next three years

The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years.

It is really true and undeniable that technology is increasing relentlessly as we speak. (I am writing this as if I am talking to the reader). Using my crystal ball I would identify the following as changes that would likely come to be and would have substantial impact on the school services:

Stand-alone System Versus Web Based System (WIFI Philippines)

As we can observe, WIFI connection is spreading like wild fire. Almost everywhere we go there is WIFI connection especially in restaurants and coffee shops. I am predicting that the whole Philippines would be a WIFI hotspot. Too bad the ZTE broadband plan of the Philippines was covered with controversy because as far as I know the plan includes making most of the Philippines a WIFI hotspot (Correct me if I am wrong). But with or without ZTE, I would predict that almost the whole Philippines would be WIFI connected. As a result of unlimited Internet access anywhere, I would also predict that Web Based Systems would overrun Stand-Alone Systems. Stand-alone system doesn’t need other system in able to function. An example of this is our university’s enrollment system. Although it is networked it still is a stand-alone system because data within the system stays inside the system. Stand-alone systems may use networked computers or computers that are totally isolated from other computer. Stand-alone systems are disadvantageous in terms of access because the user must be on the place where the system is to access the services of the system while Web Based Systems are accessible anywhere if there is Internet connection. Easy access to services offered by a system is one of the most important feature of a system thus making Web based systems advantageous.

Why do I believe that having Internet access anywhere is substantial to the university? It is simple. Imagine accessing a web based enrollment system that is kilometers away from you. This could be very convenient for the actual user of the system, the employees of the school and other users of the system. It is convenient for the actual user because it spares him of the hassle of going to school, the cost of traveling to school and it saves the precious time that we would dedicate if he goes to school to enroll. It is also convenient for the employees because it minimizes their workload and focus on more development for the school. It is also convenient to other users because a Web Based System would mean lesser people doing their transactions inside the school. Although developing a web based enrollment system is hard, the thought of convenience for all the involved would push system analyst to develop such system. There is a wide range of Web Based services that could be developed for the benefit of the university.

Finally I foresee that Web Based Systems would overrun Stand-Alone Systems if and only if there would be an unlimited access of Internet anywhere we may go in our country.


RFID as New Student’s ID

RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is currently being used around the world. Philippines tried to implement a system with Radio Frequency Identification as their tool but unfortunately it’s implementation is being suspended (As Far As I know ) because some motorist in our country are complaining on the extra cost of installing a RFID on their vehicle and some people are concerned of privacy issues. RFID works like an identification card where every RFID is distinct and unique from each other. A gadget is pointed towards the RFID sticker and then data would be retrieved from the said RFID stickers. This is a big help to the authorities as they can know the driver of the vehicle even though they are far away from the field.

So how does this technology be useful to our school? It is simple. Give RFID cards to students instead of the normal plastic cards. This may sound useless but think of the relief that it could give to the authorities of the school. The security of the school would be improved if this technology would be utilized by the university. How could I say that the security may improve? Imagine a gadget similar to a close circuit television camera that could read RFID would be installed on the gate for example and a live feed of the entrance of the gate is being displayed on the guards monitor. If you have an RFID card clipped on your uniform, a mark would be put onto you by the system saying that you are a student of the university and people without marks could be easily identified as outsiders. Breach of security on the university would be minimized. Another possible use of this technology is could be a database of information for a specific student. Flashing your card to a gadget would easily retrieve your unique information and perform processes that a system may provide. For example, instead of lining up on the student’s account section of the finance division and asking how much your balance is but instead you may just flash your card on the gadget and after that a slip would be printed with all your liabilities to the school. This process could really hasten the process as you don’t have to wait for the personnel to check, compute and write your liabilities. (This could take up time especially if there is a long queue).

I foresee that processes around the school would be hastened with the help of RFID. It may replace all Identification Card being used inside the school such as our school identification card, library card, scholarship card and other cards that are being used inside the university. RFID cards are useful because it could serve as your walking database of school information.

Much Cheaper Green Energy

Although green energy is been around for quite some time now such as solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy and geothermal energy, it is still hard to attain this energy because of the cost of the machines that is used to harvest green energy. Solar panels are not that cheap and wind turbines needs large open space to fully function (I think wind velocity may be lower within a city because large and tall buildings are blocking the flow of the wind). I foresee that green energy would be focused as the new main source of energy and not only an alternative. In this context, development on how to attain much cheaper green energy would be pushed through.

Architecture of the machines that harvests green energy would be more advanced and solutions would be presented to attain a cheaper way of extracting green energy. I believe that green technology would have the greatest impact not only to our school but to the whole society as it improves the quality of life and the current state of our planet. I foresee that if cheaper ways of extracting green energy would be discovered, our country would greatly benefit from it.

Again, how could this technology could have a substantial impact on our school? Imagine if our university could supply its own electricity by using cheap solar panels and wind turbines with better architecture. Not only that our university could have lesser electrical expenses but the university could give its share on helping preserve our planet. Who doesn’t want a clean source of energy especially if that energy would be much cheaper than fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum?

I foresee that among my three predictions of changes in technology, Much Cheaper Green Energy would top the list of changes that may have a substantial impact on our school and our community.

Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company

Subject: Assignment 8 (Due: February 5, 2010, before 01:00pm)
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.
Develop a list of questions you would ask the officers of the company and give an explanation and justification for each question.

Strategic information systems planning for me, is the process of identifying a portfolio of computer-based applications that will assist an organization in executing its business plans and realizing its business goals Strategic information systems planning is an important activity for helping information executives and top management identify strategic applications and align IT with business needs. Previous researchers and practitioner observers have identified measures of successful SISP and have recommended many prescriptions for achieving success.

These are my questions:

What are the goals and objectives of the company?
Goals indicate the intended future direction of the state, agency, or program. Having a review of the organization’s mission, goal is a step to know how to improve and to elevate the efficiency and effectiveness of the business process. It defines the major IT objectives. Its like taking a wide look around at what's going on outside the organization.


What are the strengths of the company?
It would determine the strong point of the company also it would help determine what things should be given much attention and what things should be given less attention.


What are the weaknesses of the company?
It would help know what were the customer needs and the workers need. It would determine the weak point of the company also it would help determine what things should be given less attention and what things should be given much attention.


What are the opportunities of the company?
It determines the competitive environment and the competitive information opportunities. It also defines strategic information needs. It would also help identify the opportunities for improvement


What are the threats of the company?
Knowing the threats will determine what to improve and how to compete with other competitors.


Tell me about the operation of the company?
It will assess the effectiveness of information services, also to know the functional operations to assess the present operations and evaluate the competitiveness of the operation. It would also help to describe the present and planned application characteristics, architecture, and capacity. It would determine the planning issues and determine the project scope to organize the project team and obtain management commitment. It also helps analyze IT trends to determine information needs. It defines the business in terms of what you do for your customer or your company.


