Critical Success Factors

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. CSFs 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. These are elements that are vital for a strategy to be successful.

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.
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.

The idea of CSFs was first presented by D. Ronald Daniel in the 1960s. It was then built on and popularized a decade later by John F. Rockart, of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and has since been used extensively to help businesses implement their strategies and projects.

Critical Success Factors are strongly related to the mission and strategic goals of your business or project. Whereas the mission and goals focus on the aims and what is to be achieved, Critical Success Factors focus on the most important areas and get to the very heart of both what is to be achieved and how you will achieve it.
In reality, identifying your CSFs is a very iterative process. Your mission, strategic goals and CSFs are intrinsically linked and each will be refined as you develop them.

Critical Success Factors are the areas of your business or project that are absolutely essential to it success. By identifying and communicating these CSFs, you can help ensure your business or project is well-focused and avoid wasting effort and resources on less important areas. By making CSFs explicit, and communicating them with everyone involved, you can help keep the business and project on track towards common aims and goals.

Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) 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.

These are seven critical success factors based on Mike Gospe that successful businesses, both large and small have embraced. They will not only help ensure your business' survival but will also accelerate your competitive advantage.

Be realistic about your business objectives.

Every company needs a clear vision and a mission statement, but specifying ambitious goals without support will lead to agitation in the board room, frustration for the sales team, and a detrimental cash burn rate. Those companies that were the most successful shared a common trait of setting clear business goals that included credible and complete information for their staff to execute them.

Success Factor #1: Identify stretch goals with reasonable milestones and timelines that can be matched with current investment and spending plans.

Understand your unique value proposition.

Successful companies know that it takes more than technical leadership to create a sustainable business. There must be value for the customer that exceeds the value currently being offered by other solutions. A value proposition starts with careful focus on a single target.

Success Factor #2: Based on customer and/or prospect feedback, frame a value proposition that identifies the target customer and what you do for them better than anybody else.

Take a hard look at your competition.

Some entrepreneurs are focused so intently on their product that they fail to recognize evolving market trends or anticipate competitive advancements in markets that may overshadow their own value proposition. With product lifecycles shortening, it is critical that companies accurately judge the competitive landscape in order to take full advantage of their market window.

Success Factor #3: Research the competitive landscape and categorize your competitors, noting their strengths and weaknesses. Then compare your company against this landscape. This exercise helps identify points of differentiation that can be communicated in sales and marketing programs.

A marketing foundation is absolutely necessary for your success.

It is common for entrepreneurs to incorrectly believe that marketing is not important at the early stage of a company's development. Many view marketing as something to be done later when they are ready to build a brand. However, the successful companies we studied spent time and resources to carefully craft their unique value proposition and build a foundation of sales tools before the product launched.

Success Factor #4: Invest early in marketing to clarify and articulate your value proposition, key messages, and defendable points of differentiation. Integrate this market strategy into your product development plans, and later, your sales organization.

For best results, marketing and sales should work hand-in-glove.

A common goal expressed by one VP of marketing is that at the end of each day, marketing and sales must be able to conclude that their combined efforts accelerated sales in some way. The most successful businesses we've worked with embraced this philosophy.

Success Factor #5: Regardless of organizational structure, build a sales and marketing team with common objectives, milestones, and measures.

Plan for the future.

In planning for the future, we were interested to find that successful companies tended to juggle these three management dimensions: managing their cash burn rate, looking for "learning" in every corner of the organization, and embracing creative hiring practices.

Success Factor #6: Be fiscally prudent, but willing to consider targeted investments to build a solid business infrastructure quickly.

It's all in the execution and learning.

With a plan in place, effective execution of marketing and sales programs can more easily be achieved. However, not every program will be successful, despite the best-laid plans. The challenge is to learn from the success and failure of these programs and fine-tune them quickly while they are still in progress.

Success Factor #7: Speed and ruthless execution is everything. To maximize your ROI, identify and widely communicate business plans and objectives throughout the organization, and encourage widespread adoption and involvement at every level.

Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organizations should focus on to be successful. According to John F. Rockart in the Harvard Business Review: "Critical success factors for any business are the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization.”
Therefore, critical success factors represent performance areas that must meet expectations if the organization is to flourish. Measurements are used to track performance in each critical success area. Critical success factors are both internal and external. For example, comparison of budgets to actual would be internal while percent of market share would be external.

One way to identify critical success factors is to go through a strategic planning process. A second or complimentary approach is to conduct competitive intelligence research. Look at the success factors of your competition. Collectively, you will need to develop a set of critical success factors which serves as the foundation for your performance measurement system. Consequently, critical success factors are an important link between strategic plans and performance measurement systems.

Each CSF should be measurable and associated with a target goal. You don't need exact measures to manage. Primary measures that should be listed include critical success levels or, in cases where specific measurements are more difficult, general goals should be specified.

A plan should be implemented that considers a platform for growth and profits as well as takes into consideration the following critical success factors:
• Money: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
• Your future: Acquiring new customers and/or distributors.
• Customer satisfaction: How happy are they?
• Quality: How good is your product and service?
• Product or service development: What's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
• Intellectual capital: Increasing what you know is profitable.
• Strategic relationships: New sources of business, products and outside revenue.
• Employee attraction and retention: Your ability to do extend your reach.
• Sustainability: Your personal ability to keep it all going.

Critical Success Factor is an element of organizational activity which is central to its future success. Critical success factors may change over time, and may include items such as product quality, employee attitudes, manufacturing flexibility, and brand awareness. And it is also any of the aspects of a business that are identified as vital for successful targets to be reached and maintained. Critical success factors are normally identified in such areas as production processes, employee and organization skills, functions, techniques, and technologies.

CSF's are tailored to a firm's or a manager’s particular situation as different situations lead to different critical success factors. Rockart and Bullen presented five key sources of CSF's:
1. The industry - There are some CSF's common to all companies operating within the same industry. These factors result from specific industry characteristics. These are the things that the organization must do to remain competitive.
2. Competitive strategy and industry position - The nature of position in the marketplace or the adopted strategy to gain market share gives rise to CSF's Differing strategies and positions have different CSF's. 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.
3. Environmental factors - Economic, regulatory, political, and demographic changes create CSF's for an organization. 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.
4. Temporal factors -These relate to short-term situations, often crises. These CSF's may be important, but are usually short-lived. These factors result from the organization's internal forces. Specific barriers, challenges, directions, and influences will determine these CSFs; and
5. Managerial position - An individual role may generate CSF's as performance in a specific manager's area of responsibility may be deemed critical to the success of an organization

There are, in fact many various applications of the critical success factors (CSFs). It may not refer to an organization’s operation and performance but it can also be relevant to an individual’s success of performance.

By definition, CSF's are the "most critical" factors for organizations or individuals. However, due care should be exercised in identifying them due to the largely qualitative approach to identification, leaving many possible options for the factors and potentially results in discussions and debate. In order to truly have the impact as envisioned when CSF's were developed, it is important to thus identify the actual CSF's, the ones which would have the largest impact on an organization's or an individual's performance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_success_factor
http://www.kickstartall.com/documents/KS_Articles/CriticalSuccessFactors.htm
http://steps-to-success.com/Critical_success_factor.html
http://www.rapidbi.com/created/criticalsuccessfactors.html
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_80.htm

ISP -purpose and major challenges

In today’s turbulent and increasingly complex economy businesses need tools for handling information flows efficiently and effectively. Organizations use information for various functions such as planning, controlling, organizing, and decision-making. Information, therefore, is unquestionably a critical resource in the operations of all organizations. The effectiveness of using information technology is a core competency of today's organizations.

Information Systems planning is an ongoing activity which must be repeated frequently to ensure that information systems continue to be developed according to the IS plan, and to update the process with any changes that are occurring due to management decision or other external business factors. The information systems plan is the plan by which databases and information systems of the enterprise are accomplished in a timely manner. Organization strategic information system planning or ISP is the guide for organizational information systems development. The purpose of information systems plan (ISP) is to satisfy managerial information requirements. It is to provide convenience in accessing information within an organization and to assure the security of managing and supervising the crucial information and decision-making with regard to information systems of the organization.

