The business plan and the IS plan

The question: “What should be the nature of the relationship between the business plan and the IS plan?”

To clear all of our minds, let’s first take a look at the definition of a business plan and an Information System (IS) plan. But before that, I’m gonna express first what I think a business plan and an information system plan is.

For me, a business plan is a plan that states what the business or the company’s plans for the future are. This plan should also contain the results that they would want to see by implementing the said plan. And also what they must do in order to achieve their goal (traits, personality, motivations). An IS plan for me is a company’s plan on what to do with everything in connection with information technology and information systems so as to help their business become successful. From the software to be used, trainings for the employees on using that particular software, the hardware to be used, and everything else connected to IT, that should be the content of the IS Plan.

From what I have read from Encarta Dictionaries, a business plan is a plan of future strategy. It is a plan that sets out the future strategy and financial development of a business, usually covering a period of several years.

And also, from the VERY popular site, Wikipedia.com (which I think is the major source of definitions for this forum), A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.

And here are some additional information from About.com:
Business Planning encompasses all the goals, strategies and actions that you envision taking to ensure your business’s survival and growth. Business planning can be broken down into two large topics; profit-making business planning and contingency business planning

Profit-making business planning is all the general business planning that must be done to start and run a successful business. The best known example of this type of business planning is the business plan. The business plan isn’t a do-it-and-forget-it business planning exercise but a living document that needs to be updated throughout the lifecycle of your business. Once the business has officially started, profit-making business planning will center on setting and meeting goals and targets. While some businesses make business planning an annual event, business planning is most effective when it’s done frequently and consistently. The business planning process of reviewing progress on business goals and targets and setting new ones should take place at least monthly.
Daily business planning is an incredibly effective way for individuals to focus on achieving both their own goals and the goals of the organization.
Contingency business planning (also known as business continuity planning) is the type of business planning that focuses on dealing with crises. A business contingency plan is a proposed implementation plan to deal with some new emergency, event or new information.

For me, a business plan and an information systems plan must coincide with each other. Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is a very essential factor for the growth and the betterment of a business. Why? Because information systems are now being used by companies in its different functions and departments. Information systems now help with data processing, networking, management issues and many, many more.

From what I have read from the pdf file “Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review” by Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu, these are the eras of information systems and their relationships. These data shown here are shown as follows: year - era -characteristics.

• 60s – Data Processing – Standalone computers, remote users, cost reduction function

• 70s & 80s – Management Information Systems (MIS) – Distributed process, interconnected, regulated by management service, supporting the business, user driven

• 80s & 90s – Strategic Information Systems (SIS) – Networked integrated systems, available and supportive to users, relate to business strategy, enable the business – business driven

We can see here that at first, information systems were not that important to a business. Computers were just used for basic data processing. They were just used for back-room operations and that was that. But later, their significance was slowly recognized. Companies later slowly made use of their information systems to help their business in its tasks and, naturally, to help their business prosper and become a success. Furthermore, planning for a company’s information systems plan was started. A plan for a company’s success was now related with its information system. Nowadays, an information systems plan of a company should be included with their business plan. That relationship should stay with the company.

For their plan to succeed, they should assess their needs. If these needs are clearly stated and declared, then they will know what to do with their information system. They should know now what their objectives and priorities would be. Also, they should be able to plan what they would need for their IS and its planned projects for the future. And if they are planning for the future, then what they plan should be flexible, so if there would be changes that will happen in the future, their projects and all they planned for could adjust without any problems.

There are also problems to be faced. One is the “veterans” problem. People from the management, particularly the old ones I suspect, would be doubtful about the information system plan. I can’t blame them because they have long been operating manually, either in accounting, human resource, etc. Just like in the May 2010 Elections where the government plans to automate and there are so many doubts, automated systems are not really that very convincing to other/older people. Other problems for the plan would be if there would be not enough resources for what you want to attain. Maybe the budget is not enough or something like that. But I’m sure that the company could think of ways to adjust their budget to meet their goals and objectives.

Basically, I think that the business plan is the master plan, and the IS plan would be under the master plan. The thought would be that the IS plan is just one of the plans of the company that need to be accomplished. There would be other plans other than the IS plan. And if all of these plans are finished, then the business plan would be a success. The information system plan would be one of the components of the business plan (I think).

The nature of the relationship of the business plan and the IS plan? I think their relationship should be that they are always connected with each other (if that company with the business has an information system, that is). If you have planned for your information system with the mindset of helping your company/business grow and be successful, then that would be very helpful for the business plan. That’s because, as stated earlier, the business plan is where you put your plans of reaching your goals, and the IS plan is one of those plans that aim to reach your goal. Having an information system in a company is a big help for that business, so it shouldn’t be ignored.