What do we have to work with?
Examination of recent history and changing contexts both internal and external of the organization allows participants to assess current positions. Answering the question of what we have to work with involves consideration of strengths and weaknesses and determination of how to capitalize on strengths.


Where do we want to be?
This question involves all of those who are related in the achieving the vision. The vision is then translated into a mission statement it is like a broad, comprehensive statement of the purpose of the system.



Knowing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company - Its like taking a wide look around at what’s going inside and outside the company and how it might effect the organization. Strategic planning must be aligning with the business plan. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) or STEER analysis involving Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors. According to other source, strategic plan is a document used by an organization to align its organization and budget structure with organizational priorities, missions, and objectives. It is also a process of comprehensive, integrative program planning that considers, at a minimum, the future of current decisions, overall policy, organizational development, and links to operational plans. And according to the project management club, strategic planning is a basic document for planning of different projects of the programmed and their sub-projects. A satisfactory strategic plan must be realistic and attainable so as to allow managers and entrepreneurs to think strategically and act operationally. In align with that, strategic plan must be reliable and suitable for the need of the company. Failure to secure top management commitment for carrying out the final plan frequently in almost all major projects, it may be on school or other situations like in business.

Google’s business model

Google is a highly successful Internet business. Recently they have broadened their scope with a multitude of new tools. Research Google’s business model and answer the following questions below. You may add additional information not included in these questions.

Questions:
Explain Google’s business model.



1. Who are their competitors?

Yahoo and Google are battling over the same Web visitors and advertising dollars. These two companies are using very different approaches while going after the same advertising dollars. Yahoo uses human editors or “surfers” to organize web sites into categories. However humans cannot index everything so they are partnered up with a third party search engine to provide answers when its human – powered listing do not suffice. Google is about its search engine, done only with PageRank. There is no human indexing involved. Yahoo has been using a program called the “Idea factory” to promote inventive thinking in their company, staffers are supposed to improve everything from the company’s products to its campus. On the other hand, Google assumes inventive thinking. Yahoo owns the world’s most popular website and believes in a multidimensional approach as it tries its best to be all things for all people. Google on the other hand owns the world’s leading online search engine, its mission is to transform the way today’s world is storing and finding information.

Microsoft is also competing with Google because Google is now a major threat to their dominance. While Google was launching all of its products for free, Microsoft was trying to catch up in search doing a project which they spent $150 million on but Google and Yahoo keep on getting ahead with new innovations such as complete maps and satellite photos.



2. How have they used information technology to their advantage?

Google uses a technique called PageRank to rank every page. PageRank keeps on improving as the web becomes bigger, since each new website is another set of information which leans to another vote. It is the top search engine in the world, representing eighty percent of all European search page views and forty one percent of all US search page views.



3. How competitive are they in the market?

Both companies are currently prospering but Yahoo’s market capitalization is $51 billion while Google’s is $76 billion.
A good way to get many users interested in the search engine is making it really easy to use. Not only is Google easy to use and fair to the public but it is also very fast. It only takes a fraction of a second to get the information that you need. Google has worked very hard on getting rid of excess bit and byte from their pages to make it go as fast as it possibly can, it has been breaking its own speed records. While other companies thought large servers would be the quickest way to deal with huge amounts of data Google realized that networked PCs were faster. While other search engines stuck with the speed limits for the search algorithms Google developed new algorithms which proved there was no limit as to how fast you could go. Google still is trying to make it faster.



4. What new services do they offer?

Alerts where you receive news and search results by e mail, Blog Search which finds blogs on people’s favorite topics, Book Search to find text of any books, Images where you can find images on the web, Maps where you find maps and directions, and News where you can find many news stories. Some of Google’s tools include Blogger where you can express yourself online, Earth where you can explore the world from your PC, Translate where you can view web pages in other languages, and Talk where you can IM and call friends from your PC. Google is global, besides its main Google.com it includes one hundred and two other international domains such as Google.de, Googdle.fr, and Google.co.uk. One hundred different languages are available.



5. What makes them so unique?

The interface clear and simple, and the pages load instantly,
Unlike some of its competitors, Google provides inclusion and frequent updating in their sites for free. Meaning anybody’s website could be in the search results if their website is related to what the user typed in the search box. And this is great because it makes the search results completely accurate.



6. How competitive are they in the international market?

It is the top search engine in the world, representing eighty percent of all European search page views and forty one percent of all US search page views. Its net income has been increasing, $6,985,000 in 2001, $99,656,000 in 2002, $105,648,000 in 2003, and $399,199,000 in 2004. This company must have done a great job in order to be so successful. When it was first started their web index contained about thirty million documents, and now they index more than eight billion web pages which translates to two hundred and fifty times as much information.



References:
http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2165081
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,1050065-6,00.html
http://news-01.rankforsales.com/news-bh/941-seo-dec-21-04.html
Google’s business model by:Morgane Botella

Identify and discuss the steps for "critical success factors" approach?

Identify and discuss the steps for "critical success factors" approach?