Strategic information systems planning have been developed to aid in recognizing appropriate portfolio of computer based application and relevant information processing activities to support organizations’ information needs. Strategic ISP is not a single solution or method for IS planning but an umbrella term for host of methods and techniques that are more or less based on different paradigms of world, organizations, and humans. Improved strategic information systems planning is and has been one of the most critical issues facing information systems executives for over three decades already

ISP has huge potential to make contribution to businesses and other organizations. With the advent of new technologies, such as Internet, the challenge of aligning IS with business is perhaps more significant and more difficult than ever. On the one hand, effective SISP can help organizations use information systems to reach business goals. On the other hand, SISP can also enable organizations to use information systems to significantly impact their strategies.

Today’s business environment is increasingly characterized by fierce competition, dynamic and fast changing markets and global distribution of work. These changes in competitive environment have led companies to ever more concentrating on few core processes and developing their own core competencies. Every year, $300-700 million dollar corporations spend about 5% of their gross income on information systems and their supports. A significant part of those funds support enterprise database, a philosophy of database system applications that enable corporations to research the past, control the present, and plan for the future.

There are many instances where IT, through proper planning has been used by companies as a strategic weapon to help them stay ahead in today’s highly competitive environment. Strategic Information Systems Planning is a systematic methodology that provides structural guide. It is a process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plan and realizing its business goals. Although difficult, strategic IS planning gives information managers the opportunity to identify broad initiatives, specific applications and critical technologies to help their organizations carry out their current business strategies more successfully. It also offers a means to identify opportunities for using information systems to create new business strategies. Although many organizations conduct some form of IS planning, recent studies confirmed that despite the increasing number of frameworks and methodologies for ISP, severe problems do exist in the execution of an ISP. IS planning methodologies may produce satisfactory plans but organizations often lack the management commitment and control mechanisms to ensure that they follow the plans.

The most important criterion for a successful implementation of IT in business is that the effects and implications of IT are in line with corporate business strategies. This framework ties business planning with IT planning. Within each quadrant are some simple tools for the purpose. Business strategies are first developed by assessing external opportunities against company’s internal strengths and weaknesses. They serve as the basis where IT may possibly be used. Formulating IT strategies then involves evaluating company’s information requirement alongside technology opportunities. The usage of IT is strategically aligned with its business operations to help the firm achieve its goal and objectives.

An information systems planning or ISP 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. The second core argument behind ISP 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.

A quality ISP must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it is useful. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
The effective management of information services in the modern firm is a challenging task, to say the least. Most enterprises today are highly dependent on their ability to manage information technology. In many firms, the quality of the firm’s products or services depends on the strategic choices the firm has made with respect to its information services. The three key elements of an IT strategy are: the choice of what IT-related products or services are required for the business, the determination of which of these products and services will require firm-specific capabilities, and the choice of governance and ownership for both firm specific and generic capabilities. These decisions intertwine and cannot be made in isolation or even in sequence.

Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) and aligning IT with business has been in a key focus of IS managers for decades already. Constant changes in business environment and developments in technologies are hardly making the effort any easier. Characteristic for available strategic information system methods is their focus on a single organization. The need for ISPs has not diminished. It has in fact increased due to the decentralization and distribution of planning and control for data and processing. No longer are one or a few persons in control. Rather, many hundreds of groups have access to data and the means to create sophisticated information systems in cost effective manners. The result regrettably is that the cumulative cost of thousands of small systems with discordant semantics far exceeds the cost of their former centralized ones. Nonetheless, 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. Once managed and optimized, the decentralization and individual empowerment efforts can have their benefits accumulate beneficially rather than be a source of endless conflicts and semantic clashes.

