Analysis of Information System: Juan vs. Pedro

THE SCENARIO
The following is a dialogue between a systems professional, John Juan, and a manager of a department targeted for a new information system, Peter Pedro:

Juan: The way to go about the analysis is to first examine the old system, such as reviewing key documents and observing the workers perform their tasks. Then we can determine which aspects are working well and which should be preserved.

Pedro: We have been through these types of projects before and what always ends up happening is that we do not get the new system we are promised; we get a modified version of the old system.
Juan: Well, I can assure you that will not happen this time. We just want a thorough understanding of what is working well and what isn’t.
Pedro: I would feel much more comfortable if we first started with a list of our requirements. We should spend some time up-front determining exactly what we want the system to do for my department. Then you systems people can come in and determine what portions to salvage if you wish. Just don’t constrain us to the old system.
Required:
a.Obviously these two workers have different views on how the systems analysis phase should be conducted. Comment on whose position you sympathize with the most.
b.What method would you propose they take? Why?
For me, both methods are essential in creating and implementing new information system. But in the dialogue, the two personnel have their own ideas which would result to conflicts. Two have their own points on choosing one over the other. These ideas would convince you to choose one and then again, at some point to the other. Anyways, for me to decide to whom between the two I should share my sympathy with if it’s needed, I have to understand the points the two parties are implying.

JUAN'S POINT
Let us start with John Juan, who is said to be systems professional. As the title suggests, he has claimed an expertise in the field of systems development. So probably, his ideas are better for the department.
He points out that in analyzing the problem, it is better if they have to first examine the old system first. By reviewing the key documents and observing the workers perform their tasks and a lot of things pertaining to the old system. By that, they could determine the strengths and weaknesses of the existing system. By assessing it, they could provide solutions for the weaknesses and improvements for the strengths.
An organization planning to have anew information system starts with the analysis of the capacity and status of existing information system. Current status, system performance, different functionalities, advantages, disadvantages, risks and opportunities are being considered in the analysis process of developing the system. These data are needed to capture the current situation of the business process with regard to the existing system. It also helps explore the possibilities of expansion, revision or renewal of the current system involved. By that, the actual needs of the people involved will be answered. Information systems are big help in an organization to carry out their business processes. .
Assessing current information system is believed to be of considerable benefit when planning new information systems. The development of Information Systems Strategies is often performed through the support of frameworks. Some of these frameworks include the documentation of the existing practice regarding the existing system, while others are the merely result of theory development. Some are tried and trusted, while the other are unsuccessfully unused (in case of Peter Pedro’s department).
PEDRO'S POINT
At this end, we have to discuss the ideas of Peter Pedro, he said that assessing the strengths and weaknesses of an old system is not a successful method in getting new system. They have made different types of projects with the use of such method, and what they found out is just the modified version of the old system whose outcome doesn’t satisfy him.
With that idea, he stresses the need to identify the requirements which is the first phase of creating a new system rather than specifying the old system. He wants to evaluate the true needs of his department to come up with the system that suffice their wants.
A requirement is defined as a state or capacity needed by a user to solve a problem or achieve certain goals. It is “a must ” in the system. (IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology). It is the basis for the succeeding development and verification processes of producing a system.
A successful system depends on the specification of the requirements. Even if you have lot of requirements gathered but it is insignificant to the system, then your system could be considered as incomplete and inconsistent. However, there are no systems ever created that is considered complete yet. That is why we have this systems evolution. But the goal here is to have at least “close to perfect system.”
Requirements engineering as a process involving requirements, helps earlier detection of errors which are much expensive if discovered later, forces clients study their requirements, and others.
Having captured significant requirements in the system is important in the agreement among the stakeholders involved. It is a good source for resource estimation. It improves the system’s quality.
There are two classifications of requirements: the Functional and the Nonfunctional Requirements. Functional requirements talks about the specific behavior of the system. It is the focus of acquiring requirements. On the other hand, Non-Functional Requirements cites the constraints on the over all quality of the system. Moreover, the classifications of the NON-functional requirements include Safety requirements, Security requirements, Interface requirements, Human engineering requirements Qualification requirements, Operational requirements, Maintenance requirements, Design constraints. Both requirements are important considerations in the system.
Requirements can be acquired through the following sources such as the customers or end-users for the user requirements and other stakeholders that are involved in the system such as the marketing experts, regulators and developer. Requirements can also be gotten through non-human source such as the other devices or systems in the environment.
Since Requirement Engineering is a systematic approach to acquire, analyze, validate, document and manage requirements, it includes a set of activities as in Requirements elicitation, Requirements analysis, Requirements specification and documentation, Requirements validation and Requirements management.
In the RE process, there are tow considered domains: the problem which tells about something that the organization want to solve by developing a system and the solution which speaks of the “system” that will be developed based on the requirements.
In the process of developing the system, the first to note is to understand the problem which comprises the elicitation and analysis activities. After which is to specify the solution which is in the form of specification and documentation activity. After the solution has been provided and then validated through the validation activity, is then implemented and managed in the management activity.
The ones who are responsible for preparing the requirements specification are the primary users itself, in this case, is the department. Another is the developer organisation in which the said process is considered as the first step in overall development contract, in this case, Juan’s and company or the systems people as Pedro cited. It can also be in the third party organisation .
MY POINT
After considering each point, my stand would be on the side of Peter Pedro, provided that the point of John Juan is also considered.
New system is created because of the imperfections found in the old system or because people in the organization cited a need to have a system which may answer their problems. Understanding the real problems is the aim of requirements elicitation which is said to be the main point of the department manager.
The problem can only be clearly understood by discovering who or what is really affected by the problem. In this case, the department manager knows what his department really needs. And so, he is able to identify the problems in his department. Even though the systems people are able to identify these by conducting an interview or company visit on the actual business process of the company, if he has a different way of establishing a new system, the definitely, it wouldn’t align with the actual needs of the organization.
In analyzing the problem, one has to establish their goals on why they develop a system. Goals are considered as requirements in themselves, particularly high level. Goals speak of the domains.
However, in providing the solutions to problems in the department, the point of the systems analyst should also be considered because of the constraints which are to have an existing system look-and-feel. In short, it is also a need to study the old system including its functionalities, the benefits and the weaknesses. By that, they can retain the comfort and the acceptance of the people in the department.
Therefore, in developing a new system for the department, the first step is to understand the problem by identifying the needs and requirements of the company. In addition, it is also a need to have knowledge with similar systems.
It is because identifying the requirements and understanding the functionalities of the system main factors for having a success in developing the project.
As to what method should they take, it is up to both parties on what method really suits in the type of system they are going to implement in the department.
THE METHOD
Choosing the type of methods require the considerations of the different factors. The department manager so as the systems analyst should consider a lot of things pertaining to the project such as the system scope, budget, the stakeholders, the time frame and other constraints. It also depends on what type of methodology they are comfortable with which is proven to bring success in the development of their system.
But for me, thinking that the system is planned to be implemented in a certain department of the company, I would consider Agile Methodologies. It is because developers won’t strive to have new methodologies if they are contented in the existing methodologies such as the waterfall, or traditional sequential development. However, each methodology is advantageous over the other in its own way.
But for this particular scenario, I introduce Agile methodogy simply because it offers the assessment to the direction of the project throughout the SDLC or Software development lifecycle. It is in the form of iterative process which implies the thorough inspection of each iterations. Unlike in Waterfall model (which inspired the Agile methodolgy), the developers using the said methodology will have many chances to acquire the acceptable requirements and to correct the errors until the system is finally implemented.
Agile Methodolgy is said to have “inspect-and-adapt” approach which can benefit the department in terms of financial budget and time allocations. As a result, the said methodology helps the organization to develop a system that will really answer their problem and can satisfy the head and the members.

