---MIS2 Assignment # 6---

We are to identify and discuss the steps for "critical success factors" approach. Every individual has a critical success factors in life. This would only means that a key to success should posses a wood curve for. Let me give some parameters of what and how a critical success factor is.

According to wikipedia Critical Success Factor (CSF) is the term for an element that is necessary for an organization or project to achieve its mission. It is a critical factor or activity required for ensuring the success of your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. For example, a CSF for a successful Information Technology (IT) project is user involvement.

So many important matters can compete for your attention in business that it's often difficult to see the "wood for the trees". What's more, it can be extremely difficult to get everyone in the team pulling in the same direction and focusing on the true essentials.

That's where Critical Success Factors (CSFs) can help. CSFs are the essential areas of activity that must be performed well if you are to achieve the mission, objectives or goals for your business or project.

By identifying your Critical Success Factors, you can create a common point of reference to help you direct and measure the success of your business or project.

As a common point of reference, CSFs help everyone in the team to know exactly what's most important. And this helps people perform their own work in the right context and so pull together towards the same overall aims.

The idea of CSFs was first presented by D. Ronald Daniel in the 1960s. It was then built on and popularized a decade later by John F. Rockart, of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and has since been used extensively to help businesses implement their strategies and projects.

Inevitably, the CSF concept has evolved, and you may have seen it implemented in different ways. This article provides a simple definition and approach based on Rockart's original idea.

Critical success factors (CSFs) have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organisations should focus on to be successful. As a definition, critical success factors refer to "the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organisation” (Rockart and Bullen, 1981). Identifying CSFs is important as it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSFs, or even allow firms to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet critical success factors (CSFs).


Success factors were already being used as a term in management when Rockart and Bullen reintroduced the concept to provide greater understanding of the concept and, at the same time, give greater clarity of how CSFs can be identified.

MAIN ASPECTS OF CSFs

CSFs are tailored to a firm's or manager's particular situation as different situations (e.g. industry, division, individual) lead to different critical success factors. Rockart and Bullen presented five key sources of CSFs: the industry, competitive strategy and industry position, environmental factors, temporal factors, and managerial position (if considered from an individual's point of view). Each of these factors is explained in greater detail below.

HOW TO WRITE GOOD CSFs

In an attempt to write good CSFs, a number of principles could help guide writers. These principles are:

• Ensure a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company – It was shown that CSFs have five primary sources, and it is important to have a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the company in order to be able to write them well. These factors are customised for companies and individuals and the customisation results from the peculiarity of the organisation. This peculiarity stems from an organisation's strategy, current position, and resources and capabilities.
• Build knowledge of competitors in the industry – While this principle can be encompassed in the previous one, it is worth highlighting separately as it is critical to have a good understanding of competitors as well in identifying an organisation's CSFs. Knowing where competitors are positioned, what their resources and capabilities are, and what strategies they will pursue can have an impact on an organisation's strategy and also resulting CSFs.
• Develop CSFs which result in observable differences – A key impetus for the development of CSFs was the notion that factors which get measured are more likely to be achieved versus factors which are not measured. Thus, it is important to write CSFs which are observable or possibly measurable in certain respects such that it would be easier to focus on these factors. These don't have to be factors that are measured quantitatively as this would mimic key performance indicators; however, writing CSFs in observable terms would be helpful.
• Develop CSFs that have a large impact on an organisation's performance – By definition, CSFs are the "most critical" factors for organisations or individuals. However, due care should be exercised in identifying them due to the largely qualitative approach to identification, leaving many possible options for the factors and potentially results in discussions and debate. In order to truly have the impact as envisioned when CSFs were developed, it is important to thus identify the actual CSFs, i.e. the ones which would have the largest impact on an organisation's (or individual's) performance.


Conclusion

CSFs are used by organisations to give focus on a number of factors that help define its success. They help the organisation and its personnel to understand the key areas in which to invest their resources and time. Ideally, these CSFs are observable in terms of the impact on the organisation to allow it to have guidance and indications on its achievement of them.

CSFs can be utilised in both the organisation and the individual levels. Their identification is largely qualitative and can result in differing opinions in pinpointing them. Nevertheless, it is an approach that should be pursued as it provides value in giving due focus to a limited set of factors, which are deemed to be the most critical for an organisation or individual.

