Improving the Performance of Technical Systems , Upholding the Productivity of a Company
SISP is the process of aligning an organization's information technology (IT) strategy with its overall business goals to achieve strategic objectives. It involves identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications and infrastructure that will support business plans and maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of information resources. This critical process is often cyclical and requires a systematic approach, from initial strategic awareness to final implementation and ongoing control. SISP is the continuous process of defining a strategy for procuring, developing, and using information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) to ensure they align with an organization's business goals and help achieve a competitive advantage.
Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP)
Key aspects of Strategic Information Systems Planning
Alignment with business strategy: The fundamental purpose of SISP is to ensure that IT activities directly support and enable the company's overall business strategy and goals.
Portfolio of applications: SISP creates a roadmap for the use of information systems, including hardware, software, and networking technologies, to help achieve objectives.
Maximizing effectiveness: It aims to optimize the organization's information resources to support enterprise-wide objectives and gain a competitive advantage.
Systematic process: SISP typically involves a structured, multi-phase process, though methodologies can vary.
Challenges: A significant challenge is the implementation gap between strategic recommendations and detailed system design, which can lead to failed SISP initiatives.
Phases of Strategic Information Systems Planning
A common approach to SISP includes five key phases:
Strategic awareness: Understanding the organization's business strategy and the competitive landscape.
Situation analysis: Analyzing the current status of systems, data needs, and external factors.
Strategy conception: Developing a vision for future information systems.
Strategy formulation: Detailing the specific information systems strategy.
Strategy implementation: Executing the plan and putting the new or modified systems into place.
Key Objectives of SISP
The primary goal of SISP is to bridge the gap between an organization's overall business strategy and its information systems capabilities. Specific objectives include:
Alignment: Ensuring that IT initiatives directly support and enable business objectives, goals, and processes.
Competitive Advantage: Identifying innovative ways to use technology to create new products, improve customer service, reduce costs, or build barriers against competitors.
Resource Optimization: Maximizing the return on investment in information systems and technology, including financial resources, personnel, and time.
Decision Support: Providing management with the right information and tools to make informed decisions and adapt to changing market conditions.
Efficiency and Effectiveness: Streamlining organizational procedures, improving productivity, and enhancing overall performance.
The SISP Process (Phases)
While specific approaches may vary, SISP generally involves five key phases:
Strategic Awareness: Initiating the planning process, defining its scope and objectives, and securing top management commitment and involvement.
Situation Analysis: Analyzing the internal and external environments, including the current IS infrastructure, organizational structure, competitor activities, and market trends (often using tools like SWOT analysis or competitive forces models).
Strategy Conception: Identifying and envisioning alternative information system applications and potential opportunities for leveraging technology.
Strategy Formulation: Prioritizing and selecting the most appropriate IS plan and developing a detailed roadmap with specific goals, metrics, timelines, and resource allocation.
Strategy Implementation Planning: Devising the necessary action plans to ensure the new systems are successfully developed, integrated, and used across the organization.
Methodologies and Techniques
SISP methodologies can be broadly categorized into two types:
Alignment Methodologies: Focus on ensuring information services support existing business goals. Examples include Business Systems Planning (BSP) and Strategic Systems Planning (SSP).
Impact Methodologies: Focus on exploring innovative uses of technology to gain a strategic advantage. Examples include Value Chain Analysis (VCA) and Critical Success Factor (CSF) analysis.
Challenges
Despite its importance, SISP initiatives can face challenges, including difficulty securing top management commitment, the long duration of the planning process relative to the rapid pace of technological change, and problems translating strategies into actionable implementation plans. To address these, organizations are increasingly adopting agile and flexible planning structures that incorporate emerging technologies like cloud computing, AI, and big data analytics.