REFERENCES:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8B5pS1b6JbAzeFmbfZpSrg3aOA3qzkgewjVEz44kiuc9Y3p3xWo6gqvgXRwf2Ri0SCqmsro5PhdG8_QfVw2VDcYQciAmn7S6yw/Requirements%20Engineering.pdf
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8B5pSyHE4iMzeFmbto9-V6eivXHgrbcWmstA4r3T8a8w0F7fsMcN1KLk2wQqpFDsbXrJLVdJfiUqpte-k9syRWCIwDPpqD5Q_g/Requirements%20Elicitation.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VD0-3XNT1WB-2&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1191562378&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f7fb0e87de26c31fe33d7c0d88f383c9
http://agilemethodology.org/

Google on Google

Google onGoogle

Google is a highly successful Internet business. Recently they have broadened their scope with a multitude of new tools. Research Google’s business model and answer the following questions below. You may add additional information not included in these questions.

Questions :
Explain Google’s business model.
1. Who are their competitors?
2. How have they used information technology to their advantage?
3. How competitive are they in the market?
4. What new services do they offer?
5. What makes them so unique?
6. How competitive are they in the international market?


To discuss Google is quite an interesting exercise. I am using this useful search engine over the other because of its quicker response to my query and more relevant answers to what I have expected. And it was confirmed by the PC magazine in 1998 which reports, “Google has an uncanny knack for returning extremely relevant results.” And recognize it as the search engine of choice in the top 100 web sites for 1998.”Yes, I use it frequently every time I search but I never was able to explore the root of what Google has become. And I guess, it is great opportunity to dig in some of the interesting facts about google including its milestones and principles.

SOME TRIVIA

In case you didn’t know, the word Google was derived from the mathematical term “googol” for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. It is quite immense huh. The name in fact reflects the vast existence of information and the scope of Goggle’s mission: to organize the world’s information and make it accessible and useful.

The search engine that has known today as Google was originally named as BackRub. In 1997, founders Larry page and Sergey Bin decide to renew the name and it’s Google.

In August 1997, Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim writes a check for $100,000 to a company called Google Inc, an entity that doesn’t exist yet that time.

Craig Silverstein was Google’s first employee; he's a fellow computer science grad student at Stanford.


GOOGLE’S COMPETITORS

When we talk of Google’s competitors, the ones that put in my mind are the other prominent internet businesses which are also proven successful. Some of these are the Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. But as my researches are concerned, even though they compete on a lot of things, they also agreed to work hand in hand in a form of a business deal. IN June 1998, Google had made a partnership with Yahoo! to become their default search provider. In October 2001, Google partnered with UOL (Universo Online) which makes Google the major search service for Latin Americans. In May 2002, Google had a major partnership with AOL to offer Google search and sponsored links using Compuserve, Netsacape and AOL.com. Also, Google made a partnership with Salesforce.com, combining that company's on-demand CRM applications with AdWords.

GOOGLE’S COMPETITIVENESS

It is said that Google’s competitive advantages is surprise.

Google’s success can be seen in different partnerships in the other internet business and the acquisition of the different companies which bring forth the different services Google has offered through the years.

Google acquire Pyra Labs, the creators of Blogger. They also obtain Applied Semantics, sustain the service named AdSense. The company also get Keyhole, a digital mapping company whose technology will later become Google Earth.Urchin, a web analytics company whose technology is used to create Google Analytics. They also had the acquisition of dMarc, a digital radio advertising company. Also, is the acquisition of Writely, a web-based word processing application that subsequently becomes the basis for Google Docs. Google also acquired the famous video streaming company, YouTube.
It also gets JotSpot, a collaborative wiki platform, which later becomes Google Sites
Google completed acquisition deal for DoubleClick.

Aside from the different acquisitions, Google has also dealt with various partnerships. Some are those with the greatest competitors as mentioned earlier and some with no competing parties such as with publishers to digitize millions of magazine articles and make them readily available on Google Book Search and in-kind organizations. The company has also dealt with Google Ventures: a venture capital fund aimed at using our resources to support innovation and encourage promising new technology companies


Another thing that proves Google as a competitive internet business is that Google scores well in the U.S. government’s machine translation evaluation. Google’s prominence shone even in dictionary as The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) adds "Google" as a verb.


