MIS2

-MIS2 Plan to fail? or Fail to Plan?

Last Monday November 24, 2008 we started our reporting in MIS2 since their are some technical issues that arise in the presentation our Prof started to give us his .000001% tips and some advice to the class... hehehe Our Prof give us the things that we have to do in this subject and that is to come up with an SISP in our department IC (Institute of computing) since it contrast to the University VMGO. About the report it tackles more about the introduction and the problems that might occur in making SISP. SISP making has many factors to be considered the internal and external factors. In internal factors which is the S.W.O.T. or Strength,Weaknesses,Oppurtunity and Threat of the organization. The external side which is the STEEP or Political, Economical, Sociological, Technology and Environmental. I am worried about this subject since it is very hard and you must put some effort to it and this is my first time but as what the statement said people fail because they did not fail to plan but they plan to fail and I hope It won't happen. Kudos.

Assignment 1 - "Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how do you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there"

Being engage in Information Technology i am having fun with it. I know a lot of things and I know i'm advance with other people regarding our technology since it is a part of my profession. 10 years from now I think it is a lot of time for me to be called a IT professional my strategies to get there is to make a goal and to live with it. Having a goal in your life only shows that you have a dream in your life and it is a good challenge for us to have one. Align with it is my vision and mission of course you must have a mission and vision in order to achieve your goal. Lots of hard work and consistency in every job that was given to me. Being a student in this age i have lots of things to be learn and i believe that i can learn this things not only in school but engaging my self in the real world.

How will I see myself 10 years? That is a hard question, predicting my own future? hahaha.. But to tell you honestly, I envision myself to become a Database Administrator, as the saying says I live to teach, i don't teach to live. For me being a DBA is fun in my part, i really want to have some fun regarding my job that will suit me and i don't want to be trap inside a rat race that i think about 90% was being stuck up and doesn't know how to get their. For me, experience is learning and that is the biggest thing that you can learn in your life but i don't want to work hard to the point that im not enjoying what i am doing.. I really try to abide rules, since i know that obedience is the key to success.

What will be my steps? Ahm, first of all i will drink plenty of water, take my vitamins and rest so that i will be energized in making decisions. I must know my limitations and skills in order for me to have boundaries in my subject. to have a positive outlook in a give project is also a step
for me to consider. I must also make some strategic plans or some strategic moves in order to be there and fulfill it, it is very important to make a plan in order for you to be guided in the right direction thus, you will be sure that you are not fading away with your goal. When I was a kid i use to play with my dad and he really gives me some advice and tips in order for me to compete in this fast changing environment. I really don't know what to say regarding this topic since my "foolosphy" hahaha is not that wide enough to express myself and i dont want to explain much about my life but, as the rules says you must abide in the flow of this world. hehehe..

Be serious? Im not a serious type of person because i don't want to take myself too seriously..
If you ask me what will be the initial step to be there certainly i will answer that I will first graduate in this university then after graduating I will start to lead because I am a leader and everybody can be a leader, and that is a one way in getting closer to my goal.

Assignment 2 - 1.What should be the nature of the relationship between the business plan and the IS plan?

2. What are the two most frequently experienced causes of frustration in IS professionals and users while working on an IS plan?

1.What should be the nature of the relationship between the business plan and the IS plan?
(at least 1000 words)

before I start let me discuss first the meaning of Business plan and IS plan in order for us to know what should be the nature of Business plan and IS plan.

A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. - wikipedia

Business-planning methods help staff develop detailed plans at lower levels. Business-driven data modelling methods then help them to identify their information needs, based on those developed plans. Identified information is then provided from the Information Warehouse.

IS plan focuses on the transaction of the business what will be the new trend and other stuffs. Having this to plan is very useful in order to have a successful business. Their are some techniques can be use in IS planning which is the SWOT ( Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and STEEP (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental and Political) IS plan also is used in order to align with its organizational structure.

The nature of IS plan and Business plan is to assure that IS plan is align with its business plan the nature of realtionship is:

- Tactical business plans should provide input for Customer Management
- Financial Management should be the second model view for tactical modelling
- Tactical business plans provide input to Financial Management
- Portfolio Management should be the third model view for tactical modelling
- Tactical business plans provide input for Portfolio Management.

2. What are the two most frequently experienced causes of frustration in IS professionals and users while working on an IS plan?(at least 1000 words)

Frustration are anywhere all of us experience this kind of dilemma in our day to day work IS professionals also experience this while working on the IS plan. As what ive learned from the lesson making a plan is very simple but the structure and the support behind it is very hard and complicated thing to do.

Consulatation is one of the frustrations that might occur in making the IS plan of course we must consult it in order for it to be accurate, getting the data needed, as we all know data are the source of all we have to analyze the situation through the given data that was gathered. Analyzing the data gathered, it is also one of the frustration that might occur since it is very tiresome to analyze the given data.

