Information System Plan

Management Information System

1Management Information System

Planning for Information System

• The complexity of the information resources environment suggests that planning is vital to success.

• The plan describes the structure and content of the information system and how it is to be developed.

• The organization’s strategic plan should be the basis for the MIS strategic plan.

• The overall responsibility of IS planning is the responsibility of Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Management Information System 2

Approaches to organizing and supervising the information system planning effort

• Planning staff within information systems functions (planning specialists)

• Ad hoc planning groups within information systems

• Planning group with representatives from various functions

Management Information System 3

Review of plan

• Master plan is reviewed by the steering committee which comprises of executives from major functional areas and is executives.

• The committee also periodically reviews progress against the plan.

• The master plan is integrated in the organizational plan by top management after review and approval.

• Information system policies and procedures are defined.

Management Information System 4

Content of Master development plan/ Information System plan/ Information Resource plan

• The master plan has two components:- a long-range plan and a short-range plan. The long-range plan provides general guidelines for direction and the short-range plan provides a basis for specific accountability as to operational and financial performance. It consists of the following subheadings:-

– Information system goals, objectives, and architecture– Inventory of current capabilities– Forecast of developments against the plan– The specific plan

Management Information System 5

Master plan

Information system goals, Objectives, and architecture– Organizational goals, objectives, and strategies– External environment (industry, government

regulations, customers, and suppliers)– Internal organizational constraints such as

management philosophy– Assumptions about business risks and potential

consequences– Overall goals, objectives, and strategy for the

information system– Architecture of the information system

Management Information System 6

Master plan• Current capabilities

– Inventory of• Hardware• Software (System software, DBMS, etc)• Application systems (classified on the basis of functional systems,

organizational strategy, maintenance need)– Analysis of

• Expense• Hardware utilization• Software utilization• Personnel utilization (further classification such as job, skill,

functional area)– Status of projects in progress– Assessment of strengths and weaknesses

Management Information System 7

Master plan

• Forecast of developments Affecting plan– Hardware and software technological availabilities

should be forecasted with expected impact on existing IS

– Methodology changes should be forecasted– Environmental developments such as government

regulations, tax laws and competitors affecting IS should be stated

Management Information System 8

Master plan

• Specific plan– Hardware acquisition schedule– Purchased software schedule

• System Software• Applications software

– Application development schedule– Software maintenance and conversion schedule– Personnel resources required and schedule of hiring

and training– Financial resources required by object of expenditure

Management Information System 9

Maintenance of master plan

• IS plan requires updation

– Changing organizational setup– Changes in technology– Changing needs of system– Internal events– Progress of new systems– External events

Management Information System 10

Information system growth models• The NOLAN stage model

The organization must go through each stage of growth before it can progress to the next one, thus giving an insight to planning regarding the stage of an IS

Stages of Information system growth

Management Information System 11

Stages of growth Description

Initiation Early use

Expansion Experimentation, rising cost

Formalization Organizational controls

Maturity Integration of applications

NOLAN stage model

NOLAN six stage model

Stage Level of control or slackI Low control. Some slack. No planning

II Greater slack due to encouraged use, integration and lack of planning

III High controls, planning given importance

IV Use of databases for integration

V Slack due to focus on strategically important systems

VI Application portfolio complete and matches organizational objectives

NOLAN six stage model

Transition point

NOLAN alternative model

Due to technological changes the growth curve shifts as follows

Technology Shift

Assumptions of NOLAN model

• Organizational learning• Stages cannot be skipped• Other than the natural process, these

processes can be planned, coordinated, and managed to move through the stages effectively and efficiently

Advantages and disadvantages of NOLAN model

• Advantages– Evolutionist model as it focuses on development

• Disadvantages– Lack of specificity as it does not define the

mechanism for change

Three stage model of the planning process

• It clarifies the generic planning activities, the order of activities, and the alternative techniques and methodologies that apply

Strategic planning

Organizational information

requirements analysis

Resource Allocation

Strategy set transformation

Strategy Grid

Strategic fit

Derivation from organizational plan

Business system planning

Critical success factors

Ends/ means analysis

Comparative cost/ benefit

Portfolio approach

Chargeout

Steering committee ranking

Strategic planning stage

• McFarlan-McKenney Strategic Grid

Support Turnaround

Factory Strategic

Strategic impact of planned application development portfolio

Strategic impact of existing operating applications

LOW HIGH

HIGH

Strategic fit

• Each organization has a culture which reinforces values, norms, and beliefs about the organization. Goals, objectives, and strategy for information systems should fit with the culture in order to avoid high resistance and high risk of failure.

Strategy Set Transformation• Explicate the organization’s strategy set

– Delineate the organization structure for users– Identify goals of claimants– Identify organizational goals and strategies for each claimant group

• Validate the organizational goals from management• Transform organizational strategy set into the information

system strategy set– Identify IS objectives for each organizational strategy– Identify IS constraints from organizational strategy– Identify IS design strategy based on organizational attributes

Analysis of Organizational information requirements

• Information requirements are required at the organizational level for information system planning, identifying applications, and planning an information architecture.

• More detailed information requirements are required for detailed design of applications.

Quiz1. The end users for Transaction processing systems are used by

a. Middle managementb. Operational staff

2. Which of the following is not a primary function of managementa. Planning d. Controllingb. Organizing e. Schedulingc. Directing

3. Which of the following is not a component of MISa. Users d. Customerb. Input and output devicesc. Software / Procedures

4. Which of the following is the correct sequence for three stage model of planning processa. Strategic planning >> Organizational information requirement analysis >> resource allocationb. Organizational information requirement analysis >> Strategic planning >> resource allocationc. Resource allocation >> Strategic planning >> Organizational information requirement analysis

5. McFarlan-McKenney Strategic Grid helps make strategic decisions for the organizationa. Trueb. False

6. The master plan includes the following plana. Long-range planb. Short-range planc. Both long-range and short-range

7. Which of the following considers the time factor for costa. Net Present Valueb. Internal rate of returnc. Portfolio or Risk Management

8. The specific plan, in the master plan contains plans about a. Department wise detailsb. Details for the whole IS

9. Which stage shows the highest growth in the Nolan four stage modela. I c. IIIb. II d. IV

10. The Master development plan and Information resource Plan the same.a. Trueb. False