GOOGLE’S UNIQUENESS

Google is considered unique for various factors. Google has a very humble beginning and hitherto, its humility is seen in parallel with their success. No matter how distant Google's business model grows from its origins, the root remains providing useful and relevant information to those who are the most important part of the ecosystem, the people who needs information..

They stand in their focus in quietly building a better search engine when great competing venture capital firms spent millions to “build brands.”

“Search” is the word for google. “Perfect search engine” is its target description. Larry Page said “understands exactly what you mean and gives back exactly what you want.”

They persistently pursued on Innovation and refused on the limitations of the existing models.

Google has the PageRank Technology and Hypertext-Matching Analysis for the better quality of their search engine. These technologies are what others are trying to imitate.

Google chose to ignore conventional wisdom in designing its business. Google grow, and so business bloom especially when its managers identified two initial opportunities for generating revenue: search services and advertising.

Google continues to think about ways in which technology can improve upon existing ways of doing business.

Google still maintain a small company feel. Commitment to innovation depends on everyone being comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. Every employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears several hats. Because they believe that each Googler is an equally important part of their success, no one hesitates to pose questions directly to Larry or Sergey in our weekly all-hands ("TGIF") meetings.

They are comprehensive in hiring, they favor ability over experience. As we continue to grow, we are always looking for those who share a commitment to creating search perfection and having a great time doing it.




GOOGLE’S DEVELOPMENT

The time started for Google was in 1995 when the two founders met. But it officially was transacting its business in 1998. Along the ways of development, new areas are identified and new services are offered. Here are some of the services Google Inc. has offered across time.

SERVICES:

• Google Toolbar - a browser plug-in that makes it possible to search without visiting the Google homepage
• (2002) Google Search Appliance- hardware that businesses can plug into their computer network to enable search capabilities for their own documents
• (2002) Froogle (later called Google Product Search)- enables to search stuff to buy
• (2003) Google Grants- in-kind advertising program for nonprofit organizations to run in-kind ad campaigns for their cause
• (2003) Google Print (later called Google Book Search) - indexes small excerpts from books to appear in search results.
• (2004) Google Local-offers relevant neighborhood business listings, maps, and directions
• (2004) Googlunaplex-research facility on the Moon.
• (2004) Google SMS (short message service) – sends your text search queries to GOOGL or 466453 on your mobile device.
• (2004) Google Desktop Search - searches for files and documents stored on your hard drive using Google technology.
• (2004) Google Scholar- a free service for searching scholarly literature
• (2005) code.google.com- place for developer-oriented resources
• (2005) My Search History in Labs-allows you to view all the web pages you've visited and Google searches you've made over time
• (2005) Site Targeting- an AdWords feature giving advertisers the ability to better target their ads to specific content sites
• (2005) Blogger Mobile
• (2005) Personalized Homepage (now iGoogle)-for people to customize their own Google homepage
• (2005) Google Mobile Web Search
• (2005) Google Earth: a satellite imagery-based mapping service combining 3D buildings and terrain with mapping capabilities and Google search
• (2005) API for Maps- developers can embed Google Maps on many kinds of mapping services and sites
• (2005) Google Talk- a downloadable Windows application that enables you to talk or IM with friends quickly and easily
• (2005) Google Reader- for feed aficionados
• (2006) Google Calendar
• Google Trends-a way to visualize the popularity of searches over time
• Picasa Web Albums- allows you to upload and share your photos online
• Google Checkout- way to pay for online purchases
• Google Book Search begins offering free PDF downloads of books in the public domain
• Google News
• Google Custom Search Engine – gives bloggers and website owners the ability to create a search engine tailored to their own interests
• Gmail to everyone
• Gmail Paper Archive and TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider)
• RechargeIT- green intiative aimed at accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
• Google Earth Outreach- help nonprofit organizations use Google Earth to advocate their causes
• Presently- a new application for making slide presentations, to Google Docs
• OpenSocial - set of common APIs for developers to build applications for social networks
• Android- the first open platform for mobile devices, and a collaboration with other companies in the Open Handset Alliance
• Sites enables you to create collaborative websites with embedded videos, documents, and calendars
• FriendConnect-set of functions and applications enabling website owners to easily make their sites social by adding registration, invitations, members gallery, message
• Google Health – allows people to safely and securely collect, store, and manage their medical records and health information online
• Google Blog
• Gmail Labs- set of experimental Gmail features, including saved searches and different kinds of stars, which let you customize your Gmail experience
• Our first downloadable iPhone app, featuring My Location and word suggestions for quicker mobile searching, debuts with the launch of the Apple 3G iPhone
• Google Suggest -feature on Google.com; helps in formulating queries, reduce spelling errors, and reduce keystrokes
• Android Software Developer Kit
• Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod touch, complete with photos, geo-located Wikipedia articles, and the ability to tilt your phone to view 3D terrain
• SearchWiki- a way for you to customize your own search experience by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting.
• Measurement Lab (M-Lab),-an open platform that provides tools to test broadband connections
• Google Latitude, a Google Maps for mobile feature and an iGoogle gadget that lets you share your location with friends and see the approximate location of people who have decided to share their location with you
• Google Voice -improves the way you use your phone, with features like voicemail transcription and archive and search of all of your SMS text messages
• iGoogle backdrops
• Sky Map for Android- uses Android phone to help identify stars, constellations and planets
• Google Squared, a new experiment in Labs intended for certain kinds of complex search queries, collects facts from the web and presents them in an organized collection, similar to a spreadsheet
• The Google Translator Toolkit-set of editing tools that helps people translate and publish work in other languages faster and at a higher quality
• Google Chrome OS- an open source, lightweight operating system initially targeted at netbooks
• Moon in Google Earth -features lunar imagery, information about the Apollo landing sites, panoramic images shot by the Apollo astronauts and narrated tours.