Critical Success Factors of Knowledge Management

Released September 2002 By Farida Hasanali Using the lessons learned from early adopters, many organizations have effectively provided their employees with the tools they need for managing and sharing knowledge. Yet, it is easy to forget to account for certain critical elements that enable knowledge sharing.
An elementary success factor of knowledge management (KM) is to have a common understanding of the terms "knowledge management" and "knowledge sharing" and how they apply to your situation and needs. Some organizations choose not to use these terms at all because they are not accepted within the culture. By recognizing this fact, an organization is actually adhering to a critical success factor of KM: listen to your employees and customers.
The definition of KM has evolved quite a bit since the mid 1990s. It started simply as valuable information in action, in which value is determined by the organization and the recipient. Although this definition still holds true today, KM has evolved into a more rigorous discipline that is subject to the same scrutiny as other business processes within an organization and is expected to show a return on investment (ROI).
APQC defines KM as an emerging set of strategies and approaches to create, safeguard, and use knowledge assets (including people and information), which allows knowledge to flow to the right people at the right time so they can apply these assets to create more value for the enterprise.
Some inherent critical success factors are built into the definition. KM is a set of strategies and approaches, which denotes a definite structure or a way to do things. Another critical piece of this definition is that this approach enables the flow of information to the right person at the right time; otherwise, an organization would be managing its knowledge just for the sake of managing it and not to create value. That brings us to the most critical aspect of this definition: creating more value for the enterprise. The most elaborate knowledge-sharing procedures will not help if the knowledge shared within an organization does not enable its recipient(s) to create value, be it through increased revenue or time or cost savings.
The success of a KM initiative depends on many factors, some within our control, some not. Typically, critical success factors can be categorized into five primary categories:
1. leadership;
2. culture;
3. structure, roles, and responsibilities;
4. information technology infrastructure; and
5. measurement.
Leadership Leadership plays a key role in ensuring success in almost any initiative within an organization. Its impact on KM is even more pronounced because this is a relatively new discipline. Nothing makes greater impact on an organization than when leaders model the behavior they are trying to promote among employees. The CEO at Buckman Laboratories, a chemicals company, champions the cause for KM within the organization and personally reviews submissions to its knowledge bank. When he notices that a particular employee has not had been active within the system, he sends a message that reads: "Dear associate, you haven't been sharing knowledge. How can we help you? All the best, Bob."
Several other best-practice organizations have demonstrated this commitment to KM. At the World Bank, the president's support led to the creation of an infrastructure that promoted and supported the growth of communities of practice (CoPs) not only throughout the organization, but also around the globe. Today,
the World Bank has sustained its KM initiative through its CoPs. Its knowledge managers constantly search for new approaches to knowledge sharing.
Although leadership plays a critical role in the success of the KM initiative, the "culture" factor can be even more important to the success of KM.
Culture Culture is the combination of shared history, expectations, unwritten rules, and social customs that compel behaviors. It is the set of underlying beliefs that, while rarely exactly articulated, are always there to influence the perception of actions and communications of all employees.
Cultural issues concerning KM initiatives usually arise due to the following factors:
• Lack of time - The goal is not to encourage the employees to work more, but to work more effectively. The processes, technologies, and roles designed during a KM initiative must save employees' time, not burden them with more work. This can only be accomplished if the employees' work patterns are accounted for during the initial design and planning phase of the initiative.
• Unconnected reward systems - Organizations have to maintain a balance between intrinsic and explicit rewards in order to encourage employee behavior. The most effective use of explicit rewards has been to encourage sharing at the onset of a KM initiative. If the attendees don't find value in either the meetings or the information on the system, providing incentives will not sustain their participation. People share because they want to, they like to see their expertise being used, and they like being respected by their peers.
• Lack of common perspectives - Sharing must be inspired by a common vision. The people affected by the new process or technology must all buy in to this vision and believe it will work.
• No formal communication - When designing and implementing KM initiatives, ensure that employees and customers know about the changes occurring in your organization. It has been hypothesized that a person needs to hear the same message at least three times before it registers in the brain. Hence, communication should be pervasive and ingeminating. While implementing KM within your organization, market yourself. Make sure everyone knows what you are attempting to do, and build anticipation for the launch.
If your organization naturally has a tendency to share knowledge, enabling knowledge sharing becomes a little easier. If your organization harbors a knowledge-hoarding culture, don't give in to it. Remove negative consequences to sharing. People want to share their knowledge. They want others to know they are knowledgeable. Break down some of the existing barriers to knowledge sharing, and give people the tools and environment they need. By designing KM initiatives around your culture, you will be initiating a cultural change.
Structure, Roles, and Responsibilities
Although there are many ways that organizations structure the governance of their KM initiatives, APQC has found common elements among best-practice partner organizations: a steering committee, a central KM support group, and stewards/owners throughout the organization who are responsible for KM. It is a combination of a centralized and decentralized approach.
The steering committee usually consists of executives at the top level. They promote the concept and provide guidance, direction, and support. The central KM group is typically made up of three to four people who provide the initial support for projects or initiatives, which are usually handed over to the business owners once they are implemented. The central group usually consists of people with advanced project management, facilitation, and communication skills. The stewards, or owners, are responsible for knowledge sharing and acquisition within the business units. Like the core KM group, the stewards are change agents for the organization. They model and teach employees the principles of knowledge
sharing using a common vocabulary. All of these participants work as a team to prevent a silo mentality and incorporate resistant employees in the process.
Although the structure is put in place to establish ownership and accountability, if there is no overall ownership of knowledge and learning within the organization and the leadership does not "walk the talk," it will be difficult to sustain any sharing behavior.
Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure
Without a solid IT infrastructure, an organization cannot enable its employees to share information on a large scale. Yet the trap that most organizations fall into is not a lack of IT, but rather too much focus on IT. A KM initiative is not a software application; having a platform to share information and to communicate is only part of a KM initiative. Following are some KM success factors related to IT.
• Approach - The people who are charged with implementing KM must take the time to understand their users' needs. Matching the KM system with the KM objectives is essential.
• Content - With a similar focus on users' needs, establishing great content involves having processes in place to acquire, manage, validate, and deliver relevant information, when and where it is needed.
• Common platforms - A standard companywide architecture ensures the sustainability and scalability of KM efforts. By understanding the organization's infrastructure at a high level, the steering committee can guide the KM team in picking the appropriate technology. Sometimes organizations realize that they need a complete overhaul of their IT infrastructure before they can expect their employees to share knowledge. Many organizations have eliminated or are in the process of phasing out customized legacy systems and replacing them with market-standard operating systems. This enables organizations to build on the existing architecture by using off-the-shelf software that was written to support these platforms, thus avoiding costly customized packages.
• Simple technology - If it takes more than three clicks to find knowledge on your system, users will get frustrated. Of course, you have to temper that with the amount of information being delivered and the complexity of information demanded by the user. Another common mistake made in information delivery is the emphasis on explicit knowledge. Although technology is primarily used to deliver explicit knowledge, placing too much emphasis on it causes the user to lose the context in which the information was shared and leads to misunderstanding on how to interpret the knowledge.
• Adequate training - KM is enabled by adequate technology and people who know how to use it. Best-practice examples reveal that the central KM group should spend most of its time (after deployment) teaching, guiding, and coaching users how to use the system to interact, communicate, and share information and knowledge with one another.
Measurement
Most people fear measurement because they see it as synonymous with ROI, and they are not sure how to link KM efforts to ROI. Although the ultimate goal of measuring the effectiveness of a KM initiative is to determine some type of ROI, there are many intervening variables that also affect the outcomes.
Because many variables may affect an outcome, it is important to correlate KM activities with business outcomes, while not claiming a pure cause-and-effect relationship. Increased sales may be a result not only of the sales representatives having more information, but also of the market turning, a competitor closing down, or prices dropping 10 percent. Due to the inability to completely isolate knowledge-sharing results, tracking the correlations over time is important.
There is a final imperative concerning critical success factors, which transcends KM and applies to all interactions: Listen! Listen to your users, customers, and managers-whichever audience for which you are designing. They will tell you how you can meet their needs and have a successful KM initiative.

It requires a large amount of critical thinking and serious consideration. A very good advantage of this approach that I can clearly see is that it helps you focus your efforts on the most important things. However, you have to identify correctly the CSF’s of your organization because if you identify wrongly, then you would be focusing your efforts on the wrong factors and thus cannot achieve what you are aiming for. This approach may also seem subjective but in a way it is good because the people doing this will have to have a deep and clear understanding of what their organization needs and aims for. If done carefully and critically, the Critical Success Factor approach will be able to help an organization reach its success.
Resources:
http://www.wikipedia.org
Critical Success Factors of Knowledge ManagementReleased September 2002 By Farida Hasanali

In the spectrum of organizational change, which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering,

In the spectrum of organizational change, which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts?