Assignment 3 - Discuss the purpose of IS planning and identify its major challenges?

INFORMATION SYSTEM PLANNING AND ITS MAJOR CHALLENGES

I.Information System Planning

A. Introduction

ISP = IS + P

where IS stands for Information System
and P is for Planning.

Information system planning is the planning of information systems for the benefit and usage of an organization. It can also be defined as the identification and assessment the information needs of an organization and determining the systems, databases and technologies that best satisfy those needs.
While planning involves thinking ahead and designing future action, in the case of information systems, planning becomes a necessary tool to be able to systematically approach future uncertainties which can arise. The planning of information systems aims to put focus on efforts and resources on long-term, general objectives and at the same time, provide a foundation for existing short-term activities. Developing a plan for information systems provides an effective and organized framework for action.
Planning for the use of information system is an important step in achieving wise and efficient cost management and usage of technologies. For example, $300-700 million dollar corporations spend about 5% of their gross income on information systems and its corresponding supports annually. To compute, that sums up to approximately $15,000,000 to $35,000,000. A significant portion of these funds are used to support enterprise databases, a philosophy of database system applications that enable corporations to research the past, control the present, and plan for the future.
Despite the fact that an information system can have a cost ranging from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000, and despite the fact that most chief information officers (CIOs) can exactly specify how much amount of money is allotted for technological hardware, software, and staff, the CIOs cannot however specify and determine with any degree of certainty why a specific system is being developed for the present year versus the next, why it is being done ahead of another, or finally, why it is being developed at all. In this case, certainty of system development becomes a question.
Most existing enterprises, companies, and organizations do not have model-based information systems development environments that allow system designers to assess and inspect the benefits of rearranging an information systems development schedule. Consequently, the questions which cannot be answered include the following:
What effects 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?
The answers to these questions are not only needed now, but moreover, it is important and crucial to be able to generate them quickly, cost effectively, and in a form in which they can be modeled and changed in response to arising needs and unfolding realities.

Rather than choosing to develop centralized, long-ranged planning and management activities that are necessary to address these problems, today's existing business units are utilizing 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 to come up with a model of their information systems environment. This model must be one which 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.

B. ISP Key Activities, Planning Types, and Components

The information systems plan project basically functions to determine the sequence for the implementation of specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to gather and deliver the most valuable business information needed at the earliest time possible and in the most cost-effective manner.

The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once implemented, the information systems department can deploy and use 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.

The first key activity into achieving the information system plan is identifying and describing the currently existing situation. This includes gathering and listing of the manual and automated processes, gathering and listing of the manual and automated data, technology inventory and human resources inventory --- all within the context of the enterprise in consideration.

The second key activity is identifying and describing the future situation. This includes all the blueprints of manual and automated data, technology, and human resources.

The third key activity is describing scheduling of the project, which includes the scheduling of manual and automated processes, scheduling of manual and automated data, technology of scheduling and human resources scheduling.

There are two types of information system planning types --- the top-down planning and the bottom-up planning. The top-down planning is a generic information systems planning methodology that attempts to gain a broad understanding of the information system needs of the entire organization. The bottom-up planning is a generic information systems planning process that identifies and defines IS development projects based upon solving operational business problems or taking advantages of some business opportunities.

The information system planning has the following components:

The Process of Information Systems Planning
Strategic Alignment of Business and IT
Selection of Systems to Invest In
Project Management Issues


C. Characteristics of a Quality ISP
An effective ISP must demonstrate five distinct characteristics before it can e classified as useful. These five distinct characteristics are presented in the table below:

Timely: The ISP must be timely. It must be created before or during the time when it is needed by the enterprise for processes. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is absolutely 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 developed in the way to satisfy the requirements and needs of the enterprise.

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.

Failure to develop an ISP which satisfies these five identified characteristics results to the risk of the entire funds allotted for the ISP creation.

D. The WHY, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW of the ISP

Why is there a high need to plan information systems? ISPs are created to help ensure that the information systems complements and assist in the achievement of the goals and execution of processes of organizations, businesses, and enterprises. ISPs also ensure that the use of resources is maximized within the business, and the benefits of changing technology are utilized to the optimum. Furthermore, ISPs help take account of the different viewpoints of business professionals and IT professionals.

The development process of the information system planning is most commonly done by information system planners, system analyst, variety of stakeholders, and the top management commitment.

To when and where ISPs are needed and highly efficient can be determined by several factors. ISPs are best for any organization, enterprise, and business that have the interest of getting the best out of its investments in information technology. Any organization which is facing problems, or grabbing opportunities are highly recommended to realize the great potential of information technology planning. Lastly, ISPs can be used in organizations wherein information systems have failed to satisfy and address huge, diverse and complicated information requirements of their users.