The company should have a critical success factors in order to know the improvement made by the company from the past up to the present generation. This is possible to every organization even to a smaller unit of business to maintain its progress and limits its capacity. This would show that critical success factors indeed contribute a big help to individuals not only for a certain corporation but also to a person.

Success is many things to many people. Worldbook defines success as a favorable result or wished for ending through the achievement of goals. That is, if one attains a desired goal through achievement, he would be considered a success. However, a successful character, cannot be produced from one successful feat. The true indicator of success is not what is accomplished, but what is felt. In order to be successful, one must be happy.
One of the most complex examples of success is the winning of money. Is the winning of money considered successful? If a person buys a lottery ticket, he is setting his goal on winning. In addition, if the person wins, he is obviously happy. However, this person is not considered successful. Although his goal is to win, he has no control over winning or losing. Achieving goals means working for them and knowing the result. The person is going to be elated about winning but not about achieving goals. Happiness from success results from the achievements accomplished.


Source:
http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/essays-and-dissertations/critical-success-factors.php

---MIS2 Assignment # 5---

Base in our study and readings we are to discuss the spectrum of organizational change, and answer the question which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts?

According to them that the only thing that doesn’t change in this world is the time. Change is not an easy thing to go through. It does not matter if it is a change in where someone is living or where someone is working. The change process is not easy. You have to be able to adapt to your new environment quickly because you will be left behind. The change process is also not easy when it comes to changes that affect a whole organization. Everyone needs to be on the same page and all of the pros and cons of the change need to be weighed out before the actual change is taken place. In the following essay I will illustrate to you an organizational change that I was apart of and the result that it had on the future of the organization. In the 21st Century, you will not have an organization change which does not involve some sort of technology change or addition. Implementation of such a change must be planned well in advance and everything that could go wrong, from a production level, is accounted for and corrected. For example, if the new system will cause another system to function improperly then we can not set up that new system until we figure out a way to make sure that both systems work properly together. You have to make sure that business will be running as usual or at a good percentage.

Because of the rapid rate of all technological innovation, technological changes are becoming increasingly important to many organizations. One major area of change involves equipment, thus a change in work processes or work activities maybe necessary. Timex, for example, 3-D design software from Toronto based software Alias Research Inc. to be able to turn out watches faster. Organization control systems may also be targets of such a change.

Another area of organization change has to do with human resources. An organization might decide to change the skill-level of its work force and the level of performance of its workers. Perceptions and expectations, attitudes and values are also a common focus on organizational change. Organizational change is anticipated or triggered because of different changing circumstances; an organization might incur a change because of forces bending its environment. These forces might be either external or internal. The external forces derive from the organization's general or task environments. The general environment is parted into different dimensions: the international, the economic, the technological, the socio-cultural and the political-legal dimension.

Before to choose in which is the most radical type of change either automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts, let me first discuss the terminology “organizational change and its impact”.

What's "Organizational Change?"

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

What Provokes "Organizational Change"?

Change should not be done for the sake of change -- it's a strategy to accomplish some overall goal. (See Organizational Performance Management.) Usually organizational change is provoked by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc. Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. Transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization.

Why is Organization-Wide Change Difficult to Accomplish?

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.

How Is Organization-Wide Change Best Carried Out?

Successful change must involve top management, including the board and chief executive. Usually there's a champion who initially instigates the change by being visionary, persuasive and consistent. A change agent role is usually responsible to translate the vision to a realistic plan and carry out the plan. Change is usually best carried out as a team-wide effort. Communications about the change should be frequent and with all organization members. To sustain change, the structures of the organization itself should be modified, including strategic plans, policies and procedures. This change in the structures of the organization typically involves an unfreezing, change and re-freezing process.

The best approaches to address resistances is through increased and sustained communications and education. For example, the leader should meet with all managers and staff to explain reasons for the change, how it generally will be carried out and where others can go for additional information. A plan should be developed and communicated. Plans do change. That's fine, but communicate that the plan has changed and why. Forums should be held for organization members to express their ideas for the plan. They should be able to express their concerns and frustrations as well.