• Business Process Reengineering

1. According to Wikipedia; it is an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations.
2. It is one approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the organization’s mission and reduce cost.
3. It starts with a high level assessment of the organization’s mission, strategic goals and customer needs.
an approach aiming at improvements by means of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business process that exist within and across organizations. The key to BPR is for organizations to look at their business processes from a "clean slate" perspective and determine how they can best construct these processes to improve how they conduct business.
When a business is in the midst of increasing their productivity, it faces different kinds of organizational change. There are lots of ways in order for a business to make it more efficient and to improve operational flexibility. In the spectrum of organizational change, the most essential type of change is paradigm shift which is the radical conceptualization of the nature of the business process and the organization.

• Automation
Based on Wikipedia definition; it is the of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well.
Rationalization of procedures is the process of constructing a logical justification for a belief, decision, action or lack thereof that was originally arrived at through a different mental process. It is a defense mechanism in which unacceptable behaviors or feelings are explained in a rational or logical manner; this avoids the true explanation of the behavior or feeling in question.

• Paradigm Shift
1. It is also referred to as scientific revolution.
2. It is a change from one way of thinking to another. It’s a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.
3. Thomas Kuhn said “the successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual development pattern of mature science”.

Paradigms are central to human culture. They are learned, taught, passed on and often serve to define membership in a culture or subculture. "The passing of paradigms within a society is, in effect the process of acculturation and socialization. Paradigms influence how we govern ourselves, how our public institutions are configured and operate, our economic systems and institutions, the structures of our organizations, and how we manage people and other resources. Imagine the whole system of thought being change. In business, this means a lot of changes on their current paradigm.


Base on the above definitions, I could say that the most radical type of change is the paradigm shift because this kind of change greatly changes a certain status to another status. Let say in an organization, a paradigm shift is a total renovation or change of the whole organization.

Change is constant. Many have changed for the better but others are for worse. Others choose to be adaptive than to be predictive because they have this thought that not all things can be predicted. And it is all because life is a constant change. But for me, I am not really into adaptive side; I choose to be predictive rather. Change makes me nervous at times and I am not that person who can easily adapt but not quite long which is I know wrong but still I am working on it.

The lowest in both risk and reward is automation, which entails that even though there is lesser risk in this type of change, the rewards that you get are also directly proportional to the risk and therefore are also small. However, if we look at the very top of the spectrum, we can find paradigm shift, which has both high risks and high rewards. From this and from the definition of radical alone, I can deduce that paradigm shift is the most radical organizational change. Why? First of all, paradigm shift involves rethinking the whole nature of the business, a complete re-conception of how the system should function. In other words, it offers companies a whole new perspective about their business processes and allows them to rework everything from top to bottom. It brings about a "radical" change in the organization's way of thinking and replaces the old way of thinking with a newer, more insightful idea.
Even though it takes a larger risk than the other type of change it has become the most widely applied organizational change to many other organizations for it changes the overall business process thus making a better impact if it is a success. Although business reengineering is also one radical type of change because this approach deals also in redesigning the way work is done in order to better support the organization’s mission and to reduce cost which has the objective of radical improvement in performance and not just incremental improvement, the term paradigm shift is still the most radical type for this kind of approach has found uses in other situation, representing the concept of a major change in a certain thought-pattern.

If this kind of organizational change will be properly implemented and is put into better application by the people in the organization it can create a big radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems, replacing the former way of organizing with a radically different way of thinking. Through this change, it makes an influential technique and a start of something new to improve profits and business operations. Because when we have the focus on making efficient business with the most profitable segment we can make it grow unpredictably fast simply by making a general change in the organization and the best and most radical type of change is paradigm shift.

All types of change could give an organization a disruption but in two most common types – the automation and rationalization of procedures, usually, it can be managed. For the rest, especially the highly disruptive, most dangerous and most radical type of change which is paradigm shifting, it needs a lot of care and should be done well. And if done well, it can give tremendous rewards.
The most radical type of change in the spectrum of organizational change is the paradigm shift. Paradigm shift is a total change on organization. Unlike on the business reengineering that changes a portion of the organization to improve the cost, quality and service. A paradigm shift involves rethinking the nature of the business, the organization. It is a complete reconception of how the system should function. Using this method will take high risks and give a high or great reward for the organization if it is a success. When if it is a failure it would results the organization will go down or bankruptcy or worst the organization will be closed.
The spectrum of organizational change is composed of four parts, arranged from lowest to highest in terms of both risks and rewards: automation, rationalization of procedures, business re-engineering, and paradigm shift. Meanwhile, the term radical is synonymous with essential, major, thorough, sweeping, and drastic. So when we say radical organizational change, we are referring to a type of organizational change that will bring about largely significant and drastic changes.
Radical means departing markedly from the usual or customary and it also means extreme while paradigm shift means a new perspective on things. It is sometimes known as extraordinary science or revolutionary science (Thomas Khun). A paradigm shift is a radical change of pace in our paradigms, a fundamental change in our unconscious view of reality. It is a transformation of the way humans perceive events, people, environment, and life altogether. It can be a national or international shift, and could have dramatic effects, whether positive or negative, on the way we live our lives today and in the future.

among the four types of organizational change, the most radical type is paradigm shifts. The most common is automation and also the easiest. Automation and rationalization of procedures are slow moving and slow changing strategies. These two types of change carry low rewards but offer little risk. In contrast, business reengineering and paradigm shifts are faster; carry high rewards but offer high chances of failure.
Automation deals with the use of Information Technology (IT) in order to speed up the process of a certain task. Rationalization of procedures is the reformation of operating procedures, removal of bottlenecks to make the operating procedures of the organization more efficient. Business reengineering is the redesigning of the business processes to improve measure of performance while paradigm shifts is the re-conceptualization or change of the nature of the business and the organization itself.
Organizations could have major disruption when it is done. Although we could say that it is very dangerous because it talks about extreme change and taking high risk but still many of the organizations use it and also business reengineering. Why extreme change? As defined above, it is because it deals with changing the very nature of the business, the structure of the organization and it also deals with new products or services. Same as other individuals, organizations use paradigm shifts as their strategy to change in order to stay competitive. I have read from an article that because of the global economic pressure, organizations realized that they have to take on the challenges to meet the demands of their shareholders.