I.T. AS AN ADVANTAGE


Information is so that Google found it as an opportunity. As the name suggests, It has managed to obtain its mission: to have Information be accessible and useful worldwide.

Google is an internet business and it is very evident how they use Information Technology as its advantage. Primarily, Google has the goal to have “Perfect Search Engine”. Search is how Google started its venture and is still the focus of the company today. That is why they are creating new ways to improve the search engine over the additional services they offered.

To that end, Google has determinedly pursued innovation and refused to accept the limitations of existing models. As a result, they developed their serving infrastructure and breakthrough PageRank™ technology. The innovation rewarded off in faster response times, greater scalability and lower costs.

PageRank Technology: mirrors the importance of web pages. It considers more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Pages that we believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. It also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value.

Hypertext-Matching Analysis: search engine also analyzes page content.
The technology analyzes the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word. We also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user's query.

Google has viewed innovation as not limited to desktops. Thus, they develop new mobile applications and services that are more accessible and customizable.

Reference:


http://www.google.com/corporate/

SDLC of USEP

Our assignment is to consider the school and answer the question on how do we that the life cycle was developed specifically for the university and if it meets our needs.

At first, I was wondering what this particular “life cycle” really means. I was thinking of living things that is developing and maturing just for instance the metamorphosis of a butterfly. But it’s all about the university that’s why I’m trying to realize the true meaning of the phrase “life cycle of the university” if I’m not mistaken to understand the task.

When I searched in the internet about the “life cycle”, I found variations of meaning in varied fields. From biological to enterprise and from the new product development to life cycle assessment; also from Product life cycle management to project life cycle; there’s also from software life cycle to Systems Development Life Cycle so as the SOA Lifecycle.

I know, some of the terms in which the phrase “life cycle” is referred to be insignificant for this assignment but some relates to the topic especially that this topic is in the course System Analysis and Design which means it has something to do with the Systems. Be it on its planning, implementation or deployment in the organization. And the University of Southeastern Philippines is an organization or shall w say an institution whatever you call it.

So I considered Systems Development Life Cycle.

Let me discuss first about the university primarily its vision, mission, goals and objectives which are part of the university’s information system planning.

About USEP

The University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) is a regional state university created in 1978 through Batas Pambansa Bilang 12. The university is an integration of four state institutions, particularly, the Mindanao State University-Davao, the University of the Philippines-Master of Management Program in Davao, the Davao School of Arts and Trades, and the Davao National Regional Agricultural School.

The university has four campuses, namely, Obrero (main) and Mintal Campuses in Davao City, Tagum-Mabini Campus which has two units – one in Tagum City and one in Compostela Valley Province, and Bislig Campus in Surigao del Sur.

The USEP offers graduate and undergraduate academic programs in the fields of engineering, education, arts and sciences, economics, business, computing, governance, development, resource management, technology, agriculture and forestry.

The University of Southeastern Philippines has the following mandate:

To provide programs of instruction and professional training primarily in the fields of science and technology, especially medicine, fisheries, engineering and industrial fields.
To promote advanced studies, research and extension services and progressive leadership in science, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, engineering and industrial fields and other courses needed in the socio-economic development of Mindanao.

To develop courses at the graduate level along the fields of specialization and to respond to the needs of development workers in the academic community.

To provide non-formal education and undertake vigorous extension and research programs in food production, nutrition, health and sports development.
To offer scholarship and/or part-time job opportunities to deserving students from low-income families.

Mission

USEP shall produce world-class graduates
and relevant research and extension
through quality education and sustainable resource management.

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.

Vision

A PREMIER UNIVERSITY IN THE ASEAN REGION

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.

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 R,D,&E culture with competent human resource and responsive and relevant researches that are adopted and utilized for development

KRA 3. Resource Management

Upon mentioning about the university, the term ISP is included. It is said that an information system (IS) within an organisation should be established on the basis of clearly defined potential benefits (Galliers & Sutherland, 1991). To achieve these, the organisation should have a strong and well-developed strategic information system plan (SISP), that consists of a strategy for both information planning and management, including the use of functions and features of information technology (IT) (Galliers, Swatman & Swatman, 1995). Users should perceive the value of the system and the information delivered (Strauss, 1992a). SISP within a tertiary educational institutions, is important for the successful use of an IS service.

The university, as far as we know it is already developing an IS in the move towards the creation of university information systems the value of a CWIS is dependent on its effective utilization, fostered by effective planning. However, it appears that strategic planning in our university has not yet been observed especially by the students and the faculties and the even the staffs.

Information Systems in Higher Education

Traditionally, information sharing among university members has relied on a range of printed materials. Computer technology created opportunities on university campuses for sharing data and information among the staff and the students, and has been deployed since the late fifties (Sullivan, 1996, p.117). University information systems range from library systems, registration systems and financial systems, to campus-housing systems and other university service systems.

Systems were often established in an uncoordinated manner, reflecting interests in different areas, and resulting in issues of redundancy and inefficiency. For example, student affairs, library, and a faculty may have the same information about a student although they use different systems to keep it (Malaney & Alvarez, 1996, p.75). Moves beyond this have resulted in “a single well-known service”, from which information can be accessed regardless of the information providers within the university (Wiggins, 1995, p.510). Such a service, an early example of which was CUINFO at Cornell University, has now been recognised as a CWIS, which is implemented as a central information service for the whole university community.

Strategic planning for information systems

Remenyi (1990) explains what makes IS "strategic" is that it directly supports and shapes the competitive strategy of an organisation. He considers that it may function as a management information system or a management support system. He argues that because SIS deals directly in the business line of the organisation by “finding, getting, and keeping clients, it is therefore a strategic resource. Orna (1990) describes strategic IS using her concept of “enterprise information policy” (EIP). She contends that as a dynamic tool, EIP can be used:

- to relate everything done with information to an enterprise’s overall objective;
- to enable effective decisions on resource allocation;
- to promote interaction, communication and mutual support between all parts of the enterprise, and between the enterprise and its ‘customers’ and ‘public’;
- to provide objective criteria for assessing results of information-based activities;
- to give feedback to the process of developing the corporate policies enterprise.