Some General Guidelines to Organization-Wide Change
In addition to the general guidelines listed above, there are a few other basic guidelines to keep in mind.

1. Consider using a consultant. Ensure the consultant is highly experienced in organization-wide change. Ask to see references and check the references.
2. Widely communicate the potential need for change. Communicate what you're doing about it. Communicate what was done and how it worked out.
3. Get as much feedback as practical from employees, including what they think are the problems and what should be done to resolve them. If possible, work with a team of employees to manage the change.
4. Don't get wrapped up in doing change for the sake of change. Know why you're making the change. What goal(s) do you hope to accomplish?
6. Plan the change. How do you plan to reach the goals, what will you need to reach the goals, how long might it take and how will you know when you've reached your goals or not? Focus on the coordination of the departments/programs in your organization, not on each part by itself. Have someone in charge of the plan.
7. End up having every employee ultimately reporting to one person, if possible, and they should know who that person is. Job descriptions are often complained about, but they are useful in specifying who reports to whom.
8. Delegate decisions to employees as much as possible. This includes granting them the authority and responsibility to get the job done. As much as possible, let them decide how to do the project.
9. The process won't be an "aha!" It will take longer than you think.
10. Keep perspective. Keep focused on meeting the needs of your customer or clients.
11. Take care of yourself first. Organization-wide change can be highly stressful.
12. Don't seek to control change, but rather to expect it, understand it and manage it.
13. Include closure in the plan. Acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments.
14. Read some resources about organizational change, including new forms and structures.


Managing Organizational Change

It is important to have a change in the organization. In addition, such change should be successful and must contribute towards the success of the organization. The main objective of this paper is to characterize the prevalence of the change process in organizations and understand what occurs during organizational change. Organizational change is an ongoing process in order to bring the organizational systems and processes in line with the factors prevailing in the external and internal environment of the organization. The forces of organizational change include internal and external forces. Organization Development OD refers to the framework consisting of planned-change.

Learning Objectives For Organizational Change

Organizational change is important to usher in long-term success in an organization. A change entails realignment of organizational systems and processes. Managing change involves institutionalizing the philosophy of change in the organization. Effective change management entails creating a definitive vision and managing the transition to the desired future state.

Organizational Change and Stress Management

The forces prevailing in internal or external environment of an organization necessitate organizational change. The prime challenge before organizations is to fully institutionalize the philosophy of the change. The organizational change can be either planned or unplanned. After the change has been effected, initially, there is a resistance to change.

Organizations and Organizational Change
An organization operates in an environment of constant change. In order to survive, it is imperative for the organization to anticipate any change in the environment and proactively work towards eliminating the effect of the same. Organizational Structure OS defines the roles and the activities of different organizational positions.

Types of Organizational Change

Automation: Using technology to perform tasks efficiently / effectively
Rationalization of Procedures: Streamline SOPs; eliminate bottlenecks
Business Reengineering: Radical redesign of processes to improve cost, quality, service; maximize benefits of technology
Paradigm Shift: A new perspective on things

Automation-using the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks
• most common form of IT-enabled change
• involves assisting employees perform their tasks more efficiently and effectively
• akin to putting a larger motor in an existing vehicle

Rationalization of procedures: the streamlining of existing operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient
• follows quickly from early automation
• Toshiba had to rationalize its procedures down to the level of installation manuals and software instruction and had to create standard names and formats for the data items in its global data warehouse
• Think: without a large amount of business process rationalization, computer technology would have been useless at Toshiba (what ERPs do)

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR): The radical redesign of business processes, combining steps to cut waste and eliminating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks to improve cost, quality, and service and to maximize the benefits of information technology
• Involves radical rethinking
• Can change the way an organization conducts its business
• IT allowed Baxter to be a manager of its customer’s supplies
• Strikes fear, its expensive, its very risky and its extremely difficult to carry out and manage
• Develop the business vision and process objective
• Identify the processes to be redesigned (core and highest payback)
• Understand and measure the performance of existing processes
• Identify the opportunities for applying information technology
• Build a prototype of the new process


Paradigm shift-paradigm is a complete mental model of how a complex system functions a paradigm shift involves rethinking the nature of the business, the organization; a complete reconception of how the system should function. Radical reconceptualization of the nature of the business and the nature of the organization
• akin to rethinking not only the automobile, but transportation itself
• e-business is a paradigm shift
• Deciding which business process to get right is half the challenge
• 70% of time programmatic reengineering efforts fail
• Why then change? Because the rewards are high!

