IT Planning

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLANNING

1.      It is the organized planning or I.T. infrastructure and applications portfolios done at various levels of the organization

2.      IT planning is important for end users for the following reasons:

·                     End users do I.T. planning for their own units

·                     End users must participate in the corporate I.T. planning, hence must understand the process

·                     Corporate I.T. planning determines how the I.T. infrastructure will look.  The future of every unit in an organization will be impacted by the infrastructure

3.      A good I.S. plan has to keep in mind the internal customers as well as the external customers and vendors.  The I.S. has to work closely with the business side to make sure I.S. is helping the company stay competitive.

4.      A strategic information system plan identifies a set of computer based applications that will help the company reach its business goals

5.      IT planning has similarities and differences as compared to any business planning e.g. forecasting which part of planning is predicts the future.  Planning is preparing for the future.

 

6.1 ISSUES IN IT PLANNING

·         The basic information systems planning address the four general issues:

·         Aligning the I.T. plan with the organizational business plan

·         Designing I.T. architecture for the organization in such a way that users, applications and

Databases can be integrated and networked together.

·         Efficiently allocating information systems development and operational resources among

Competing applications

·         Planning information systems projects so that they are completed on time and within budget and include the specified functionalities

6.2 ALIGNMENT OF THE IT PLAN WITH THE ORGANIZATION PLAN

·         The first task of I.T. planning is to identify information systems applications that fit the priorities established by the organization

·         Organizational strategies and plans are often not available in written form, or they may be formulated in terms that are not useful for information systems planning.  It is often difficult to ascertain the strategies and goals to which the information systems plan should be aligned.

·         Without this alignment the information systems plan cannot get and keep long term organizational support

·         The figure below represents the relationship between business, I.S. and I.T. strategies

                                        BUSINESS STRAGEY

I.T. impact & potential

·         Business decisions            Where is the business

·         Objectives and direction   going and why

·         Change

 

   Supports business     Direction for business

 

           

                      I.S. STRAGEGY

 

·         Business based

·         Demand orientation                      What is required

·         Application focused

 

Infrastructure & services           Needs and priorities

 

                        I.T. STRATEGY

·         Activity based

·         Supply orientation             How can it be delivered

·         Technology focused

6.3 DESIGN OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE

Information technology architecture refers to the overall high-level structure of all information systems in an organization.  This structure consists of applications for various managerial levels (operational control, management planning and control and strategic planning) and applications oriented to various functional-operational activities such as marketing, production and distribution. Information technology architecture also includes infrastructure e.g. databases, supporting software and networks needed to connect applications together. Information architecture for an organization should guide long-range development as well as allow for responsiveness to diverse, short range information systems demands.

6.3.1 ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

Rational, optimal allocation of information system resources among competing organizational units is difficult.  This is true if the functional or organizational unit requirements have not been integrated into a planning framework and establishes completeness and priority. Sometimes organizational dynamics, such as relative power and aggressiveness are used in place of rational allocation.

 

 

6.3.2 COMPLETION OF PROJECTS ON TIME AND WITHIN BUDGETS

Few IS projects or applications are completed on time or within budget.  Often, under the pressure to finish a project on time and/or within budget certain promised features are omitted.

This reduction in functionality and/or quality frequently leads to user dissatisfaction with the resultant system.  Missing or inadequate features must be added later in what is usually called “system maintenance”. Better project planning could avoid or reduce the impact of such mishaps.

6.4 PROBLEMS WITH IT PLANNING

·         I.T. planning can be expensive and time-consuming process

·         Research findings suggest that, although IT planning is desirable, organizations should be careful not to devote an excessive amount of resources to these efforts e.g. time, human resources, as it will derail other productive functions in an organization.

·         Organizations should beware of pitfall of allowing IT planning to become an end in itself. 

·         To achieve the potential benefits of IT planning, organizations need to focus greater effort on actually implementing the plans they develop.

6.5 A FOUR-STAGE MODEL OF IT PLANNING

Below is a basic four-stage model of I.S. planning

 

Generic                        Strategic                                  Information                 Resource                     Project

activity                        IT                                requirements                allocation                     planning

                        planning                                  analysis

 

Most organizations engage in each of the four stages, but their involvement tends to be sporadic and influenced by problems as they occur, instead of reflecting a systematic, stage-by-stage process.

 

Major IT planning activity                              Description

 

Strategic IT planning                                      Establishing the relationship between the overall

                                                                        organizational plan and the IT plan

Information requirements analysis                  Identifying broad, organizational information requirements                                                             to establish a strategic information architecture that           

                                                                        can be used to direct specific application

Resource allocation                                         Allocating both I.T. application development resources and operational resources

Project planning                                              Developing a plan that expresses schedules and resource

                                                                        Requirements for specific information systems projects