Ward, Griffiths & Whitmore (1990, p.88) see that objectives for strategic planning should be to build a robust information management framework for the long-term management of information and its supporting technologies, and to:

- identify current and future information needs for the organisation that reflect close alignment of business and IS/IT strategies, objectives and functions;
- determine policies for the management, creation, maintenance, control and accessibility of the corporate information resource;
- reposition IS/IT function more centrally in the business, with representation at top management level;
- ensure that sound IS architecture is created so that high quality systems can be built and maintained;
- identify a portfolio of skills that will be required over the lifetime of the plans;

- determine an effective and achievable organisation structure for the IS/IT function;
- ensure that the IS/IT function is outward looking and not focused internally on technology issues, and that the aims are widely communicated;
- ensure that there is an acceptance of shared responsibility between IS/IT and business people for the successful exploitation of information and IT.

SISP in higher education

Van Valey & Poole (1994) surveyed existing computing activities at Western Michigan University (WMU) in order to put forward a plan for the expansion of the computer technology to facilitate its effective use. The result of this survey indicates that information about existing computing activities, although not explicitly described as a strategic issue, is very useful for further planning and decision making processes in the university.

Tellis (1997) conducted a similar study using documentation analysis and a survey questionnaire. He investigated the managerial and economic aspects of employing information technology in Fairfield University. Like the WMU study before, which does not explicitly acknowledge strategic planning, Tellis's work indicates how a university should manage its information system with respect to IT management planning.
Luby (1996) conducted semi-structured interviews in order to investigate the process of strategic planning in the University of Paisley. The study shows that the process of strategic planning requires the university managers to recognise the complexity of a university environment and to create university staff awareness of this complexity. Accordingly, Luby recommends that all university staff should have what is called a "strategic perspective" for basic action in the planning process. With this perspective, each staff member should have a personal development plan relevant to the university strategic plan.

Project management

I also mentioned on Project management.

So what is it? It is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is often closely related to and sometimes conflated with program management.

The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goalsand objectives while honoring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives.

Regardless of the methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the overall project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all participants and stakeholders.

A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. In the "traditional approach", we can distinguish 5 components of a project (4 stages plus control) in the development of a project:

• Typical development phases of a project
• Project initiation stage;
• Project planning or design stage;
• Project execution or production stage;
• Project monitoring and controlling systems;
• Project completion stage.

Regardless of the methodology employed, careful consideration must be given to the overall project objectives, timeline, and cost, as well as the roles and responsibilities of all participants and stakeholders.

A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. In the "traditional approach", we can distinguish 5 components of a project (4 stages plus control) in the development of a project:

Typical development phases of a project

• Project initiation stage;
• Project planning or design stage;
• Project execution or production stage;
• Project monitoring and controlling systems;
• Project completion stage.

Part of the ISP is the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), or Software Development Life Cycle in systems engineering and software engineering, is the process of creating or altering systems, and the models and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. The concept generally refers to computer or information systems.

In software engineering the SDLC concept underpins many kinds of software development methodologies. These methodologies form the framework for planning and controlling the creation of an information system or the software development process.

A Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is any logical process used by a systems analyst to develop an information system, including requirements, validation, training, and user (stakeholder) ownership. Any SDLC should result in a high quality system that meets or exceeds customer expectations, reaches completion within time and cost estimates, works effectively and efficiently in the current and planned Information Technology infrastructure, and is inexpensive to maintain and cost-effective to enhance.

Computer systems have become more complex and often (especially with the advent of Service-Oriented Architecture) link multiple traditional systems potentially supplied by different software vendors. To manage this level of complexity, a number of systems development life cycle (SDLC) models have been created: "waterfall"; "fountain"; "spiral"; "build and fix"; "rapid prototyping"; "incremental"; and "synchronize and stabilize".[citation needed]

SDLC models can be described along a spectrum of agile to iterative to sequential. Agile methodologies, such as XP and Scrum, focus on light-weight processes which allow for rapid changes along the development cycle. Iterative methodologies, such as Rational Unified Process and Dynamic Systems Development Method, focus on limited project scopes and expanding or improving products by multiple iterations. Sequential or big-design-upfront (BDUF) models, such as Waterfall, focus on complete and correct planning to guide large projects and risks to successful and predictable results.


In project management a project can be defined both with a project life cycle (PLC) and an SDLC, during which slightly different activities occur. According to Taylor (2004) "the project life cycle encompasses all the activities of the project, while the systems development life cycle focuses on realizing the product requirements".


University context and IS

(How do we know that the life cycle was developed specifically for the university?)

There was significant correlation between perception of effectiveness of information providers and perceived functioning of the IS.

How the IS would strategically be planned, and staff awareness of the importance of an IS, would influence the functioning or the performance of the IS.

Although appropriate organizational culture was regarded as necessary for development of IS, strong support was given to the following factors of influence: institutional guidelines and priorities; clear objectives for the campus IS; infrastructure; staff demands; budget planning and control; feasible and appropriate resources; management support and consistency; academic staff awareness.

There was also support for the need for strategic planning, the improvement of staff’s skills, and for an information policy with respect to the development of IS.

(How do we know that the life cycle meets our needs?)

For me, the life cycle of the university certainly meets our needs but it is also a reality that it is not yet properly implemented. I really know when that time will come that the ISP will be visible in the university. And when that is time the student come to realize the essence of the existing life cycle of the university so that, it not just documentation but a realization. ISP is a great help to achieve our visions and recognize our goals and objectives. What we really need is to work by hand not just on tongue.