ISP is the planning of information systems for an organization. It is the job of IS to deliver business benefits to an organization. SISP involves understanding what the business goals are and identifying how IS can support those goals by delivering benefits. This involves the alignment of IS with the business. Business or information system (IS) alignment is a key concept, but perhaps we should talk about integration. IS should be an integrated resource within the organization which contributes to the organization’s core competencies which may result in sustainable competitive advantage. The planning of IS cannot be considered as a one-off or occasional event. It is a continuous sustained process, as we plan and re-plan and respond to changes in the business environment.
Information System Planning. The continuous review of computer technology, applications and management structure to ensure that the current and anticipated information and process needs of the organization are met in a way that provides an acceptable return on investment, is sensitive to the dynamic politics and culture of the organization and is aware of the sociological environment within which the organization exists.

In the process of developing an information system plan (ISP) as well as its implementation, there are various major challenges that are encountered and must be resolved. One of which that is hard to deal with is the constant change in business environment and developments in technologies. The ISP must be aligned with everything that is important to its development. It should be updated; cope with the changes made and considerations should be broadened with regard to modifications. The resources and budget of time and money to be able to build up and create the desired information system plan is one of the challenges and difficulties in constructing an information system plan (ISP). Lack of budget and misuse of resources could greatly affect the progress of formulating an information system plan (ISP). In undertaking the course of action in developing an information system plan (ISP), it is of very significant factor to consider the finances that will be involve and the budget that should be set, the management and usage of the resources and supplies. Another challenge would be how it should be manage. Critical analysis and approach in the information system plan should be made to administer it thoroughly. One needs to be skilled and well-knowledgeable in order to manage well an information system (IS). The manager should know how to handle risk and deal with any adjustments that be made in the system. He/she must ensure that the plans are followed and monitor the control mechanism of the information system. The IS manager practice management commitment to the goals. One should develop a keen appreciation for the challenges of setting an information services strategy while delivering high quality information services.

It should be kept in mind that what cases do is bring a small chunk of the real world into the academic setting, where we can examine it, determine what problems exist, discuss optional approaches to dealing with the problems, and decide upon a course of action. The ideas and references that were the basis of these are opinions and were based on case studies and researches of different organizations and practitioners in the field of Information Technology (IT). Further amplification of topics and ideas on the major challenges involving information systems planning may be determined and identified through detailed and systematic studying on the said subject matter. And the purpose and function of information system plan (ISP) may be expanded and lengthened with regard to what, when and how it is greatly used and utilized.

http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~nkm/sisp/WHATIS.html
http://www.lilleyinfosys.co.uk/is-strategy.html

IS pros and users on IS planning - causes of frustrations encountered

Information has emerged as an agent of integration and the enabler of new competitiveness for today’s enterprise in the global marketplace. An integration of planning with development and management through enterprise information resources - which capture and characterize the enterprise will shorten the response cycle and even allow for economic evaluation of information system investment.

In determining whether your current information systems meet your business requirements, you need to create an IS vision and develop a strategic plan for implementing new or improved systems to support your organization’s strategic direction. But in every task we aim to accomplish, it is inevitable that problems arise and we may encounter feelings of depression while working on something that is very vast value of. And it is not unusual for us to consider that developing an information system is really an immense load of work to be done. And that it will take great effort, time and skills to be able to generate one.

Most probably we are all acquainted with the word frustration. It is commonly associated with disappointment or any negative feedback on any situations. It is comparable to anger and disappointment. It is an emotional response to circumstances where one is obstructed from arriving at a personal goal. The more important the goal, the greater the frustration.

Frustration is often defined in different ways, making the subject itself somewhat ambiguous. Frustration was first introduced by Sigmund Freud as a concept both external and internal in nature and related to the concept of goal attainment. Frustration occurs when there is an inhibiting condition which interferes with or stops the realization of a goal. All action has a purpose or goal whether explicit or implicit, and any interruption to the completion of an action or task can cause frustration. For Freud, frustration included both external barriers to goal attainment and internal obstacles blocking satisfaction (Freud, 1921).

This concept of frustration as a duality is continued in the analysis of frustration as both cause and effect (Britt & Janus, 1940). As a cause, frustration is an external event, acting as a stimulus to an individual and eliciting an emotional reaction. In this case, the emotional response is the effect, and the individual is aroused by this external cause and a response is often directed towards the environment.

