1. Assessing and understanding the Business Needs

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
To understand the process in assessing and understanding the current situation in an organization, comprising of internal and external environment strategic analysis of the business and ICT.
To utilize tools that can be used for assessment of current situation.

4. Model of Strategic Planning Process
Planning element Plan component Key Question
Mission
What should we be doing ?
Strategic analysis
Goals
Where are we going ?
Strategic choice
Strategies
What routes have we selected ?
How do we guide our collective decisions to get there ?
Policies
Strategic implementation
Decisions
What choices do we have ?
Actions
Shall we do it ?

5. Main Deliverables of the Business IS Strategy
Analysis of
existing & expected future business;
IS/IT environments & strategies;
IS demand from current business strategy
through alignment of IS requirements with business needs and initiatives;
Future potential from IS/IT
through identification of opportunities to impact the business strategy and significantly raise its competitive performance.

6. Business Re-engineering and IS Strategy
Most re-engineering initiative will spring from, and be part of, the business strategy
The early work in developing IS strategy is first to flesh out the details behind the headlines in the business strategy, this means working with the business areas to helps determine what those business initiative will be and their expected contribution to business objective.
Will accommodate in the IS strategy, and need to allocated the same priority that the business places on the change program.
Common need in both IS strategy development business re-engineering to build up a model of the business as it currently exist and other potential models of how following transformation or evolutionary change.
Success re-engineering, as which the development and implementation of IS/IT strategy, demands a strong business-IS function partnership.
Designing or redesigning business process to take advantage of IS/IT capabilities is essential if the traditional problems of automating poorly-designed processes or inefficient work practices through IT are to be avoided.

7. Business Re-engineering and IS Strategy
IT is driver for re-engineering, an enabler or one of means of implementation.
Two key question should be asked:
How can business processes be transformed using IT (Based on a full understanding of the capabilities of IT)?
How can IT support business process?

8. The role of IS/IT in BPR Develop options for radical change
Capabilities of IT as an enabler of Change
Identify need for change in development of business strategy
Develop options
for radical
change
IT can be used to model / simulate / prototype option for change
Evaluation of
Option
IS and IT as a key component of achieving change
Implementation
of chosen
Options

9. Reconciling IS/IT in BPR
Questions
BPR
IS/IT strategy formulation and planning
Formulation
How can we re-engineer our business to provide advantage?
How can IS/IT be exploited to provide business advantage? (impact)
implementation
How can we improve our process to ensure success of the strategy
How can IS/IT ensure the success of the business strategy? (alignment)

10. Planning Components SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Description of where we are today:
4 areas: IBE, EBE, IICTE, EICTE
(Internal, external, business, ICT)
GAP ANALYSIS
STRATEGY FORMULATION:
Description of where we want to be:
Business & ICT Future
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION:
How to use ICT to get to where we want to be.

11. Phases of Planning Process
Visioning Phase
Initiate & manage the project
Understand business situation and vision
Document and Confirm business analysis
Analysis Phase
Understand Current IS situation
Analyze Current IS situation
Develop recommendations, solution alternatives
Direction Phase
Develop IS Vision and direction
Develop IS plan
Identify IS project
Recommendation Phase
Develop roadmap
Develop business case
Communicate the plan

12. Visioning Phase Initiate & manage the project
Understand business situation and vision
Review business documentation
Develop instruments
Collect Data
Document findings
Document and Confirm business analysis: Document:
Current business description, vision, values, goals, strategies, directions, operating vision, projects & initiatives
Industry business trends, business and customer requirements
Business SWOT analysis
Business Impact

13. UNDERSTANDING THE CURRENT SITUATION
Understand/Obtaining in depth
the business strategy
the business and technology environments
Current status of IS/IT in the business
Determine the opportunity, threats and requirements inherent in the business strategy
Recognize the strength and weakness of the business and it IS/IT operations.
Determining IS Demand
Fact Finding

14. Wish list of business requirements of each area;
Understanding the current situation Determine the IS/IT Requirement: The IS Demand
Wish list of business requirements of each area;
Absorb every written strategy statements, and interpret into relevant IS/IT principles and CSFs, application requirements associated with the major planned initiatives, and a set of supply criteria to deliver the services
possible if have comprehensive documentations of current and planned business activities and environment
In practice, this documentation is rarely exists, unless it was build up earliest business or IS strategy cycle and has been updated to reflect the current situation and requirements.