A Paradigm Shift is when a significant change happens usually from one fundamental view to a different view. In most cases, some type of major discontinuity occurs as well. It could have dramatic effects whether positive or negative. Therefore, I think among the organizational changes, the paradigm shift would have greater impact and would be more vital among others. According to Kuhn, paradigm shift is revolutionary science. “Revolutionary science is usually unsuccessful, and only rarely leads to new paradigms. When they are successful they lead to large scale changes in the scientific worldview.” If it would fall short, then it could entirely cause failure to the organization. It could greatly affect an organization since wide changes is being employed in this change. A thorough thought over about implicating this would be considered and required.
Revolutionary measures are of constant in an organization. In implementing developments and improvements, changes should be put through. Perhaps the most asked but least answered question in business today is “What can we do to make our business survive and grow?” The world is rapidly changing into something too hard to easily predict, with a hundred opportunities and pitfalls passing by every moment.

We are moving at an accelerated rate of speed, our knowledge and awareness expands and our state of thinking and ideas is transforming and transcending so as the differences to be made for the expansion and progression of the organization’s state.
Paradigm Shift is a popular, or perhaps, not so popular shift or transformation of the way we Humans perceive events, people, environment, and life altogether. It can be a national or international shift, and could have dramatic effects -- whether positive or negative -- on the way we live our lives today and in the future. I think what makes this different among the four is the fact that it adapts to the changes of the world in reality. The organization will base its ideas and decision on what is important on the current or present time. Unlike the automation that merely uses machines or computers denying the existence of human who is the most critical part of an organization.

Although major risk also awaits in this type of change, its worth the gamble for there also waits major rewards. Anyway, li When a business is in the midst of increasing their productivity, it faces different kinds of organizational change. There are lots of ways in order for a business to make it more efficient and to improve operational flexibility. In the spectrum of organizational change, the most essential type of change is paradigm shift which is the radical conceptualization of the nature of the business process and the organization.
fe is a gamble itself. You just have to play the cards well.

if we compare paradigm shift to business re-engineering, which is the third highest in risk and reward, business re-engineering [and even the other two] focuses only on a particular area of the business organization. While they are coupled with lower risks, the rewards you get are also lower. I think this is a major difference with paradigm shift where you have to be willing to take higher risks in order to attain higher rewards. This alone brings to mind the word drastic, a synonym of radical. It is in fact risky, however, if you can avoid or be prepared for the risks, then you will surely achieve the highest rewards and overcome the highest risks.
Typically, the concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller changes such as adding a new person, modifying a program, etc. Examples of organization-wide change might include a change in mission,restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.), new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, "rightsizing", new programs such as Total Quality Management, re-engineering, etc. Some experts refer to organizational transformation. Often this term designates a fundamental and radical reorientation in the way the organization operates.
Typically there are strong resistances to change. People are afraid of the unknown. Many people think things are already just fine and don't understand the need for change. Many are inherently cynical about change, particularly from reading about the notion of "change" as if it's a mantra. Many doubt there are effective means to accomplish major organizational change. Often there are conflicting goals in the organization, e.g., to increase resources to accomplish the change yet concurrently cut costs to remain viable. Organization-wide change often goes against the very values held dear by members in the organization, that is, the change may go against how members believe things should be done. That's why much of organizational-change literature discusses needed changes in the culture of the organization, including changes in members' values and beliefs and in the way they enact these values and beliefs.
Even though it takes a larger risk than the other type of change it has become the most widely applied organizational change to many other organizations for it changes the overall business process thus making a better impact if it is a success. Although business reengineering is also one radical type of change because this approach deals also in redesigning the way work is done in order to better support the organization’s mission and to reduce cost which has the objective of radical improvement in performance and not just incremental improvement, the term paradigm shift is still the most radical type for this kind of approach has found uses in other situation, representing the concept of a major change in a certain thought-pattern.
Significant organizational change really occurs in a business when it changes its overall strategy for success or wants to change the very nature by which it operates. It also occurs when an organization evolves through various life cycles, just like people must successfully evolve through life cycles. For organizations to develop, they often must undergo significant change at various points in their development. Although significant organizational change is one of the most difficult strategies to implement, engaging such change is also very rewarding.

If this kind of organizational change will be properly implemented and is put into better application by the people in the organization it can create a big radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems, replacing the former way of organizing with a radically different way of thinking. Through this change, it makes an influential technique and a start of something new to improve profits and business operations. Because when we have the focus on making efficient business with the most profitable segment we can make it grow unpredictably fast simply by making a general change in the organization and the best and most radical type of change is paradigm shift.

Among the four types of change; Automation, Rationalization of procedures, Business process reengineering, and Paradigm Shift, I think it is very evident that paradigm shift is the most important one. It is the best choice among the four. To support this, let us get to know more about paradigm shift. As what I have read, we may think as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. In laymen terms, Paradigm Shift is a popular, or perhaps, not so popular shift or transformation of the way we Humans perceive events, people, environment, and life altogether. It can be a national or international shift, and could have dramatic effects -- whether positive or negative -- on the way we live our lives today and in the future. I think what makes this different among the four is the fact that it adapts to the changes of the world in reality. The organization will base its ideas and decision on what is important on the current or present time. Unlike the automation that merely uses machines or computers denying the existence of human who is the most critical part of an organization.

Although major risk also awaits in this type of change, its worth the gamble for there also waits major rewards. Anyway, life is a gamble itself. You just have to play the cards well
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/radical
http://www.managementhelp.org/mgmnt/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automation

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 implementat

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.

Developing an IS plan pose the biggest and most serious challenge to IT or IS managers all over the world. It requires knowledge and skills that will make sure that the organization’s vision, mission, and goals will be reflected in the plan. Managers need to see to it that the IS plan they develop will be of good use to the company and bring the company’s business forward. Many IT or IS managers make mistakes along the way and these mistakes often lead to inefficiency and cost the company millions. While expenses cannot be avoided when developing an IS plan, additional and unnecessary expenses can be minimized, if not totally eliminated.

The first major challenge in developing an IS plan is management. There are several aspects of management that pose a challenge to IT/IS managers. The first one is integration. This involves managing the enterprise’s resources and connecting the different organizational levels. It is a challenge to properly manage the enterprise’s resources. This requires a lot of decision-making skills. IT/IS managers need to know how to allocate the company’s resources properly so that there will be minimal or no loss at all. The company’s resources include everything from the workers to the management to the hardware or equipment and etc. When developing an IS plan, all of these resources need to be considered because it is only if they are used properly will the IS plan work harmoniously in the company. IT/IS managers has to know how to weigh certain decisions regarding resource management so that it will not result in excessive or disproportionate resource allocation. The second aspect of management that also poses a challenge to managers is connecting the different organizational levels. Organizations are not flat or one-dimensional. All organizations are hierarchical, from the executives to the ordinary workers. You can envision it as a pyramid of increasing order. The challenge here now is how to interconnect the top-most level with the lower levels and the lower levels to the top-most levels. Each level must be involved in the IS plan in one way or another and it depends on the plan how much these levels are involved in it. No level must be left out because every one of them comprises the whole the organization. It is a challenge to be able to interconnect these different organizational levels so that they can work together as a firm and stable structure to keep the business going. Connecting the organizational levels is also costly since it requires a lot of resources. This is related to managing the company’s resources.