Frustration is an interference with the occurrence of an instigated goal-response at its proper time in the behavior sequence (Dollard et al). Because an instigated goal response entails only that the goal be anticipated, frustration is due to the expectation and anticipation of a plan. If the goal is unfulfilled, frustration is experienced because satisfaction was not achieved and hopes were suddenly thwarted.

I think one of the causes of frustrations between professionals and users in working in an Information System (IS) plan would that projects and tasks are carried out in the wrong order or there would be unnecessary reworking of some various fractions of the plan. This would cause delayed on meeting the desired deadline on the IS plan. Prolonged working on it would also mean lengthened burden on being stuck in finishing the project.

With regard to business, frequently there to too much focus on IT, so that the organization loses sight of business requirements. For example, one organization was trying to make a business case for workflow software. They were having trouble defining the benefits for the business case and an analysis revealed there was no business process design to create any benefits. The project leader thought that the possible general benefits of the software, like speeding up business processes, were automatic as a result of computerizing a process. Whereas in reality other factors, like reluctance to delegate, can mean just automating systems will not solve the problem.

You need to realize that information systems strategy is not a one-off but has to be changed continually to adapt to a changing environment and to capitalize on better ideas. So the highest level approach is based on the life cycle of creation, then operation, modification and finally disposal. But there should priority on spending time on modifying it. As all these processes can be seen as acting on the strategy, the strategy has to be designed to optimize all these processes. The view of IS strategy is a general plan of action to produce a general information systems design, which meets business objectives, aligns with the general business strategy and encompasses IT.

Resources are targeted more effectively as it is clearer what will make the most contribution to the business strategy. Resources are can also used more efficiently by seeing areas of commonality and the best order to carry out tasks from an efficiency point of view. Balancing effectiveness with efficiency enables you to get your priorities right and approve projects with more confidence and on exact time.

The second cause of frustration would be somehow related to first I have stated. Losing track on what is aimed to be achieved would cause unnecessary reworking on the project and this would also cause time-pressure on the deadline that needs to be met. I believe these two issues are interrelated to each other which are both derivation of frustration in working in an IS plan.

To be able to develop a good, strategized information system and to counter some frustration, I have here the following guidelines: Define business objectives correctly so that the IS strategy aligns with the business strategy. Scope the project properly. It is easy to miss out of the way offices or some products, services or business functions. Don't miss interaction between functions as do some approaches to strategy. Do projects in the right order to avoid or minimize re-working. If re-working cannot be avoided, make sure this is in the plan. The same applies to tasks, for example, don't try to design the database before you know what you want out of it, otherwise you will go round in circles re-working. Time is an important element in making a successful project. It should be well-managed and well-utilized to avoid extended deadline and that it would not cause hassle and difficulty to both the developer or the IS professional and its client or the user.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frustration
http://www.lilleyinfosys.co.uk/is-strategy.html
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=A515691C579272C8EFA138B26BB46DF1?doi=10.1.1.77.1411&rep=rep1&type=pdf

business plans and IS plans -nature of its relationship-

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

what lies ahead..what i hoped to see myself...

A superb wider picture of what lies ahead. An apparent pleasant view of the forthcoming future. A clear image of a fulfilling and thriving success. I think these are what we everyone envisions to seize and have.

But if you were to be asked, how will you achieve these visualizations? How do you see yourself few years from now?In particular, what do you want be?
What do I want to be?Hmm.Well, this may sound a little disappointing but I have not decided yet of a particular profession related to my course. Frustrating to say but I think I am a bit misled, confused of what my ‘right path’ should be and where it is. A delimma I am so consume about. So I had to give myself time to run through what is it what I really want.

It totally bugs me to keep on thinking about what do I really want to happen in my future, on where will I find myself few years from now, on what are my exact goals in life, how will I achieve them, what will be my steps in making them happen, on what particular field in the degree of information technology I am taking up will I intend to excel, specialize and be an expert of. Duh, practically, it is so soon to put so much attention in considering these questions. I have always believed that one should not worry about what tomorrow will bring rather a person should be more concern of what the present will bring about. What you will carry out today will affect what lies ahead. Isn’t it so absurd to think of it when just getting through a semester can even be such a torment? Grr…People can be so irritating sometimes. Why can’t they shut their mouths and mind their own business? Why the hell should they be so persistent in asking questions and making you decide on your plans? Don’t they know that it can really be of so much pressure sometimes? It actually makes me sick. But what am I to do? One way or another, they have made some points. Planning ahead should be made in order to sort out and systematize how the plans will be made possible. Okay, okay, okay. Got that already!