References:

http://www.usep.edu.ph
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/96/1/Middleton_CWIS_99_eprint.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_life_cycle#Project_development_stages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Development_Life_Cycle

System Analyst as Project Manager

Our task in this particular assignment is to discuss the role of a systems analyst as a project manager. Regarding this, we have to interview an analyst or project manager. The person in the company that we had visited was an MIS Department head and at the same times a system analyst.

On December 7, 2009, after the letter was approved by the respective university personnel, we immediately visited the AMS Group of Companies located at F Torres , Davao City and we interviewed Mr. Gemrald Calibara about our topic in the group representation in SAD1. It is about systems analyst as a project manager. Aside from that, he has also touched the some discussions in which some of our assignments are answered prior to its post. That’s why, we are able to answer our assignments and tackle about our discussion. That made me think that we are lucky and should I say grateful enough to have this coincidences or whatever you call it.

Concerning the topic, he discussed a lot of things. From identifying the problems found in their organization such as the lack of programmers, time pressures and constraints to the sharing of the type of model they are implementing during the software development cycle which is the rapid Model. He also stated that the budgetary requirement for the project management is very minimal because they normally don’t outsource the systems. The tasked teams are the ones who create the systems in their organization. Whenever they have to outsource some systems, they are to customize it to meet the specifications needed by the organization itself.

Although he tackled a lot, it is not enough that enough to answer this assessment and discuss or topic in the class without searching other references. And the internet is available.

From our topic discussion I found one of relevant objectives which is explain the elements of project management and the responsibilities of a project manager. So, let me discuss the role of the systems analyst as a project manager.

The Reasons to Initiate IS Project are: The new information system is part of an overall strategic plan and the new information system is to respond an immediate business need.

What Is a Project? It is a planned undertaking with a beginning and an end that produce predetermined result and is usually constrained by a schedule and resource.

What is Project Management? It is the act of organizing and directing people to achieve a planned result within budget and on schedule. Success or failure of project depends on skills of the project manager. The responsibilities of project manager are both internal and external.

Internal Responsibilities of the Project Manager include: Identify project tasks and build a work breakdown structure; develop the project schedule; recruit and train team members; assign team members to tasks; coordinate activities of team members and subteams; assess project risks; monitor and control project deliverables and milestones and verify the quality of project deliverables.

External Responsibilities of the Project Manager include: Report the project’s status and progress; establish good working relationships with those who identify the needed system requirements; the people who will use the system; work directly with the client (the project’s sponsor) and other stakeholders and identify resource needs and obtain resources.

• Project Management Tasks are:
• Beginning of project
o Overall project planning
• During project
o Project execution management
o Project control management
o Project closeout
• Project management approach differs for
o Predictive SDLC
o Adaptive SDLC

In one of my researches, I found an interesting summary of the role of Systems analyst as a project manager and here it is:

The Project Manager / Business System Analyst will be responsible for the project planning, execution, and implementation of technology-enabled solutions to an internal business unit which provides revenue generating services for the district. Through a highly successful ASP model, the internal business unit has expanded its services to school districts throughout the State of Texas. In addition to the project management responsibilities, this position requires demonstrated abilities to partner, collaborate and manage the relationship of a customer –focused and excellence driven team. The right candidate will have extensive organizational, strong leadership and relationship management skills in a multifaceted matrix organization.

As the Project Manager / Business System Analyst you will be a full partner with the business unit in setting the strategic vision for future growth and expansion. This position requires a level of understanding where system enhancements, process design trade-offs and plan prioritization are discussed in business language, which in turn will lead to better decisions. Previous experience in business process re-engineering of process improvement; utilizing project best practice techniques and tools to effect business change is desirable. HISD is broadly recognized for its innovative approach to educating children through leading initiatives such as the respected Teacher “Pay for Performance” Program (ASPIRE) Through programs such as this one, HISD has been able to increase its number of recognized and exemplary schools from 8 to 200 in four years.

And the required Key Skills and Experience include;

• At least 5 years of direct experience leading teams in a matrix organization, with responsibility for customer driven-products, software and fee-for-service solutions on a regional basis.
• Manages all activities related to line-of business software upgrades, new releases, and emergency fixes from conception through post implementation. Projects often involve managing both internal and external network server configurations and testing. Ensures that projects meet budget, timing, client expectations and organizational standards.
• Coordinates work performed by IT staff and line-of-business customer by defining project requirements, performance feasibility and needs/impact assessments. Acts as a senior technical advisor to others to meet schedules and/or resolve technical problems.
• Interprets line-of-business strategies and services, resolves conflicts, and influences outcomes on matters of significance for the division, conducts negotiations and coordinates approvals/decision.
• Works with line-of-business customers to develop business requirements; including analysis of the competitive situation, understanding business practices and approaches and recommending business process changes.
• Develops detailed project plans and manages all implementation processes including resource allocation, progress tracking, monitoring change control processes, testing, documenting training and on-time, on-budget and on-scope delivery.
• Regularly provides project management or team leadership to a group of Software Developers, but does not have formal supervisory responsibility. Leading and directing typically involves monitoring work and providing guidance on escalated issues.
• Will be experienced in working to complete activities in process engineering, information engineering, use case modeling, facilitation, and organizational change management.
• Analyzes the most complex business problems in the areas of identifying, evaluating and developing processes, procedures, policies, training, functional testing, data quality and workflows that are cost effective and meet business requirements.

References:
www.itk.ilstu.edu/.../Chapter%203%20-%20Analyst%20as%20a%20Project%20Manager.ppt
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/job-JYL72A75BRO

Information Systems Plan of USEP

Our fourth assignment in MIS 2 was about visualizing ourselves being invited by the university (University of Southeastern Philippines) to prepare an Information systems plan for the university, and then discussing the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the ISP.

Since the university is also an organization and is in the trend in Information Technology, Though, seldom noticed because of its lack of implementation not realizing the dreams, vision, mission, goals, It is also practicing to have an Information systems Plan the same approach with the other organizations.