Another aspect of management that poses a challenge to IT/IS managers is sustaining the competitive advantage. Like I mentioned earlier, to gain competitive advantage is one of the purposes of the IS plan. It may be a bit easier to see to that for a definite period of time but it is definitely challenging to keep up the advantage for the whole life of the company. IT/IS managers need to make sure that the IS plan is able to evolve or is flexible to ensure long-term profits.

Information systems plan is like a strategic plan in management. Therefore, it is where objectives, priorities, and authorization for information systems projects need to be formalized. It serves the purpose of identifying specific projects slated for the future, priorities for each project and for resources, general procedures, and constraints for each application area. An information system planning organizes the company’s prospects for the future concerning their information systems. IS planning is the point where the company’s core business operation is merged with technology to produce better output and boost performance. However, this view of IS planning is an already fading notion as this is no longer true nowadays.
IS planning is treated only as a back-room operation that supports an organization’s everyday tasks. But in modern corporations, IS planning is a very integral and critical part of the organization because it serves a very important purpose. The IS plan is no longer constrained within the company’s technology-oriented operations but it now also encompasses decision making, knowledge support, as well as management. So you see, IS planning is no longer a so-called “support” but it is now the central part of an organization. The modern view of IS planning is that it is not only a means of reducing cost but it is a means of adding value. The information systems plan must cater to the strategic demands of organizations, for example, serving the business, pursuing opportunities, and as well as meeting their data processing needs.
Another purpose of the IS plan could be strategic or competitive advantage. Since large-scale and small-scale corporations alike are constantly competing with each other, they would only want to have a certain advantage over the others. In most cases, the IS plan holds the key to that advantage. Assuming that in a company that has an under-developed or no IS plan at all, it is projected to complete a certain transaction in four working days. Now, in a company with a well-developed IS plan it takes only one or two days to complete the same transaction. Naturally, clients would prefer the company with the shorter processing time than the one that takes longer. Coupled with this, the company with the well-developed IS plan has faster turnover than the under-developed one. This means more business and profit in a shorter time span. In the business world, this is considered as a significant gain over the others.

According to Gorman, a quality information systems plan must exhibit five distinct characteristics before it could serve its purpose in the organization. These are: (1) timely, (2) usable, (3) maintainable, (4) quality, and (5) reproducible. A timely IS plan means that it can be conceived in a significantly shorter time than actually doing the work that needs to be done. There is no point in creating an IS plan if the problem to be addressed is long over. The second quality, usable, means that an IS plan can exist in sections that can be distributed to project managers so that each section can be started. In my understanding, this means that the IS plan must be modularized or broken down into more manageable pieces so that more work can be done in a span of time. An IS plan must also be maintainable, which means that the IS plan is able to accommodate any changes or modifications conveniently. I think this is a very important quality that an IS plan must possess because it is not practical to remodel and rework the whole system just to accommodate a few modifications. Such an approach would probably cost the company millions and thus it is not a cost-effective development of the IS plan. An IS plan must also be of good quality. No IS plan is perfect in the first try, however, it should still be of adequate efficiency and still be useable in the organization. The last quality that Gorman listed is reproducible. Reproducible means that the output of the IS plan should still be the same no matter who the user of the system will be. In short, it should be consistent. It is only after these characteristics of the IS plan are secured will the IS plan actually be able to serve its purpose in the company.

In any case, an information systems plan not only serves as a support to a company but it also serves as a guide or an outline of the company’s projected activities and more specifically, for their information environment. To ensure the success of the organization, the IS plan must work closely with the organization’s business plan. It should have the same goals and objectives as the business plan because success cannot be achieved if efforts are not united towards a common goal.

There are also challenges in Information Strategic Planning. Here are some as I found in the net that tells the challenges in strategic planning in developing countries. First is data. Finding data is a real challenge because there is available statistics is far below those available in developing countries. Most companies try to keep any financial information and consider them secrets. It is not possible to know the demand in last year of a certain product or service. People are not used to market research and they don’t want to talk to the marketing people. Next are employees. Most employees and managers are not aware about the value of strategic planning and they may consider it waste of time and something that is applicable in developed countries. Followed by owner. Many owners of successful companies believe they don’t need to do strategic planning and they do not know that their success will go one day when there are more competitors or there are changes in the market. Then the manager’s selection. Most company’s managers in developing countries are experts in the technical process of the organization but they are not well educated in management and thus they want to focus on what they know and neglect what they do not know. Accordingly, strategic management does not fall in their area of interest. Then the qualitative analysis. Strategic planning needs a lot of forecasting and qualitative analysis besides the quantitative analysis. Many technical managers are used to neither the qualitative analysis nor the forecasting. The phrase “I am the manager”. The strategy shows a guide for decisions, so, an employee may, sometimes, tell the senior manager that his decision is against the company strategy. Thus the manager avoid having a strategy to keep his freedom to decide whatever he likes. “Analysis” versus “Intuition”. Most people do not think that a manager should do analysis or have done for him they think that some people are talented to take the right decision without doing many calculations or having subordinates make a study for them. The common challenge is the Implementation. To get every manager follow the same strategy is not an easy task. The Investors. Having a clear strategic plan and clear goals for the future (other than increasing sales of the current products) does not affect the stock price because most of the investors do not care about those issues. And lastly, the security. Most managers feel that everything is a secret and obviously they think that no one else should know the strategy and thus no one else should make a study for our strategic plan….and there is no strategy. Maintaining the strategic plan is also a challenge in any sectors of any businesses. Strategic planning, the what and the why of planning, is often overlooked by organizations who concentrate on tactical planning, the how of planning. The resultant business plan is overwhelmed by tactical initiatives and pet projects. Alignment with a strategy to attain the organization’s goals is achieved by accident. Strategic planning is often seen as unnecessary or at times, not even contemplated in an environment benign to the organization, e.g. high levels of market growth or monopoly situations. In my experience, a strategic plan based on basic critical thinking is a precursor to developing a competitive advantage where often none has previously been seen. Flexibility is also a challenge of a business. Not all businesses do have a strategic plan. Like small scale businesses. And mostly strategic plan is a short term planning only. That is because of changing environment. Since we all know that strategic plan can’t be implemented because there is a change, so it’s a challenge to an IT professional who does the research to make his/her research or plan to be useful. The other challenge is the uncertainty. Strategic planning helps a business evaluate market opportunities. To do this effectively, the process includes collecting and analyzing information about the business environment, understanding internal strengths, and developing a set of 'key assumptions'. Optimal strategies are designed based on all of these factors. As the environment changes, so should our plans. One way to assess whether it is time to conduct a new strategic planning process is to check your list of 'key assumptions' on an annual basis to see if anything has changed. The other one is the cost. Big industries and businesses don’t have the problem of cost in regards of improvement in their business. But in small scale business, cost is a great factor. With all the activities that make up running a business, setting priorities in the context of a plan is important. Without a plan, the limited resources of a growing business will tend to be scattered in many directions, netting results that take longer and cost more. The other challenge also is the organization dynamics. An effective planning process will help to get people talking, and ensure that the business owner/CEO benefits from the ideas of his/her team. A good process is designed to build confidence, support and commitment among all involved. Even if only a limited group is included in the process, the completion of a strategic plan provides a great opportunity to communicate the company's direction and core values to employees. The use of an outside facilitator can greatly enhance the effectiveness of a planning process and keep the process on track. There is often a strong tendency of those participating to focus the discussions on today's problems. An outside facilitator can help to broaden thinking and make sure that new ideas and directions are generated.

