Expedite Information System Plan

MIS 2 - Assignment # 4

You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan.

The first time I saw the minimum words required for this assignment, I was stunned. I can barely make 3000 words and now I have to make 5000 words?
But during contemplation, I realized that this is maybe because our professor would like us to be detailed enough on relaying our ideas to help expedite the implementation of the IS Plan for the university. If this is one way for me to return the favor to the university that honed me, then I would gladly help. Anything to help the university. hehe

This kind of activity is actually part of my 6th step which is to inform and involve the students for us to be aware and potentially help out for the implementation of the IS Plan. After all, the people that would majorly benefit from the success of the implementation of the IS Plan would be us - the students. Right?

In making this assignment, I tried my best to deliver the steps on how to expedite the IS plan of the university according to my own perspective. I based it from the learnings from previous discussions and also from the insights given to me by the IT people that I interviewed.

In order to expedite the implementation of the Information System Plan for the university, here are the steps that I thought that should be taken:

1. Expedite the gathering of the necessary baseline information

This is the part where we gather the necessary data and evidences to support the IS plan. This will also serve as the basis on what problems should be solved and what are the requirements needed for the expected output of the plan. The cooperation of the different offices in the university is also crucial because they have some of the necessary documents to support the ISP. If the needed documents are properly provided, then it would hasten the process of assessment needed in making the IS plan.

2. Sharpen up the IS action plan

Based on our previous discussions, we already know that planning is very important in developing any kind of system. The Information System Plan is very crucial for implementation because this will serve as guide for the whole implementation process. The ISP will answer the following questions such as:

How much is going where?
Who is doing what?
And when is it going to happen?

Those are the critical questions that need to be answered and supported with proper documentations and evidences provided by the first step which is the gathering of the necessary baseline information. According to Michael Gorman, no information system plan is perfect the first time it is made. There can be loop holes that are missed that can be very troublesome if not addressed.

According also to Michael Gorman, there are certain characteristics of an information systems plan that are desirable to produce in order to achieve optimal performance. These are the following: Timely, Usable, Maintainable, Quality, and Reproducible. He added that 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. 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. 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.
Technical and information architecture, technology standards, and organizational vision are critical to long-term success and stability of information systems. Therefore, they should be well defined and supported in the IS plan itself.


3. Secure administration commitment

Once the Information System Plan has been polished, then it is time to present it to the top level administration of the university. One of difficulties in information system planning is getting the top management to understand the strategic role of information systems. This could be a challenge because the admin will look at it differently compared to the primary clients on the lower level. Without the approval of the top-level management, the proposed plan will be in vain. If the top-level management will not see the significance of the ISP, then it would be impossible to get the implementation started.

4. Secure financial sources

According to one of the systems analyst that I interviewed, he mentioned that in any information system plan or development of a system - budget is everything. He added that without the necessary budget, there can be no action that can be done to support any plan or development. The budget serves as the fuel that keeps the development going. However, if there is a budget but is insufficient then there is a big possibility of a snail-paced of the planning as well as the actual implementation or worse failure of the project. Financial resources can be obtained from the university fund itself, government agencies, NGOs and other funding institutions. I know that financial support can be difficult to secure but as long as there is commitment and cooperation with the university members – anything is possible.


5. Secure institutional commitment: Faculty and Staff Engagement

Once there is top level commitment with the proposed IS plan, the institutional commitment should be also secured. The key person in charge for the implementation of the Information System Plan would be the faculty and staff so it is also important to secure their commitment. Without their commitment, then the IS Plan will not be properly implemented and therefore will result to failure. During one of our discussions in the subject MIS, we learned that it is important for all the members of an organization to ‘embrace’ the game plan. If there is one member not committed, it would affect the whole plan negatively.

6. Involve and inform the students

It is also important to involve and inform the students to make them appreciate the whole process of the IS plan and the implementation itself. The students can be involved by relaying suggestions concerning the improvement of our Information System through their student leaders or through discussion forums. Students can provide inputs or insights that are overlooked by the IS planners. Their ideas can potentially contribute to the improvement of IS plan of the university.

In conclusion, the main keyword to expedite the IS plan for the university is COMMITMENT. If everyone is committed to change the existing condition of our university for the better then it shall be done. Anything is possible as long as there is determination, proper planning and proper action to change.