Although the university is visualizing for an unreachable dream through its strategic Information System’s planning, it can be thought that its actual implementation is yet too far from the truth.

As a result, students, faculties, staffs and other residents and the university itself seem not to recognize the existing ISP and the plans to improve it.

IN this particular assignment, I was assumed or presumed to be an IT expert or even a Systems Analyst who was hired by the university to prepare an ISP.

It is not necessarily for me to create a new ISP, what are the things I must do is to study and understand the real scenario of the university, And then, study the existing ISP. And decide to create modifications, changes, improvement and possibly integration with the current ISP that was not yet realized.

Also, I have to consider the various specifications and constraints. Considering that it is a state university which is subsidized by the government, so budget allotted for ISP must be optimized.

In the article Information Systems Plan: The Bet-Your-Business Project by by Michael M. Gorman, the rationale for an Information plan is stated.

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.

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.

ISP Within the Context of the Meta data Environment

The information systems plan is the plan by which databases and information systems of the enterprise are accomplished in a timely manner. A key facility through which the ISP obtains its Adata@ is the meta data repository. The domain of the meta data repository is set forth in Figure 1, and, as seen through Figure 1, persons through their role within an organization perform functions in the accomplishment of enterprise missions, they have information needs. These information needs reflect the state of certain enterprise resources such as finance, people, and products that are known to the enterprises. The states are created through business information systems and databases.


The majority of the meta data employed to develop the ISP resides in the meta entities supporting the enterprise=s resource life cycles (see TDAN issue #7, December 1998, Resource Life Cycle Analysis), the databases and information systems, and project management. All these meta entities are depicted within the meta data repository meta model in Figure 2.

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.

Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) - An IS Strategy for ERP Implementation

Written by:

Cecil Bozarth, SCRC


The following is based on Dr. Bozarth’s research on “ERP Implementation Efforts at Three Firms: Applying lessons from the SISP and IT-enabled change literature” which is scheduled to appear in the International Journal of Operations and Production Management.


Strategic information systems planning, or SISP, is based on two core arguments. The first is that, at a minimum, a firm’s information systems investments should be aligned with the overall business strategy, and in some cases may even become an emerging source of competitive advantage. While no one disagrees with this, operations management researchers are just starting to study how this alignment takes place and what the measurable benefits are. An issue under examination is how a manufacturer’s business strategy, characterized as either “market focused” or “operations focused,” affects its ability to garner efficiency versus customer service benefits from its ERP investments.

The second core argument behind SISP is that companies can best achieve IS-based alignment or competitive advantage by following a proactive, formal and comprehensive process that includes the development of broad organizational information requirements. This is in contrast to a “reactive” strategy, in which the IS group sits back and responds to other areas of the business only when a need arises. Such a process is especially relevant to ERP investments, given their costs and long-term impact. Seegars, Grover and Teng (1) have identified six dimensions that define an excellent SISP process (notice that many of these would apply to the strategic planning process in other areas as well):

1. Comprehensiveness

Comprehensiveness is “the extent to which an organization attempts to be exhaustive or inclusive in making and integrating strategic decisions”.

2. Formalization

Formalization is “the existence of structures, techniques, written procedures, and policies that guide the planning process”.

3. Focus

Focus is “the balance between creativity and control orientations inherent within the strategic planning system”. An innovative orientation emphasizes innovative solutions to deal with opportunities and threats. An integrative orientation emphasizes control, as implemented through budgets, resource allocation, and asset management.

4. Top-down flow

SISP should be initiated by top managers, with the aid of support staff.

5. Broad participation

Even though the planning flow is top-down, participation must involve multiple functional areas and, as necessary, key stakeholders at lower levels of the organization.

6. High consistency

SISP should be characterized by frequent meetings and reassessments of the overall strategy.

The recommendations found in the SISP literature have been echoed in the operations management literature. It has been suggested that firms should institutionalize a formal top-down planning process for linking information systems strategy to business needs as they move toward evolution in their management orientation, planning, organization, and control aspects of the IT function.
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Six Steps to Implementation

Many organizations have invested a great deal of effort in educating and informing consumers about health care quality. The most ambitious of these sponsors have embarked on multi-year projects to measure quality of care at various level of the health care system and report their findings to the public. Others with more limited resources and expertise may adapt publicly available materials to their own needs or recommend alternative sources of information for their audiences.

Although no two projects are exactly alike, successful sponsors generally follow the following six steps. Understanding what is involved in implementing a quality measurement and reporting project from start to finish is especially important for those sponsors that do it all themselves. But even sponsors that borrow as much as they can from others need to be aware of these steps so that they can make a conscious choice to skip those that do not apply.
Step 1. Getting Started
The first step in a consumer information project is to lay the foundation for the project—financially, politically, and organizationally. While this may sound obvious, many projects fail because sponsors do not take the time to prepare. They dive right into the process of collecting and reporting data, only to be taken by surprise when someone objects to the project or the money runs out.
On the other hand, some projects never even get off the ground because the sponsors can't move beyond the planning process. The key to moving beyond the organizational stage is to develop and stick to a schedule that will force decisions and push the participants forward in the process.
Step 2. Collecting and Analyzing Data
During the planning stage (Step 1), sponsors choose what types of quality measures to share with the audience.
For many sponsors, the next step in a consumer information project is to gather that data and conduct the appropriate analyses so that these measures have meaning for consumers.
Step 3. Presenting the Information
Presentation—or how you say what you have to say—plays a critical part in ensuring that your efforts to convey quality information are successful. One of the most challenging aspects of a performance measurement project is figuring out how to present the data in a way that helps consumers interpret the information and apply it to their health care-related decisions. Many sponsors have struggled with this question, only to find themselves making the same mistakes as others before them. One of the key objectives of this site is to support project sponsors in learning from the experiences of their peers as well as from the findings of researchers regarding the best ways to discuss, format, and display information on quality.
Five Key Points About Presentation

Here are the five most important things to remember about presenting information on health care quality:

1. There is no one way to do this—but there are better ways and worse ways.

At this time, there is no universally accepted approach to providing information on quality to consumers. The marketplace is full of experiments, most of which have not been evaluated. But we do know that some approaches to presenting quality information work better than others in the sense that consumers find it easier to understand the data and evaluate their options.

