A plan is formulated and constructed in order to make arrangements and preparations for the future. It takes time, effort, knowledge and thorough analysis to be able to create a good strategic plan. Constructing a plan is something done by many to manage and properly deal with a business. It is a practical and wise move to have a strategic plan. Plans are made for specific functions for a particular organization.
In associating the ideas of both business and information systems plan, there is a need of a foreword of the two different subjects.
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.
The business goals being attempted may be for-profit or non-profit. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals. Non-profit and government agency business plans tend to focus on service goals, although non-profits may also focus on maximizing profit. Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community.
Business plans may be internally or externally focused. Externally focused plans target goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals. With for-profit entities, external stakeholders include investors and customers. External stake-holders of non-profits include donors and the clients of the non-profit's services.
Internally focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or a restructuring of the organization. An internal business plan is often developed in conjunction with a balanced scorecard or a list of critical success factors. This allows success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures. Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.
Business plans are decision-making tools. There is no fixed content for a business plan. Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a goal. Projects and initiatives are initiated, approved, and monitored to ensure they meet the business needs.
In creating a business plan, various business related issues must be put into considerations on what should be the scheme or strategy on making profit, on how to maximize a business’ annual income, on how to counter or manage the problems that will arise, and on how to handle losses. These kinds of questions must be planned ahead of time. Software, hardware and peopleware are the significant factors that are needed in constructing an efficient and effective information system.
The demand of use of information system has increase to its peak at the current age. The information systems’ functionalities, capabilities and convenience it presents to its clients and users are the reasons that make it very in demand. It is how data and information in an organization is gathered and compacted in order to create an information system. It is managing and handling information and data within an organization in a simplified, easier and of less time consuming manner. An information system plan is a process for developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization.
The need for Information System plans has not diminished. It has in fact increased due to the decentralization and distribution of planning and control for data and processing. It is imperative that there be centralized planning and control over the accomplishment of all these information systems so that resources can be conserved, and data and process semantics standardized.
The information systems plan 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 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.
In various and diverse ways, business plans and information system plans coincide.
Effective use of information technology was viewed as a major avenue that could assist managing and operating a business. It was also understood that well-defined business and information technology planning processes were critical success factors. There should be review of the plans to develop an understanding of the issues related to the effective and efficient use of information technology in the information system plan of a business.
A business information system which contains the details, information and data about the business are the important elements in formulating a business plan. It is a guide or a reference of making a business plan. The data it entails are of great value in considering a plan. Business Information Systems accomplish the computerized transformations of database objects from within the context of business functions. Different business functions may cause the execution of the same business information system.
For an organization to be able to create a good strategic business plan and information system plan, these must be constructed based on the interests of each other. The goals to be supported are part of the agency’s business strategy. The close link between the business needs and technology enhances the visibility of information technology initiatives. The impact of more effective planning is difficult to measure however, there is no doubt that business and information technology or IS planning has enabled significant progress in the operation of an organization.
Due to the nature of the need for technology strategies to support the business initiatives of the agency, management overview and direction of the information technology strategy to support projects is emphasized. Business management's key role in the development of the information technology strategy aids in ensuring that technology projects are more likely to be supported with the needed resources.
Technology advancement relies on an agency business strategy. The development of agency business strategies has accelerated due to this dependence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
http://www.wiscorp.com/EnterpriseDatabase_-_InformationSystemsPlanning_-_book_-_sam.pdf
http://state.tn.us/finance/oir/prd/ispprocess.pdf
http://boysamad.blogspot.com/
15 years ago
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