But can’t it be just as simple as having a stable job which means also having stable income, properties like a house and a lot, and maybe a steady relationship as well. Not! Hehe Just kidding. Who on earth does not want that kind of simple living? Huh? Well, if it is that easy then no one would even be having hard times working, right? Anyway, where am I getting? Tsk. Nowhere I guess. Hmm. My point is that no matter how simple we hoped to live our lives, it is just not that easy. Getting there, getting to where we hoped to be at will take time and effort. That is how life works.

Technology and its wide range capabilities and possibilities applicable in diverse aspects of life. Automation of machines, creation of cyber space, high-speed communication and convenient ways of transportations, computers, PDAs, cellular phones, gadgets, gizmos, iPods, music players, portable players, appliances, advanced animation and movie effects, sophisticated medical equipments. Name it, technology have it.

When we say Information Technology, people always associate it to the ideas of technology that I have just enumerated or worse they tend to misinterpret it to be exactly the same. Well, yes, maybe it is partly true. I would not agree to it that much. But Information Technology is far more than those. It is beyond what people think it is. It is just an external point of what and how Information Technology works.

As an IT student, biased as may they say, hehe but without question, yes it is difficult to study. And people sometimes mistakenly expects us to have knowledge of everything that relates to the layman's view of technology. Whew! But it is really great pressure on us. And we are even expected to become IT professionals. Okay, now that would be acceptable. I think. Hehe

IT Professional? What is an IT Professional? What talents, skills, capabilities does a person needs to possess to be considered as an IT professional? Does IT or CS or any computer related courses will lead anyone into becoming an IT pro?
They say IT professionals have great opportunities that awaits them. I guess that is true. With all the job offerings lined up everywhere, yeah, it must be true. But do you really think it is that easy to be hired as an IT pro? Well, it isn't. It ain't going to be I guess. Going back to the questions earlier, what is an IT professional and what does a person must have to be considered as one? If I were to define it, Hmm, I think it would be somebody who has the knowledge and skills in different fields of information technology like programming, designing, managing information system, developing and maintaining a system and many more. And I guess having taken up a degree of IT or CS will help one person in getting closer to being an IT pro. I believe it will be a great foundation. But I think it would not be enough. I know it won't. There is a need of experience and close interaction with what the real world orientation entails. As the saying goes, “Experience is the best teacher”. Through this. The learnings, knowledge and skills will be put to use, be applied, molded and enhanced. I think that the true assessment of capabilities will be measured through performance.

Years ago, when I was in my last year of taking up secondary education, I had myself thinking about the same thoughts I have right now. “Unsa jud kya?!”. Caught up by the idea of the digital era and how technology rapidly grows, thoughts on technology related courses passed through me. I want to be an IT expert. I want to to be able to make use of technology in aiding businesses and organizational operations, to create and develop efficient and effective software and to fully utilize the capability and competence of technology, its functionalities and contributions to society. That’s why I have come to choose to study IT.

But after finishing this degree, what will happen? Of course I am expected to find a job related to the course I have chosen, right? But what is it? What is it gonna be? Thoughts have ran through my mind, as I have mentioned earlier it is actually hard to decide especially with regard to the idea that unfortunately, I am of no way near of being good in the field of education I am studying at the moment. Really, it is no joke. Undoubtedly, I am just the average type, mediocre or whatever you call it. It may seem that I am degrading myself but I am just being true and practical. I wish I just joking but I am not. It is I who know well my capacities and capabilities. And yes, sometimes I have thought of how I have been wrong of choosing the road to take on. But as time goes by, I have realized that maybe I felt I was wrong but I have come to like where I am now and what I am doing now. I have kept in mind that there are really no wrong choices in life, it is you who will decide whether it will be a right or wrong choice. I think it is a matter of how you see things.

