Managing Information Technology

520 Part IV • The Information Management System

In addition to the actual documents that result from the
planning process, there are also other significant benefits,
as described later.

Creating a Context for IS Resource Decisions

An important function of an information resources plan
is to create a clear context within which both business
and IS managers can make individual technology and
human resource decisions. In many organizations it is
possible to come to work every day, move from one
meeting to another and from one project to another, and
not really understand the organization’s overall direc-
tion. A planning process establishes the overall direction
and IS vision for the organization that should influence
decisions about IS resources.

Aligning IS and Business Goals

Senior managers in today’s organizations have higher
expectations than ever before about the ways that IT can
enable new strategic initiatives. Executives are continu-
ously looking for new sources of competitive advantage,
and IT investments can be another source of differen-
tiation in the marketplace. Each step in the information
resources planning process needs to be aligned with
current and future goals—and business manager partici-
pation is critical to ensure that both short-term and long-
term IS resource plans are aligned with current and
future business goals.

Balancing the Trade-offs Between Standardization and Agility

Most IS organizations are focused on obtaining a high
level of standardization of information resources in
order to create efficient common processes and lower
the costs that accompany complexity. Simultaneously,
however, they need to respond to business unit needs
that require innovating with new technologies (Segars
and Grover, 1999). Without an agreed-upon IT architec-
ture, an organization runs the risk of being unduly influ-
enced by current vendor offerings or short-term business
needs rather than ensuring long-term efficiencies and
organizational agility. A planning process that results in
an IT architecture that supports these standardization
versus agility trade-offs will result in a more realistic
strategic IS plan for achieving the best balance
between these sometimes-competing business goals.
The planning documents that result from this process
can also be used by IS leaders to communicate with
vendors about capabilities needed by their organizations
today and in the future.

Obtaining IT Capital Investment Approvals

Major capital investments require an approval process that

involves top management and the board of directors, and

many IT investments fall into this category. A planning

process that results in a vision and an IT architecture cap-

tureswhatthe high-level objectives are for capital IT in-

vestments, and the strategic IS plan provides the roadmap

forhowthese investments will help the organization get

there. The outputs from an information resources planning

process should therefore result in IT capital investment re-

quests that are clearly aligned with business objectives and

already have enough support from business managers to

compare favorably with other capital investment requests

being prioritized for funding.

The Information Resources Planning Process

Figure 12.1 depicts the relationship between planning for

the business as a whole and information resource plan-

ning. On the left side are the general steps required to set a

Assessment of

the Business

Assessment of

Current Information

Resources

Information

Vision

IT

Architecture

Vision for the

Business

Business

Strategic Plan

Business

Operational Plans

and Budgets

Strategic IS

Plan

Operational IS

Plans

FIGURE 12.1 The Information Resources Planning Process