15. Understanding the current situation Determine the IS/IT Requirement: The IS Demand
Develop IS Strategy and IS Demand in parallel with the Business Strategy;
feed trends / opportunities / ideas into top level business strategy, and work closely with the business to build up IS/IT initiatives to deliver the targeted performance;

16. Understanding the current situation Determine The IS Demand
SWOT
CSFs.
Value Chain
Business Model
Current and Expected
Business and
Technical
Environment
Business
Strategy
Potential Status
Of IS/IT
Current Status
of IS/IT
Determine
the IS
Demand
IS/IT Opportunities
Proposed
IS/IT
Initiatives
Proposed
Business
initiatives
Impact and role of IS/IT

17. Understanding the current situation Gathering the Relevant Data
Value of IS/IT strategy is dependent upon
the depth of understanding of business and its needs, and
the constructive interpretation of these needs into beneficial information, systems and IT services.
Thus, facts need to be recorded so as to facilitate analysis;
The approach relies on
building up a clear structured set of information, and where suitable,
constructing models showing the organization, business and information requirements.
Requirement of fact finding –
understanding of business and information environments
to be able to develop sensible and realistic strategies.

18. Understanding the current situation Gathering the Relevant Data
Start with Documentation Review of:
business strategy, objective, mission, annual plans, budgets, forecasts, KPIs (key performance indicator).
prospectus supporting the raising capital,
annual report providing the official financial view of the company’s objective and general direction,
additional sources such as job description for management level staff,
This is followed by
discussion, interview, workshop, or other information and issues not available in the documentation.

19. The IS/IT Strategic Model
External
Business
Environment
Internal
External
IS/IT
Environment
Internal
IS/IT Strategy
Process
Current
Applications
Portfolio
IS/IT
Management
Strategies
IT Strategies
Future Application
Portfolio
Business
IS Strategies
Planning Approaches,
Tools and
Technique

20. BUSINESS STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Download the blueprint document for your Case Study.
Identify the following business strategy elements from the document:
History and Background
Business Description
Vision and Mission
Goals, Objectives
Strategies
Growth Objectives: geography, market, customers, products, channels.
SWOT Analysis

21. INTERPRETING THE BUSINESS STRATEGY
Two input from business perspective (Internal business environment & External business environment) should be identified and analysed.
IS demand can be derived; exploiting opportunities or countering threat can be determined.
The majority of information need are internally.

22. Interpreting The Business Strategy Internal Business Environment
Three Element
The business strategy
The current business processes, activities and main information entities
The organisational environment, covering its structure, assets and skill, and also the less tangible factor such as values style, culture and relationship.
Identify
The activities that can contribute to the achievement of business objectives and their supporting information needs;
Secondary activities that have to be performed in order to measure performance towards achieving those objectives, and which may then be used to modify goals.

23. Interpreting The Business Strategy The Business Strategy
Identify the current strategy, and, in particular, any new elements added since the previous strategy development cycle
If necessary, investigate, extend and analyse the strategy, and document it in a structured manner. The best to tackle is by mixed group of both business and IS disciplines and skills
Compile and confirm the IS requirements, and document the IS demand
The business strategy may exist in a variety of forms. It may be accessible through formally recorded corporate, business unit or functional area strategy documents, or less formally in other documents and in people’s heads. It can usually be confirmed and expanded through discussions with senior management.

24. Interpreting The Business Strategy The Business Strategy
IS strategy development and implementation
Deriving the strategy alongside all other component strategies, such as marketing or product development, or within a business re-engineering programme or redesign of business processes
Implementing a programme of initiatives to deliver the business strategy, which is coordinated to include the critical IS/IT development alongside and within other business initiatives.
Possibility to business strategies & objective
Not recorded formally
Not well constructed
Not well communicated

25. Interpreting The Business Strategy The Business Strategy
No business strategy at all;
Analyse and record current activities, tactics, and operational needs from top-down viewpoint.
The analysis of the business and of its critical components will provide invaluable input into any future formulation of business strategy. Short-term planning can focus on supporting current high priority business needs, and on identifying and alleviating critical problems, which threatens the business with competitive disadvantage.
The main technique used in this case is critical success/ failure factors
Information needs may arise from all elements in the business strategy and they are significant sources of requirements and compilation of IS strategy.

26. Interpreting The Business Strategy Business Process, Activities and Key Entities.
Another deliverable derived from analysis current situation, are models that depict the processes, activities and main information elements and how they relate to one another.
These models make up the business model; together with supporting IS models, comprise an IS architecture for business.

27. Architecture Model Business Model IS Model Business Process Model
Data Model
Process/Entity
Matrix
IS Model
Entity Life
History IS
Process Model
IS/Entity
Matrix IS
Data Model
IS Functional
Model

30. Interpreting The Business Strategy Organizational Environment
Must have clear understanding of the organization’s current structure, relationships and people composed
Organization is dynamic form an important input into the planning process.
Necessary to understand the environment, and it skills, resources, values, culture and social interaction, management style and it’s relationship with the external environment.

