Georgetown School of Business

Business Systems Planning

The need for BSP

Until the control and planning department was established, IBM had little overall direction in the internal use of computers. If fact, little coordination took place between divisions; most data processing activities were confined to locations and units within divisions. consequently, each manufacturing plan and marketing region developed and operated its own system. Although the individual systems carried out similar functions, they differed n design and performance; they could not be used interchangeably and could not communicate with each other.

Potential benefits

• awareness of information systems within top management
• communication with top management
• methodology for staff to help meet business needs
• user involvement in setting priorities in information systems

Business Systems Planning

• focus on concept and design of integrated corporate database and not on organisational structures or management techniques
• shift from individual applicatiosn to data and information
• idealistic in assuming that information systems can be built from scratch

Stages of the BSP Processes

• gaining the committment
• preparing for the study

• starting the study
• defining business processes
• defining business data
• definign information architecture
• analysing current systems support
• interviewing executives
• determining architecture priorities
• reviewing information resource management
• reporting results

[Source: IBM (1984), page 9.]

From operational to management control: addressing the failings:

• failing to obtain executive commitment
• objectives and strategies out of line with overall business objectives
• implementing information systems without understanding the views of general management
• implementing new company-wide information systems, rather than an evolving plan
• failing to pu in place Information Resources Management functions to manage the information

Potential benefits to senior management

• an evaluation of the current effectiveness of the IS function
• a logical approach to solving management control problems from a business perspective
• an assessment of future IS needs, based on business priorities
• a planned approach to give an early return on IS investments
• IS relatively independent of organisational structure
• greater confidence that IS management can deliver

Potential benefits to functional and operational management

• logical approach to help solve management and operational problems
• consistent data, usuabel and shared by all
• top managers involved and committed
• systems orientated to the needs of managers and users, rather than to the needs of data processing