A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning

By Anita Cassidy

Book Overview

Today's technological advances are directly affecting the success of business tomorrow. With recent-- and continual--improvements in technology, many organizations are finding their information systems obsolete, and are having to take a close look at their current Information Systems and answer some tough questions, including: How well are our current Information Systems applications meeting the business needs today? How well can they meet the needs of our business tomorrow? Are we obtaining true value from the investments made in Information Systems? Are we integrating the Information Systems projects that provide the most value to business? What Information Systems mission, objectives, and strategies are necessary to successfully meet the business challenges of the future? A Practical Guide to Information Systems Strategic Planning helps take the "guess work" out of evaluating current and future Information Systems, and provides the necessary tools for maximizing the investment made in new technology. This invaluable guide shows readers how to take advantage of the latest technology available in Information Systems planning, and how to develop a solid Information Systems plan that is directly linked to their business' goals. In an easy-to-follow, hands-on format, this complete reference describes a process for facilitating communication between business management and the Information Systems functions. Both Information Systems Executives and general business executives will find the information they need to develop a successful, value-added Information Systems plan. Readers will find a step-by-step approach to the process of developing an Information Systems plan that helps them gain a competitive edge well into the future.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574441337
• ISBN13: 9781574441338
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: CRC Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Easy Reading

I have not worked completely through this book, but have found it to be very readible with sound information. Everything does not apply to my situation (very small organization), but the concepts are clear.

Proven approach and a detailed roadmap

This book, like all of Ms. Cassidy's work, is straightforward, to the point and reads like a blueprint for success. In particular, she frames the objectives (Where are we? Where do we need to be? What's the best way to get there?), then gives guidance on answering the questions and a realistic and actionable plan for meeting the objectives.Her approach is focused on business needs and linked to the overriding imperatives and strategies of that domain. She begins by discussing the business drivers and why strategic planning is necessary, then provides a phased approach to the strategic planning process itself. This approach captures the business and technical "as-is" and "to-be" pictures, performs a gap analysis, and a plan for going from "as-is" to "to-be". On the surface this appears to be common sense, but the devil is in the details, and she provides the details. That is what makes this book so valuable. More importantly, it's obvious that she has extensive experience in strategic planning because all of the subtle issues are addressed, and her advice is on the mark every step of the way.Of course, one of the big issues in strategic planning is the question of what capital investments to make in software, either as an upgrade or entire replacement of company-critical systems, that align to the slected strategy. This book shows how to select the best fit to meet strategic plans, and how to capture the true costs and support requirements as a matter of due diligence. This book is, in my opinion, one of the better ones on the topic, and is only exceeded by her most recent book titled "A Practical Guide to Planning for E-Business Success: How to E-enable Your Enterprise". That book contains substantially the same approach as this one, but is aligned to e-business. Regardless of which book you choose, you'll find Ms. Cassidy's approach to reflect best practices, and the advice interspersed throughout the book to be invaluable.

Simple, Thorough, Comprehensive

I work for a large East Coast Utilities company. Our project team was charged with producing an "Information Systems Strategic Plan". A daunting task given multiple platforms, architectures, and technologies. Our team was experienced and knowledgeable, but lacked process direction. We turned to Anita Cassidy's book and found it amazingly helpful. We found ourselves referring to it many times during the planning and implementation stages of the project. Her book provides an authoritative reference which allowed us to cut total project time by 25%. We didn't need to argue about process, methodology, or research strategy. We went with Cassidy's suggestions and we were more than pleased with the results.Cassidy's simple, straightforward approach is easy to follow, meaningful, and very applicable. If you have the task of assembling an IS Strategic Plan, then this book will give you the step-by-step methodology to do so. Nice job Anita!

Right on Target! Great Examples for Constructing an IS Plan!

My graduate IS/IT Strategic Planning course did not assign a text book on writing up an IS/IT Strategic Plan, so I had to track one down on my own. After reviewing at least a dozen books, I found Cassidy's to be the most practical with multiple and varied examples of the critical ideas, sections & components found within an IS Strategic Plan. There are many great examples of Mission and Vission statements and detailed sections on ROI analysis, executive summaries and the entire planning process, etc. The graphics & exhibits are easily understood and well organized, as is the entire book. In fact, other students actually purchased this book during the semester at my recommendation and our professor is looking to add this book as required reading for the course! It is especially good for those who have little to no experience putting together an entire IS plan from ground zero. Thorough, to the point, terrific examples and extremely well organized is how I would sum up this book. It will serve both students and IS/IT professionals extremely well.