Chapter 12 • Planning Information Systems Resources 521direction for the business. On the right are the required
planning steps for the organization’s information
resources. The arrows depict an ideal view of how a step
in the business planning process (on the left side) can
impact an information resource planning step (on the right
side), and vice versa.
IS managers have developed short-term IS opera-
tional plans and budgets for many years. However, the
task of formally developing and communicating an
information resources vision and IT architecture is
still relatively new to many organizations. Research
has shown that senior management involvement in a
strategic IS planning process yields the most successful
outcomes (Basu et al., 2002), but what is needed to
create the deliverables at each step in this process
will require different efforts from organization to
organization.
Our focus in this chapter will be on the right side of
Figure 12.1. Our overall assumption is that an organiza-
tion’s IS planning and business planning processes are
linked, and that business managers play key roles in the IS
planning process. Previous chapters have also argued that
IS decisions must be tightly aligned with the direction of
the business. Such a maxim exists for not only aligning a
strategic IS plan with the business plan but also for manag-
ing a project portfolio or set of IT services (Chan and
Reich, 2007). Striving to achieve business and IT align-
ment is a continual process (see the box “Business and IT
Alignment”).
Next we describe each of the five process steps, and
the outputs from each step.
Assessing The Current Information Resources
The information resources planning process should begin
with an assessment of the use of information and IT in the
entire organization and an assessment of the IS organiza-
tion itself. Current performance is compared to a previous
plan, to competitors, or to a set of past objectives. IS
surveys are also often conducted to measure internal
(business customer) satisfaction with IS performance.
Competing organizations are “benchmarked” to determine
both what is possible and what is being achieved at other
organizations.
This assessment of the status quo is usually
conducted by a committee of business managers and IS
professionals, perhaps with the aid of outside experts.
Outside facilitators can bring needed objectivity and
experience to the process, but their value must be weighed
against the added cost. Alternatively, the assessment might
be conducted totally by an outside organization and
presented to top business and IS leaders. If a thorough
assessment has been conducted within the past two or three
years, then an update may be all that is required.Measuring IS Use and Attitudes
The information resources assessment, however it is
conducted, should measure current levels of information
resources and usage within the organization and compare
it to a set of standards. These standards may be derived
from past performance in the organization, technical
benchmarks, industry norms, and “best of class” estimates
obtained from other companies. In addition to use meas-
ures, the attitudes of users and staff of the IS organization
are important. Opinions about the performance of the
IS organization in relating its activities to the needs and
direction of the business must be measured. Likewise, a
technical assessment of the IT infrastructure should be
conducted to establish its performance against benchmarks
such as reliability and response-time.Aninformation resources assessmentincludes
inventorying and critically evaluating an organiza-
tion’s information resources in terms of how well
they are meeting the organization’s business needs
and IS mission.Business and IT Alignment
For decades, it has been a top priority of CIOs to align IT and business strategy, and studies show that
firms which align these strategies outperform firms that do not. However, achieving alignment only be-
gins with shared planning processes that involve business and IS managers. Instead, achieving align-
ment is a continual process that needs to be implemented at the project portfolio and services level as
well as the strategic level. Executives and managers of IS and business functions need to develop a
shared understanding of the value and contribution of IT to the organization so they can act synchro-
nously to support key processes with information and technology.