Critical Dimensions of Strategic Information Systems Planning

TLDR

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is a long‑range process for aligning computer‑based applications with organizational goals, but planners often face various impediments. A survey of 80 firms identified five problem factors—organization, implementation, database, hardware, and cost—of which organization, implementation, and database most strongly predict planner satisfaction, and firms with sophisticated business planning experience fewer hardware and implementation issues.

Abstract

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is the process whereby an organization establishes a long‐range plan of computer‐based applications in order to achieve its goals. A number of problems can potentially impede information systems planners as they carry out the process. A survey of 80 firms who completed the SISP process revealed that the problems constitute five factors: the organization, implementation, database, hardware, and cost. A discriminant analysis showed that three factors—the organization, implementation, and database—best distinguished satisfied from dissatisfied information systems planners. A research application of the five factors suggested that organizations with more sophisticated business planning endure significantly less severe hardware and implementation problems.