How ISPs are developed can be started by several steps. Looking and investigating the business structure, function, processes, culture, and existing in the organization under consideration is important. Having broad idea of what type of business processes is taking place in the organization can give major clues as to what type of technology and methods can be utilized to further develop a plan to achieving more efficient technological processes within the business. Looking at the available technology is also an important step. Carrying out interviews with the business/organization personnel (both IT and non-IT), and with IT experts can also be helpful in the development of efficient ISP. Development of policies and application portfolio can help in the deployment of the ISP. Planning for schedules of migration and implementation is also an important step.

Assignment 4 - Identify and discuss the steps for "critical success factors" approach?

Engaging in this assignment, first of all let me discuss what is a critical success factor is and how will the company use this in their advantage and to gain success. CSF according to the definition in the net are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your business or project. This critical success factor is really needed in order for the business to know what kind of relationship they will gonna deal with their customers. By identifying your Critical Success Factors, you can create a common point of reference to help you direct and measure the success of your business or project. CFS must be aligned with the strategic goals. management leadership is the second critical sucess factor that is needed.

As a common point of reference, CSFs help everyone in the team to know exactly what's most important. And this helps people perform their own work in the right context and so pull together towards the same overall aims.

D. Ronald Daniel in the 1960s first introduce this and popularized a decade later by John F. Rockart.

Critical Success Factor (CSF) is a business term for an element which is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. They are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology (IT) project is user involvement - wikipedia

Key success factors generally include exceptional management of several of the following:

* Product design
* Market segmentation
* Distribution and promotion
* Pricing
* Financing
* Securing of key personnel
* Research and development
* Production
* Servicing
* Maintenance of quality/value
* Securing key suppliers

the below mention are the steps in critical success factor or (CSF)

Step One: Establish your business's or project's mission and strategic goals

Step Two: For each strategic goal, ask yourself "what area of business or project activity is essential to achieve this goal?" The answers to the question are your candidate CSFs.

* Industry - these factors result from specific industry characteristics. These are the things that the organization must do to remain competitive.
* Environmental - these factors result from macro-environmental influences on an organization. Things like the business climate, the economy, competitors, and technological advancements are included in this category.
* Strategic - these factors result from the specific competitive strategy chosen by the organization. The way in which the company chooses to position themselves, market themselves, whether they are high volume low cost or low volume high cost producers, etc.
* Temporal - these factors result from the organization's internal forces. Specific barriers, challenges, directions, and influences will determine these CSFs.

Step Three: Evaluate the list of candidate CSFs to find the absolute essential elements for achieving success - these are your Criticial Success Factors.

As you identify and evaluate candidate CSFs, you may uncover some new strategic objectives or more detailed objectives. So you may need to define your mission, objectives and CSFs iteratively.

Step Four: Identify how you will monitor and measure each of the CSFs.

Step Five: Communicate your CSFs along with the other important elements of your business or project's strategy.

Step Six: Keep monitoring and reevaluating your CSFs to ensure you keep moving towards your aims. Indeed, whilst CSFs are sometimes less tangible than measurable goals, it is useful to identify as specifically as possible how you can measure or monitor each one.

These steps will help you upon thinking what will be your critical success factor that you will gonna apply in your company these things are essential and needed in order for the company to come up with a goo critical success factor because as what the definition says that critical success factor or CSF will be the basis on the success of your business or the establishments.

reference:

www.wikipedia.com
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm

Assignment 5

- In the spectrum of organizational change, which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts?

For me in my opinion based on my research in the net the term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought-pattern.

I think "paradigm shift" is the most radical change that will happen in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing. Based on the image posted by hannah it shows already that paradigm shifts is commonly the highest at risk since the company will have to change somethings in maybe 360 deg. of changes so their are some risk at stakes however these risks can be handle by planning and good team work in the company.

Assignment 6

- How can you determine if outsourcing is advantageous to your organization? Would you recommend outsourcing to USEP?

In my own opinion In order to determine if you need to outsource the first thing to consider is the in house workers and the budget involve. In the case of Usep I can say that at this point in time it is still good to use outsourcing in order to save a lot of time and money. I know that the money envolved in outsourcing is really big but if the university will use insourcing at this time their are only few workers regardless of tapping the students. So it is still appropriate to use outsourcing I think the problem of using outsourcing is the money that will be spend and the system is not editable but using insourcing will save a lot of money if the workers are many and is appropriate to the job.

Assignment 7

- You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan.

You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan.


First I will discuss TIME- when is the best time to implement the IS plan? this involves the process which states the state of the university. Involves the question "Is the university already ready for the implementation?"

Next will be beneficiaries who will benefit the IS plan and how will it affect to the people involve.

budget - budget for the implementation of the IS plan. Involves the willingness of the university to allot budget for the implementation and maintenance.


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