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IT Process 1: Establish Strategic Vision for Information Technology

28 August, 2015 - 17:26
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To strike an optimal balance of IT opportunities and business requirements, management of the information systems function should adopt a process for developing a strategic plan for all of the organization’s IT resources, and for converting that plan into short-term goals. The information systems strategic planning effort must ensure that the organization’s strategic plan is supported and that IT is used to the best advantage of the organization. An organization wants to be sure that the ISF is prepared to anticipate the competition’s actions and to take advantage of emerging IT. An organization must establish links between organizational and information systems strategic planning to ensure that strategies plotted in the organizational plan receive the IT support they need.

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Elements of the strategic plan can help the organization achieve important enterprisesystems, e-business, and technology objectives. For example, plans for any new lines of business, such as Internet ordering and payment, or changes in business processes, resulting from changes to an enterprise system, will require new data and new relationships among the data. These data elements and relationships must be incorporated into the organization’s information architecture model. The plan must also include processes to review IT capabilities to ensure that there is adequate technology to perform the IS function and to take advantage of emerging technology. Finally, the plan must contain procedures that ensure compliance with laws and regulations, especially those related to e-business (e.g., privacy, transborder data flows).

 

Review Question

What is the purpose of the strategic IT plan?