Like everyone else, I picture myself be on top and to be known for something. I hope to see myself somewhere wherein I will be able to work at my best and full potential. I want to be of good use in wherever I will work. Well, since it is of no charge to dream, I might as well dream big. Hehe I will be very privilege to work under managements of well-known companies who are involve in information technology development. An institution wherein I will be able to apply and practice what I have come to learn about the degree I am currently taking up. I wish to be one of the best employees having high rate payments and be in demand in the service.
I have thought of taking up another degree, a business related degree in order for me to know more about how businesses are being regulated and how they are run. I want to acquire knowledge in how business problems occur and how they are address. I want to be able to make use of both the degrees I hope to finish. With these, I look forward that I would be able to integrate the ideas and concepts of information technology and business, not only apply automation of systems in the business operations but also develop a more advanced system, and to aid and work out business problems with the use of technology. In one of my subjects this semester, I have learned that when one makes use or utilize information technology in aiding and resolving business problems, a person is considered as a systems analyst. I also want to be a software engineer which involves performing all the systems development life cycle but specializes in maintaining and managing systems.
I have also realized that it is to pass on what I’ve learned, to educate students, to be able to impart to them the learning I’ve come to learn and study is one of what I intend to do in the future. I also have this interest in studying and exploring managing information system. It is of no joke. But first, I have to be well equipped with knowledge about software and physical machines which are the hardware and to be outfitted in leading and managing people.
Since I was little, I have always been fascinated and very fond of cartoons and animes, of how drawn pictures tend to move, how they have come to possess great sense of humor, how they are brought to life and how realistic they have evolved and they have been as time passes by. As I have come to be aware of its processes, operations and how it is done, I have thought of doing the same, to be an animator, to create graphic effects that everyone would admire and appreciate, to be able to make animation more advanced than ever, to be create and develop a trend of graphic design and to be known for it.

I have all these ideas tangled in my mind of which I hoped to see myself 10 years from now. I am not actually certain of where I want to picture myself in the future. One thing is for sure, that all that I have mentioned are the ones I hoped to achieve. Hehe I can do all those things if I want to. I can partition my time just to be able to do all those stuffs I want to do. bleh!

These ideas and plans are quite striking, don’t you think so? It would really be so amazing to be able to attain all of these. But achieving these, getting there can be relatively difficult. Paces toward reaching it should be carefully structured that is where a plan needs to be formulated. A strategic plan to be exact. There are ways and approaches that should be taken into considerations and should be made to accomplish your goals. I think the first thing that should be kept in mind is that priorities should be set. In order for the plans to be attained, important matters should be weigh up on what are the things that should be prioritized and be set aside. Once you have made actions of setting your priorities, I think you will be able to have a clearer picture of your vision. Now having fixed your concerns of your goals in life, I think the next move to be done is that one should make and organize steps or ways to do good in your main concerns. Have strategic schemes and develop approaches in getting closer to reaching what you aim to achieve. Make sure to have and to possess the qualities needed to carry out your goals, to get through and surpass the trials and challenges that will come your way in tracking the road to where you want to go, and one must obtain positive attitudes and outlook on dealing how things work, situations and circumstances happen and chances come and go. One ought to work hard, to be persistent and determined to succeed, to persevere and to have the will to pursue, to be confident and to have high self-esteem, and most of all, I think one should be enjoying what he/she is doing, to have fun and to love what you do. I believe that if one loves his/her work, he/she will be able to survive anything, no matter what he/she will come to encounter. It is a matter of loving what you do and having fun. More importantly, I think it is wiser to take things one step at a time.

If we don’t take actions in reaching our goals, we might as well forget those plans and leave it just as dreams.

To achieve these goals, I must pursue on learning and studying, to focus and keep a clear vision of what I aim to attain. And to always have a logical and realistic course of action to aspire. And to bear in mind that if we lose track of our goals and mislay our attention and focus, our future could be of no more close to be reached. We must keep the boundary between a dream and a reality. Keep dreaming and believing but never cease moving.

Be concern of what lies ahead.