31. EXAMINING CURRENT IS/IT ENVIRONMENT
Examination of external IT environment
enables the strategist to take account of trend and opportunities from emerging technologies
To investigate how competitive or complimentary organizations are applying IT.
Assessment of the internal IS/IT environment:
an evaluation of current application portfolio and the applications under development to determine their content, coverage and contribution
a similar evaluation of current databases and those under construction
ascertaining the user’ perception of the value of portfolio
an evaluation of current infrastructure and IT supply provisions, accomplished through a technology assessment and IT infrastructure review.
The result are the basis assessment of the gap between the current and required provisions.

32. EXAMINING CURRENT IS/IT ENVIRONMENT
Current Portfolio Evaluation
Current/Previous Strategies and Policies
IS Organization and processes
Current Assets, Resources and Skills
Method and training provisions
External IS/IT environment

33. TECHNIQUES FOR INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS
Business strategy analysis
Critical success factor analysis
SWOT Analysis
Balance Scoreboard Analysis
Business portfolio and competitive strategy analysis
Value chain analysis
Process analysis/ BPR
Organizational modeling
Business modeling – information analysis technique
Current portfolio evaluation
Technology assessment and IS/IT infrastructure review

34. TECHNIQUES FOR INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS Balanced Scorecard Analysis
Financial: how do we look our shareholders and those with a financial interest in the organization?
Internal business perspective: how do we have to excel at if we are to meet the expectations of our employees and trading partner?
Customer perspective: how do our customer perceive us in term of products, service, relationships and value-added?
Innovation & learning perspective: to achieve our future vision, ho will we continue to improve and create future value for our stakeholders?

35. TECHNIQUES FOR INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS Balanced Scorecard Analysis
TECHNOLOGY VIEW
process
DATA
interpret
INFORMATION
Balanced scorecard
obtain
decisions
KNOWLEDGE
defines
drive
ORGANIZATION
ACTIONS
BUSINESS VIEW
require
BUSINESS
RESULTS
Critical Success Factors
measure

36. Information and Balanced Scorecard
Financial Perspective
Objective
Measures
How do we look to shareholders?
Ho do customer see us?
What must we excel at ?
Customer Perspective
Objective
Measures
Internal Business Perspective
Objective
Measures
Innovation and learning Perspective
Objective
Measures
How can we continue to improve and create value?

37. Critical Success Factor Analysis
For any business, the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for organisation Rockart (1979)
Thing must go right for business to flurish.

38. CSF Identification Identify CSF against each objective
Consolidate them across objectives, since many CSFs will recur
Ranking of objective and the number sharing the same CSF
Number of CSF: 5 – 8 per objective
Too many, objective is unachievable
Too few, not ambitious enough

39. CSF
CSF Should be easily and directly related back to the objectives of the business units.
CSF focus primarily on management control and tend to be internally focused and analytical, rather than creative.
Nature of CSFs and KPIs reflect a particular executive management style.
Involve top management in the IS/IT strategy process and gaining their commitment
Developing concensus view of IS aplication in the business
Linking IS activity to business strategy
Providing guidance for defining executive information needs.

40. Level of CSFs INDUSTRY CSFs Help define Oganizational Objective
ORGANISATIONAL
CSFs
Set
Business
Unit or Functional
Objective
BUSINESS UNIT
OR FUNCTION CSFs
Help define
Manager’s
Objective
MANAGER’S
CSFs

41. CSF basic process MISSION CSFs CSFs CSFs SWOT CSFs Business Objective
Balanced
Scorecard
CSFs
Information
To measure
performance
SWOT
CSFs
Options
for
Evaluation

42. Two types of IS requirement derived from CSF analysis
Information
System to
Manage
the
Business
Information
System to
Produce and
Deliver the
Product / Service
Control
Focus /Select
Define
Critical
Success Factor
To be prioritised
Objectives
Application Identified AS
Required to support
Business Activities

43. Understanding the Current Situation CSF analysis process
mission
and Objective
Determine CSF for
Each Objective
Conduct a SWOT
on each CSF
Consolidate
Across Objectives
and identify
Information
Dependencies
Develop
Measures
Result: Guides for
the executive
Information System
Result: Outline
plan of IS
Requirement

44. Example of BSC & CSF Analysis
Manufacturing company
For each perspective, construct scorecard of Objectives & KPI/Measures
Use CSF Analysis to identify CSF for each objective.
Determine Information and Systems requirements to support the CSFs
Consolidate the output of the BSC and CSF