The steps use in designing an IS Plan for the University

1. Present a background study of the current status of the Universities IS - Here i would present information about the university's current strengths and weaknesses with regards to its ICT, Finance, Management, current systems, Human Resource and other units of the organization that would affect the proposed ISP, Enough to show a perspective view as to where my proposed IS plan would dwell.

2. state the mission/goal of the new IS plan - The mission Goal of the IS plan should be inclined with the University's original statement,

3. Identify the Objectives of the IS plan

4. Identify ISP models that would serve as the platform for the proposed ISP - Exixting ISP models from outside sources are good starting point to boost the development of the proposed IS plan.

5. Identify components of the proposed IS plan
ISP must be timely, useable, maintainable, able to be iterated into a quality product, and reproducible. IT organizations, once they have completed their initial set of databases and business information systems will find themselves transformed from a project to a release environment.
The continuous flow environment then becomes the only viable alternative for moving the enterprise forward. It is precisely because of the release environment that enterprise-wide information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained are essential.
Create the mission model, the mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison of the enterprise. Develop a high-level data model
The high-level data model is an Entity Relationship diagram created to meet the data needs of the mission descriptions. No attributes or keys are created. Create the resource life cycles (RLC) and their nodes. Resources are drawn from both the mission descriptions and the high level data model. Resources and their life cycles are the names, descriptions and life cycles of the critical assets of the enterprise, which, when exercised achieve one or more aspect of the missions. Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes. Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes. The resource life cycle network presents business information systems and databases can be attached. Allocate standard work break down structures (WBS) to each RLC node. Detailed planning of the A difference projects. Load resources into each WBS node, once the resources are determined; these are loaded into the project management entities of the data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. Schedule the RLC nodes through project management package facilities. The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. Produce and review of the ISP. The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. Execute and adjust the ISP through time.

6. Design implementation goals
As gathering data is part of the development of IS plan, I would make sure that those data would include the problems found inside the university and its opportunities. I would like to develop an IS plan that would address those problems and solve it through its implementation while utilizing the full potential of the university in delivering its services. As our university is a state university, many opportunities may rise and utilizing this and using it up to the maximum benefit would greatly improve the university.

In expediting the implementation process of the IS plan, the first and foremost concern for this process is the willingness of the university for implementation. A huge resistance for the implementation of an IS plan would prove a huge risk and may cause the IS plan to fail or never implemented. It would greatly help if the IS plan is backed and supported by the top university officials so that other parts of the university or colleges would have minimal amount of resistance. The IS plan with the acknowledgment from the university would be implemented faster if the university itself knows of the IS plan so training and seminars are thereby held. The whole process of implementation would require much time and resources that focusing all efforts will be required for the implementation to go smoothly and immediately.
Expedite is to accelerate or speed up something. Having constructed an IS Plan should entail the details on how it is to be implemented in effective and efficient ways. Steps of which involves:

- Coordination with the personnel involve
- The workforces/people ware itself are the main element in carrying out the IS plan. They are the brain and core of the system. Without which, the plan would not be put into action. This entails people management with their particular function and responsibility.

* Assigning of responsibilities and setting timelines
- Distribution and allocating of task should be thoroughly thought out. Constructing a timetable or outline of what-must-be-done is very crucial for it will be the basis for monitoring means of how the plan is going.

* Utilization of resources
- It is of practical act to properly make use of all the resources available for the system. Analysis of the resources should be made. A university should look out for any source accessible. Overlooked resource could be a big lost for one’s organization.

* Monitoring of the growth of development
- To keep track with the project schedules must be observed. Any progress should be made recognize. Updates and improvements must also be identified and evaluated if it has been going well with what has been planned for the system.

*Assessments and revisions of plans
- It is an evaluation and comparison of the actual system implementation with the original ISP. Changes would not be inevitable and so as with what has been intended or planned for the ISP. In this phase, with what is good for the betterment, alteration or modification of the original plan is being done.

The things that must be considered:
Project Management
• How aggressive is the implementation plan, both in the timeline and volume of location rollout?
We must determine the strength in terms of time that is necessary for the implementation of the IS plan and even the location variable. Through these information we could come up to reasonable activities and deadlines.
• What level of effort will be needed to keep the plan on time and within budget?
We must also consider the cost that is needed in the implementation of the system. It must be in relation to the overall budget the the IS plan have and the amount that is alloted in the implementation stage. And as said earlier the implementation plan must be within the alloted time.
• Who in the organization can be temporarily reassigned to manage the implementation?
This is in terms of the personnels that are needed in the implementation of the system. Instead of deciding right away in hiring more employees for the activity. We must first check if some of the present persons in the organization is skilled enough and could be reassigned to manage the implementation of the system. This will not only lessen the cost of the activity but will also save the team time and effort in hiring new competent persons for the job.
• What previous experience do they have with IS software implementation or the current MIS of the
organization?
This is also in line with the employees that will be affected with the implementation of the IS plan. Their experiences must be noted for us to know how effective they can be in handling the implementation of the new IS.
• For what length of time will they be needed?
If the organization chooses to reassign employees or to hire contractual personnels for the Implementation of the system, the time that they are in need must be noted. This is important to make sure that their availability in the project is put into good use and to save the organization from wasting money from unneeded personnels.

• How strong are their troubleshooting (problem solving) skills?
Their skills in troubleshooting or problem solving must also ne put into consideration so that they will be assigned to a certain position where their skills will be maximized to the fullest and all the things that must be done will not be interrupted because of an incapable personnel.

We should determine the time to be allotted in order to complete the plan. With this we can utilize time management and other factors concerning schedules. Other than managing time we should also consider who will manage the plan and create planning teams that is capable in planning an IS. Project management must be properly supervised and development practices are also one most significant factor to be considered. We need to better understand the plan so that implementation won’t become more complicated. That is why such issues must be put into consideration.