2. The answer that's best for you depends on who your audience is and how they'll use the information.

The way you present information—and even the information itself—should be driven by the needs of whoever is supposed to be reading it. Consumers are the focus of this Web site, but they are not the only audience for health care quality information. Sponsors can develop information for:
Public or private purchasers.
Non-purchasing intermediary organizations, such as consumer advocacy groups.
Policymakers.
Provider organizations.
Individual providers.
Health plans.

Each of these audiences has different needs for quality information. As a result, an approach that is appropriate for individual consumers may not be at all useful for a different audience.

For example:
Plans and providers may want more detail in order to identify specific opportunities to improve quality.
Policymakers, on the other hand, may want a higher level of aggregation that would reveal larger trends in the marketplace.
Intermediary organizations and purchasers may want enough data to draw their own conclusions rather than having the information interpreted for them.

3. Data cannot be presented in a vacuum.

The context you provide (or fail to provide) for the information affects what your audience pays attention to and how they interpret it. In particular, consumers are more likely to care about the information if you can connect it to their concerns about health care and the health care system. For instance, data on ease of referrals has greater relevance to an audience that understands how a health plan may limit their access to specialists. This implies that it is not enough to provide data; a quality report must include some explanation of how the health care system works and what the data reveal about a health care organization.

4. For the typical consumer, a quality measure has no meaning on its own.

It is the sponsor's job to turn quality measures into information that consumers can easily comprehend, evaluate, and use. You can do this by doing one or more of the following:
Grouping measures into consumer-friendly categories.
Offering a basis for comparison, such as an average or benchmark for the market.
Interpreting the information for your audience by making it clear which results are truly better than others.

For explanations and examples of each of these tasks, go to How To Say It.

5. The medium shapes the message.

Whether you rely on printed reports, Web sites, or live presentations, the medium you choose to deliver the information can determine how much you present and how you display it. For instance, you can offer many more layers of detail on the Web than you can in print without overwhelming your audience. A printed report, on the other hand, offers the ability to create large displays of information across multiple pages. This suggests that you will need to have some sense of what the final product will be before you can decide on a design and format for quality information.
Making Sure Your Materials Work for Your Audience

No matter how limited your resources may be, do what you can to test the materials as you develop them to make sure they are suitable for your audience. This approach allows you to identify and remedy trouble spots along the way rather than waiting until the information has been disseminated to discover any problems. Specifically, sponsors can conduct ongoing testing to assess:
Whether consumers can read the information easily.
Whether they can understand it.
Whether the content is appropriate for your audience.
Whether people are interested in your content (i.e., its salience).
Whether consumers can use your materials for the purpose for which they are intended.
Whether they can navigate through the materials to find the information they want.

Techniques for this kind of iterative testing include one-on-one interviews as well as focus groups.

For specifics on testing your materials, conducting interviews, and focus groups, go to Refining What You Do.

Step 4. Disseminating Information
Long before you have the information to distribute, you need to be thinking about how and when to get it into the hands of consumers. Sponsors should ask themselves:
What can we do to ensure that our audience is aware of our information and motivated to use it?
When is the best time to make the information available? Is this timing realistic?
What channels can we use to distribute the information to our audience? How can we make sure they see it?
How should we package the information? Should it stand alone or be incorporated into other information?
The answers to these questions will affect how much time you have to produce the report as well as the kinds of measures and depth of content that you can include. For example:
If the goal is to release a performance report in early fall so that consumers have it in time for the open enrollment season, you may not have enough time to conduct your own survey of enrollees but you could ask your plans to share the HEDIS® scores—which include results of the CAHPS® survey—that they have to report to NCQA by early summer.
If the most sensible way to package the performance information is to integrate it into open enrollment materials, you will have to deal with space constraints that would not be necessary in a stand-alone document. This may affect the way you present the data or how much data you can include.

Step 5. Supporting Consumers
For many sponsors of consumer information projects, the job ends once the reports have been distributed. But both experienced sponsors and researchers testing consumer behavior have demonstrated that it is not enough to give consumers data. They need help in interpreting the information on quality, integrating it with other relevant data (such as costs), and using it to make decisions. Without this help, many simply ignore the information they have, or worse, use it inappropriately.
Strategies for providing "decision support" include the following:
Refer consumers to consumer advocates and other "information intermediaries" who can help your audience understand and use the information you provide..
Offer consumers a worksheet that guides them through the process of evaluating their options. Design computer-based systems that facilitate decisionmaking by allowing the user to weight different factors or by ranking the available choices based on the user's response to a set of questions.
To determine which strategy will work best for your audience, you may want to consult with representative consumers and/or appropriate intermediaries. Also, be sure to evaluate your support strategy once it is implemented to find out how well it is serving the needs of your audience and how you can improve it.

Step 6. Evaluating the Project
Finally, the last step for sponsors is to evaluate the extent to which the project achieved its objectives. This could be as simple as asking whether consumers are aware of the information you produced or as complicated as finding out whether and how consumers used the information to help make decisions.
Evaluations are important for internal purposes because they enable you to determine how effective your project is and how it can be improved. But they are equally critical for external reasons. First, being able to demonstrate that the project has had a positive impact will help you secure political support and continued funding. In addition, an evaluation allows other sponsors to learn from your experience.
The following methods are commonly used to evaluate projects:Focus groups.Surveys.Usability testing.Analysis of changes in enrollment patterns.

References:
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
http://scm.ncsu.edu/public/facts/facs060329.html
http://www.talkingquality.gov/docs/section1/1_2.htm