Developing an SISP
fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.
So if I were hired to develop a strategic information system plan for a company, what would I ask them to discuss on the development to be done. Now what is SISP? I got this definition of SISP or strategic information system plan from an article on the net.
“SISP is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business information models together with the evaluation of risk, current needs and requirements. The result is an action plan showing the desired course of events necessary to align information use and needs with the strategic direction of the company.” (Battaglia, 1991)
It would be ideal to first identify what kind of company you’ll be developing an SISP for. It is not necessary that one have to ask it for the company. As the developer of the SISP, I could observe and see what kind of company am I working for. I could also observe the processes and past strategies of the company to be able to start the planning by identifying questions to be asked during the meeting. It would be better if you yourself will observe the practice of the company rather than asking it directly so you yourself could see the real thing or the real situation. So here are questions I have formulated in order for me to develop a strategic information systems plan.
What are the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the company?
I have mentioned that observing is a good tactic to identify the companies goal but it could also be good if I as the developer ask them their goals and objectives for me to clarify if it suits with my observation of their business processes. It would be helpful to ask this question to know the company you are developing an SISP for.
What are the company’s needs?
Any systems plan always include with identifying the needs of the company being assessed. So in order to create an effective and efficient strategic information systems plan, another step is to identify and assess the needs of the company.
Why develop a strategic information system plan?
It would be best to ask why the company would want me to develop this SISP for them. With this I would know why they needed me to develop this SISP fro them. The time frame could also be discussed within this question. I could also ask them of their perspective or what do they see in the future when SISP is developed. Developing SISP for the company would be useless if the company itself does not know why they want this.
What are the strategies and priorities of the company?
This question would be useful for identifying how the company deal with handling priorities and what should be prioritized.
What are the past trends of the company regarding SISP?
This is for me to know the past strategies of the company. To identify what would be retained and what should be modified and be developed.
What are the existing systems of your company?
After dealing with the objective part of the meeting, now this question would recognize the company’s currents systems and services and how would these affect the business process. Identifying the current system would help me know how Information System helps the company and what are its significance to them.
After identifying the needs and gathering necessary information from the interview, the developer could know start doing an action plan for the company. This includes identifying risks and factor that may affect the company’s business processes and IS.
fast forward ..., you were hired and have been tasked to develop a strategic information systems plan for a company. The company officers have extended an invitation for you to meet with them to discuss the direction of the company. Before this meeting, they have asked that you provide a list of questions with some explanation about the "why" of the question so they can be prepared, thus maximizing the output from this meeting.
So if I were hired to develop a strategic information system plan for a company, what would I ask them to discuss on the development to be done. Now what is SISP? I got this definition of SISP or strategic information system plan from an article on the net.
“SISP is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business information models together with the evaluation of risk, current needs and requirements. The result is an action plan showing the desired course of events necessary to align information use and needs with the strategic direction of the company.” (Battaglia, 1991)
It would be ideal to first identify what kind of company you’ll be developing an SISP for. It is not necessary that one have to ask it for the company. As the developer of the SISP, I could observe and see what kind of company am I working for. I could also observe the processes and past strategies of the company to be able to start the planning by identifying questions to be asked during the meeting. It would be better if you yourself will observe the practice of the company rather than asking it directly so you yourself could see the real thing or the real situation. So here are questions I have formulated in order for me to develop a strategic information systems plan.
What are the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the company?
I have mentioned that observing is a good tactic to identify the companies goal but it could also be good if I as the developer ask them their goals and objectives for me to clarify if it suits with my observation of their business processes. It would be helpful to ask this question to know the company you are developing an SISP for.
What are the company’s needs?
Any systems plan always include with identifying the needs of the company being assessed. So in order to create an effective and efficient strategic information systems plan, another step is to identify and assess the needs of the company.
Why develop a strategic information system plan?
It would be best to ask why the company would want me to develop this SISP for them. With this I would know why they needed me to develop this SISP fro them. The time frame could also be discussed within this question. I could also ask them of their perspective or what do they see in the future when SISP is developed. Developing SISP for the company would be useless if the company itself does not know why they want this.
What are the strategies and priorities of the company?
This question would be useful for identifying how the company deal with handling priorities and what should be prioritized.
What are the past trends of the company regarding SISP?
This is for me to know the past strategies of the company. To identify what would be retained and what should be modified and be developed.
What are the existing systems of your company?
After dealing with the objective part of the meeting, now this question would recognize the company’s currents systems and services and how would these affect the business process. Identifying the current system would help me know how Information System helps the company and what are its significance to them.
After identifying the needs and gathering necessary information from the interview, the developer could know start doing an action plan for the company. This includes identifying risks and factor that may affect the company’s business processes and IS.
links of References:
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf
http://zulsidi.tripod.com/pdf/sisp2.pdf
http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=t4lpMPHaaXkC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=strategic+information+systems+plan+interview+questions&source=bl&ots=3LdC5CPRmO&sig=wkQLcvktLuq5NgSwGBXerg-IwT0&hl=tl&ei=2D1sS9u8J4HQtAPVzLiyDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=strategic%20information%20systems%20plan%20interview%20questions&f=false
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