Data Conversion

• What data, if any, will need to be transferred to the new system?
This is intended for organizations who have their previous system and want to replace it with a new one. All the data from the past system must be properly transferred to the new one. This requires skilled personnels that knows the previous system and persons that are also trained for the new system.
• What issues are involved with converting the data (i.e., lack of a standard way of calculating interest from one branch office to the next)?
To have the transfer of data precise. Issues involving these data must be put into consideration. This is based on the process that the system requires these data to undergo and this factor is mainly different from one organization to another. Its up to the hired personnel to identify there major involvements.
• What is the volume of data to be converted?
The volume of the data to be converted must also be put into consideration in order express it on an effective timeline.
• Given time, costs and percentage of error, would a manual or automated conversion, or a
combination of both be better?
Depending on the data that must be converted. The personnel assigned must be reasonable in choosing the type of process in converting the data. The factors that must be considered includes the time and the percentage of error that my occur in the conversion process

In creating an IS plan, whether this is for the university or a big organization, the group that designed the plan has its own resources to be interpreted in order for the user or the people involved in the plan knows what are those possible resources or data to know.

Training

• what basic training is necessary for the IT staff, and for the general staff?
After getting note about the abilities and the experiences that the personnel had from the past system the team must know the trainings that the personnel need to be competent in handling the new system.

• Are there any training prerequisites?
One training prerequisite could be that the personnel could only undergo the training if he had attended a certain training in the past, which makes sure that he has the ability to comprehend on the topics that the training will discuss.
• Who conducts the training?
This refers to the competent persons that will conduct the meeting. The success os the training is also dependent on how equipped the trainer is and how good he is.
• Is the training a structured class style format?
It must be sure that the training is structured in order to give the trainees a good view of the topics and would help them fully understand the concepts.
• Does a TOT (trainer of trainers) option exist?
It is also a good point where former trainees could be trainers in the future training activities. It could not only save the organization some money but will also ensure them that the trainer is capable because it is noted that he has undergone the same training before.
People is the basic equipment of an IS Plan. Since that they're the one's using the systems or they're the one involve in the plan. Since that they are the user or the client of the plan, it must be necessary that they have the knowledge about and how to deal with the change. Since we are talking about a plan, it is guaranteed that the we are dealing with change.
Training is also the most important factor to be considered. IT staffs that are properly trained will make the project easily done. They need to have knowledge in terms of managing data and IS plan implementation. One of the things that are essential to successful continuous improvement in order to expedite implementation of IS plan are strongly matters on the people involve around the plan.

Before the implementation of the IS plan takes place, we must already have our plan for the implementation. It is important to plan so that we can prepare and to make it much easier for us to handle the inevitable and unexpected issues that would come up during the process. That is why we are required to plan not only for the implementation of an IS plan but for our future as well.


The strategic considerations including what product to get behind, what market to target, by what means, to what ends. An evolution of company innovation through flexible response to market trends. Plus the operational result of the business strategy, including order fulfilment, product creation, after sales service, customer acquisition and retention.

According to wikipedia:
The Information System consists of four parts which include: procedures, software, hardware, and information or data, which are essentially the same. There are various types of information systems, for example: transaction processing systems, office systems, decision support systems, knowledge management systems, database management systems, and office information systems. Critical to most information systems are information technologies, which are typically designed to enable humans to perform tasks for which the human brain is not well suited, such as: handling large amounts of information, performing complex calculations, and controlling many simultaneous processes.
Information Systems have a number of different areas of work:
Information systems strategy
Information systems management
Information systems development
Information systems security
Information systems iteration
There are a wide variety of career paths in the information systems discipline. "Workers with specialized technical knowledge and strong communications skills will have the best prospects. With management skills and an understanding of business practices and principles will have excellent opportunities, as companies are increasingly looking to technology to drive their revenue."
An information system is a collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to complete a business task.

Information Systems are Important because of the following; Crucial to success of modern business organization. Constantly being developed to make business more competitive and Impact productivity and profits.

System is a collection of interrelated components that function together to achieve some outcome. Information systems outcome is the solution to a business problem. Information systems, subsystems, and components interact with and include hardware, software, inputs, outputs, data, people, and procedures. Problem solving means looking into business problem in great detail, completely understanding problem, and choosing best solution. Information system development is much more than writing programs

Strategic planning must be align with the business plan. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ) and PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) or STEER analysis involving Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors. According to other source, strategic plan is a document used by an organization to align its organization and budget structure with organizational priorities, missions, and objectives. It is also a process of comprehensive, integrative program planning that considers, at a minimum, the future of current decisions, overall policy, organizational development, and links to operational plans. And according to the project management club, strategic planning is a basic document for planning of different projects of the programmed and their sub-projects. It is based on the content of the Financing Memorandum (FM) and the Monitoring and Evaluation Matrix attached to the Financing Proposal and translates the two documents into detailed operational terms. A satisfactory strategic plan must be realistic and attainable so as to allow managers and entrepreneurs to think strategically and act operationally. In align with that, strategic plan must be reliable and suitable for the need of the company. Failure to secure top management commitment for carrying out the final plan frequently in almost all major projects, it may be on school or other situations like in business.
We are very vigilant and optimistic when we are just starting to accomplish our plan. The eagerness, focus, attention and other characters needed for a good start is always present. But a good stand doesn’t always end up with a good end. Generally most people have difficulties in finishing what they have started. We have the tendency to feel tired at the finishing part of our project. There are a lot of reasons behind this. With regards to IS planning, this may happen because of the lack of a good IS manager or team leader. The whole success of a plan generally lies in the hand of the team leader whose crucial responsibilities arise when everything is not going right. Another reason why we have difficulty in finishing what we have started is the lack of support.

“Planning is everything. Plans are nothing”, that is according to Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke. For my understanding about the quote, for me it means that we can really plan for anything. We can directly create or have our planning for ourselves. But in the end, after we have decided the planning, in the end, we can’t really have the activities to do the plan. Like for example here in USEP. Every professional professors and teachers here do have their conference and meeting about the strategic planning for the school, but once it was been designed or talked properly, at the end of the discussion and after the technical paper was made, there are still no implementation for it. The words and discussions are being taken for granted. Meaning, the planning was still useless since it was not been implemented properly.

Planning an IS plan can somehow complex. If I were to think of steps in order to expedite the implementation of IS plan to ensure that something takes place or dealt with more quickly than usual I would rather take into consideration some factors.

There is no information system plan is perfect the first try. It is our task to improve them and make sure that the IS plan is working towards the same goal as the organization’s business plan. To overcome the challenges that we may face, we have to be equipped with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills. If we can overcome them, then we can come up with a well-developed IS plan that will serve its purpose in the company for a long time




Source:
http://www.microfinancegateway.org/files/48230_file_94.pdf
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
http://www.clarionmag.com/cmag/v3/informationsystemsplanning.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_systems_discipline