Before I have to discuss the nature of the relationship between the business plan and the Information System plan, I prefer to make a distinction between the two. This will help me to understand the subject matter.
Business Plan
Why does a company or a business need to have a business plan?
A business plan is just like a blue print of a business. It just like a building a house, you would not walked over an empty lot and just start nailing boards. Therefore, it is foolish of you to start a business without having a business plan. This serve as a “road map” of a company.
In reality, having a business plan for any businesses will change over time as the business develops, and any particular business may have multiple business plans as its objectives change.
A business plan is the cornerstone of starting a business as well as a significant tool for monitoring the progress and growth of a company. With this, having a business plan is essential to the company or business with this following reason:
To test the feasibility of your business idea. Writing a business plan is the best way to test whether or not an idea for starting a business is feasible, other than going out and doing it. The business plan is a business safety net. Writing a business plan can save a great deal of time and money, if working through the business plan reveals that your business idea is unsustainable. With this you can test if having your idea business is feasible, and if not this help freeing you to move on to a new and better idea.
To give your new business the best possible chance of success. It is vital to the success of the business. Writing a business plan will ensure that you pay attention to both the broad operational and financial objectives of your new business and the details, such as budgeting and market planning. Taking the time to work through the process of writing a business plan will make for a smoother startup period and fewer unforeseen problems as your business becomes established.
To secure funding. To start a business, it needs to have both operating and start up capital. Some business has their capital from financial institutions such as banks in which they expect that business has a developed business plan. And established businesses usually need money for their business operations. With this, the role of having a business plan will at least gives you an assurance and chance to keep the business operating or maybe an expansion.
To make business planning manageable and effective. A business plan is essential if you're thinking of starting a business, but it's also an important tool for established businesses. The company's original business plan needs to be revised as new goals are set, to adopt the changes in business industry. Reviewing the business plan can also help a company or corporation see what goals have been accomplished, what changes need to be made, or what new directions to a company's growth should take.
To attract investors. Having a solid business plan, this is a plus factor to the company in which investors pull towards the company to invest. A company business plan will be the basis of the investor to do some background checks to the company.
Conclusion
Writing a business plan is time-consuming, but to have a successful business it is vital and essential to survive the start up phase of the business. The process of writing a business plan can do wonders to clarify where you've been and where you're going, thus this will serve as a company guide to the success.
Information System Plan
Today, most organizations in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are fundamentally dependent on their information systems. Thus, organizations or companies are increasingly looking toward the application of technology not only to strengthen existing business operations but also to create new opportunities that provide them with a source of competitive advantage.
Planning for information systems, as for any other system, begins with the identification of needs. In order to be effective, development of any type of computer-based system should be a response to need--whether at the transaction processing level or at the more complex information and support systems levels. Such planning for information systems is much like strategic planning in management.
Relationship between the Business Plan and the Information System Plan
Before, the relationship between the business strategy or plan and the information function was not made interest and awareness of the Top Management of the companies or firms. At that time, information systems were thought to be synonymous with the company data processing and were treated as some back-room operation in support of day-to-day ordinary tasks.
In the 80’s and 90’s, however, there has been a growing realization of the need to make information systems of strategic importance to an organization. As a result, strategic information systems planning (SISP) is a important issue. In many industry surveys, improved SISP is often mentioned as the most serious challenge facing by the Information System managers.
With this, strategic information system planning 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. Also, an article has emphasized the need to note that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. This is consistent with the earlier distinction between the older data processing (this was first era of three-era model information system application of John Ward) views and the modern strategic importance view of Information Systems. SISP thus is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information technology investment. A portfolio of computer-based applications is identified that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realize its business goals. There is a growing realization that the application of information technology (IT) to a firm’s strategic activities has been one of the most common and effective ways to improve business performance.
The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy and plan.
Reference:
http://www.tn.gov/finance/oir/planning/ispprocess.pdf
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment