having a significant effect
mands/logs. clock. on the entire system
 Distributed IT Architecture - Advantages

Servers in data centres are distributed geographically, nearer to the end-

user, across continents, further reducing the latency of the app.

Several servers running together distribute the load amongst them

reducing the latency of the app.

Low latency than centralized system – Distributed systems have low

latency because of high geographical spread, hence leading to less time
to get a response
Distributed IT Architecture - Disadvantages

Difficult to achieve consensus

Conventional way of logging events by absolute time they occur is not

possible here
 Reasons of Résistance in IT implementation

Perpetuation of ideas, the tendency to go on with present thoughts although the

situation has changed.
Cannibalization costs, changes which bring success to the project but may bring losses
to others, so it requires some sort of sacrifice.

Past failures

Different interest level among employees and management.

Fast and complex environmental changes, which do not allow a proper situation
analysis.
When there is a negative relationship between implementation climate and change
values and organisational values, resistance and opposition to change will result.

Lack of necessary capabilities to implement change

Reasons of Résistance in IT implementation

Role conflict and role ambiguity.

Lack of communication

Lack of involvement in the change

Lack of top management support

Lack of training for the new system

Deep rooted values and emotional loyalty

 BPR

Business process re-engineering is the radical redesign of business processes to

achieve dramatic improvements in critical aspects like quality, output, cost,
service, and speed. Business process reengineering (BPR) aims at cutting down
enterprise costs and process redundancies on a very huge scale.
 BPR - process

Identify the necessity for change:

Ensure top management’s commitment and support:

Communicate the necessity for change with employees:

Develop process objectives:

Form a reengineering team:

Determine the scope and scale of the project and develop a project schedule:

Designate the processes to be reengineered:

Analysis and understanding of current processes:

 BPR - process

Design the new processes:

Take advantage of IT:

Include collaborators such as suppliers and freight forwarders in the reengineering

initiative:

Pilot the new processes:

Train employees who have relevance with the redesigned processes:

Implement the new processes:

Monitor and improve the new processes constantly:

 Change Management

Change management is the people side of BPR

and modernization. 

Change management focuses on staff, management and

anyone effected by change (new roles, new ways of doing
things, etc.) to ensure readiness for change and enabling and
empowering the behaviors to move forward with the changes
and embrace moving forward with change.
 Change Management with BPR

Business Process Reengineering implementation

often leads to fundamental changes within an
organization's structure and management process.
 Change Management Process

Preparing Reinforcin
Managin
for the g the
change g change change
●
Assessing the scope of the ●
Develop a change ●
Collect and analyze
change
management plan the feedback
●
Assessing the readiness of
the organization
●
Communication plan ●
Diagnose gaps and
Acquire project resources
●
Coaching plan
manage resistance
●

and measuring the ●

Training plan
strength of the change ●
Resistance
●
Implement
process
management plans corrective actions
●
Asses the change sponsors
and develop the
●
Take action and and celebrate
sponsorship model implement plan success
 Human Side of the BPR

The potential impacts of change on employees are significant:

●
On the positive side, change can provide a wealth of
opportunities for growth and development;
●
On the negative side, there can be substantial costs to
negotiate new relationships, skills and patterns of activity
 Human Side of the BPR

Employees’ attitudes towards the reengineering should be identified and reasons

for resistance should be assessed

the threatening nature of BPR should be recognized

Employees should understand the need for change, employee participation in the reengineering
process is crucial and communication should be improved at all organizational levels.

Making employees feel they are part of the reengineering process can improve
employee moral and soothe the negative feelings.

Assigning the most talented and strongest employees to the reengineering effort will have
positive effect on performance and increase the radical redesign of business processes.

Clear, honest and frequent communication is also important for successful BPR
implementation
 System development life cycle- Overview

System: A collection of components organized to accomplish

a specific function or a set of function.

●
Central objective
●
Components of a system
●
Organization
●
Interaction
●
Interdependence
●
Integration

There should be some characteristics present in all systems.

Some of them are:
 System development life cycle- Overview
System Components, Environment And Boundaries

Components

●
Input
●
Transforming/ Processing
●
Output
●
Control
●
Feedback

Environment

●
The environment is the super system within the system operates. This is the source of external elements.

Boundaries:

●
The system boundary define the sphere of its influence and control.
System development life cycle- Overview
Type of System
 System Models

System models are used to understand and represent systems. Major models
used to study and understand system are given below:

●
Schematic Model:- This is a two dimensional model, depicting the system elements and their linkage
●
Flow System Model:- This model shows the flow of material, energy and information. It shows the orderly flow or
logic.
●
Static System Model:- This model show one pair of relationship, such as activity-time or cost-quantity. Gantt
chart
●
Dynamic System Model:- This Models are used to depict a dynamic situation- an ongoing, constantly changing
system. Any business system,
 System Development Life Cycle

The system development life cycle is a structure sequence of phases for

implementing an information system.

●
Initial investigation/ Recognition of need
●
Feasibility Study
●
Analysis
●
Design
●
Development
●
Implementation
●
Maintenance

The life cycle of software typically includes a number of following phases:

 System Development Life Cycle

Initial Investigation: This phase involves initial

investigation and survey and should result in a clear
statement of the scope and objective of the system.
Feasibility Study:- A feasibility study is conducted to
see whether the required system is workable.
Analysis:- The analysis phase is a detailed study of
the existing system, it’s features and problems.
Design:- Design is the phase when the “What the
system is to do” is converted into “ How the system
shall do it.”
 System Development Life Cycle

Development:- It is the phase where the detailed

design is used to actually construct the system.
( programming, all types of testing)
Implementation:- In this phase, users actually start
using the system.
Maintenance:- On-going activities required for the
system to operate smoothly is the maintenance of the
system.
 Prototyping

Prototyping is an approach based on an evolutionary view of software

development and having an impact on the development process as a whole.

Prototyping involves producing early working versions (prototypes) of the future

application system and experimenting with them.

Prototyping provides a communication basis for discussions among all the

groups involved in the development process, especially between users1 and
developers.

Prototyping enables us to adopt an approach to software construction based on

experiment and experience.