To close those gaps managers should know how to face and overcome resistance to change. Although there are no certain solutions, several techniques at least have the potential to decrease or even eliminate this resistance. Participation is often the effective technique for overcoming resistance to change. Employees who participate in planning and implementing a change are better able to understand the reasons for the change. Uncertainty is reduced, and self-interests and social relationships are less threatened. Having had an opportunity to express their ideas and to understand the perspectives of others, employees are more likely to accept the changes more gracefully. Educating employees about the need for and the expected results of an impending change may reduce their resistance. And if open communication is established and maintained during the change process, uncertainty can be minimized. Several facilitation procedures, which include making only necessary changes, announcing those changes well in advance, and allowing time for people to adjust to new ways of doing things, can help reduce resistance to change.

We conclude that whatever the changes inside an organization might be, and whatever the reasons that made these changes necessary, a good way of implementing the changes successfully is for a manager to treat the participation and the communication with his employees as integral parts of the change process.

Sources:
http://managementhelp.org/mgmnt/orgchnge.htm
http://www.zturk.com/edu/zagreb/podiplomski/slides/02-1-short-IT-strategies.pdf
http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/organizational+change.html

---MIS2 Assignment # 4---

We are to invite by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, and discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS Plan. Before to give the process and how to implement information system, let me first discuss briefly what Information System Plan is.

Hire by the president of the university to make an information system plan is indeed an overwhelming to everyone, knowing that it’s not easy as 1+3 to make a good and powerful information system plan for the improvement of the university. Since I don’t really know what are the parameters in making and implementing information system plan, let me first provide a meaning to each word.

The term information system refers to information technology that is used by people to accomplish a specified organizational or individual objective. The technology may be used in the gathering, processing, storing, and/or dissemination of information, and the users are trained in the use of that technology, as well as in the procedures to be followed in doing so. The specific technologies that collectively comprise information technology are computer technology and data communications technology. Computers provide most of the storage and processing capabilities, while data communications—specifically networks—provide the means for dissemination and remote access of information.

The term plan refers to A draught or form; properly, a representation drawn on a plane, as a map or a chart; especially, a top view, as of a machine, or the representation or delineation of a horizontal section of anything, as of a building; a graphic representation; a diagram. A scheme devised; a method of action or procedure expressed or described in language; a project; as, the plan of a constitution; the plan of an expedition. Or it can be to scheme; to devise; to contrive; to form in design; as, to plan the conquest of a country.

To most effectively support knowledge workers, the enterprise should strive to create object oriented environments. These two concepts, knowledge worker and object oriented environments are brought together into technology architectures since both uniquely characterize the ideal working environment. The knowledge worker’s environment involves both automated and non-automated activities. Some non-automated activities involve the use of automation, for example, once a patient receives a treatment from a clinician (non automated activity), the characteristics of the treatment, and the clinicians observations about the patient’s reaction to the treatment are typically recorded in some automated system. A knowledge worker’s framework must therefore address manual and automated activities.

Knowledge workers perform groups of functions to accomplish their designated job or to accomplish some aspect of the enterprise’s mission. Knowledge workers may perform these function groups in different combinations depending on the enterprise’s organization. For example, if an organization is highly distributed into multi-functional units, there may be staff that performs diverse groups of functions. Conversely, a highly centralized organization may have certain staff devoted to specific and highly specialized functions. The knowledge worker is therefore a complex multifaceted person who performs diverse functions of different complexities for one or more organizations.

Enterprises commonly create computing supports for knowledge workers under the assumption that the functions they perform and the organizations through which they act are fixed and seldom change. Not only are these assumptions wrong, but when the functions and organizations do change, computing environment changes seldom keep pace because they are time consuming to specify, difficult to implement, and slow to accomplish. Slow-to-react computing environment changes, therefore, become the very reason why information technology support to business functions and organizations cannot keep pace with the demands of change. What is needed are computing environments that are object oriented, sensitive to knowledge worker functions and organizations, and that can react to the demands of change in a timely fashion.

Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies

The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes the planning characteristics in major ways. For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period. Other questions associated with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise corporate organization vs. strategic business unit, number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and deliverables.

Timely- The ISP must be timely. An ISP that is created long after it is needed is useless. In almost all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned.

Useable- The ISP must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The ISP should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started.

Maintainable- The ISP must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the ISP. The ISP must support quick changes to the estimates; technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new ISP should be just a few computer program executions away.

Quality- While the ISP must be a quality product, no ISP is ever perfect on the first try. As the ISP is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports ISP computation. In short, the ISP is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly.

Reproducible- The ISP must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the ISP produced should essentially be the same. The ISP should not significantly vary by staff assigned.

The ISP Steps

The information systems plan project determines the sequence for implementing specific information systems. The goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business information at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner.

The end product of the information systems project is an information systems plan (ISP). Once deployed, the information systems department can implement the plan with confidence that they are doing the correct information systems project at the right time and in the right sequence. The focus of the ISP is not one information system but the entire suite of information systems for the enterprise. Once developed, each identified information system is seen in context with all other information systems within the enterprise.

Information Systems Plan Development Steps

Create the mission model-The mission model, generally shorter than 30 pages presents end-result characterizations of the essential raison d=etre of the enterprise. Missions are strategic, long range, and a-political because they are stripped of the Awho and the Ahow.

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. Each enterprise resource Alives@ through its resource life cycle.

Allocate precedence vectors among RLC nodes-Tied together into a enablement network, the resulting resource life cycle network forms a framework of enterprise=s assets that represent an order and set of inter-resource relationships. The enterprise Alives@ through its resource life cycle network.

Allocate existing information systems and databases to the RLC nodes-The resource life cycle network presents a Alattice-work onto which the Aas is business information systems and databases can be Aattached. See for example, the meta model in The Ato-be@ databases and information systems are similarly attached. ADifference projects between the Aas-is and the Ato-be are then formulated. Achievement of all the difference projects is the achievement of the Information Systems Plan.

Allocate standard work break down structures to each RLC node-Detailed planning of the Adifference projects entails allocating the appropriate canned work breakdown structures and metrics. Employing WBS and metrics from a comprehensive methodology supports project management standardization, repeatability, and self-learning.

Load resources into each WBS node-Once the resources are determined, these are loaded into the project management meta entities of the meta data repository, that is, metrics, project, work plan and deliverables. The meta entities are those inferred by Figure 2.
Schedule the RLC nodes through a project management package facilities.- The entire suite of projects is then scheduled on an enterprise-wide basis. The PERT chart used by project management is the APERT chart represented by the Resource Life Cycle enablement network.

Produce and review of the ISP-The scheduled result is predicable: Too long, too costly, and too ambitious. At that point, the real work starts: paring down the suite of projects to a realistic set within time and budget. Because of the Meta data environment the integrated project management Meta data and because all projects are configured against fundamental business-rationale based designs, the results of the inevitable trade-offs can be set against business basics. Although the process is painful, the results can be justified and rationalized.

Execute and adjust the ISP through time- As the ISP is set into execution, technology changes occur that affect resource loadings. In this case, only steps 6-9 need to be repeated. As work progresses, the underlying meta data built or used in steps 1-5 will also change. Because a quality ISP is automated the recasting of the ISP should only take a week or less.

Executive and Adjusting the ISP Through Time

IT projects are accomplished within distinct development environments. The two most common are: discrete project and release. The discrete project environment is typified by completely encapsulated projects accomplished through a water-fall methodology.

In release environments, there are a number of different projects underway by different organizations and staff of varying skill levels. Once a large number of projects are underway, the ability of the enterprise to know about and manage all the different projects degrades rapidly. That is because the project management environment has been transformed from discrete encapsulated projects into a continuous flow process of product or functionality improvements that are released on a set time schedule. Figure 3 illustrates the continuous flow process environment that supports releases. The continuous flow process environment is characterized by:

• Multiple, concurrent, but differently scheduled projects against the same enterprise resource
• Single projects that affect multiple enterprise resources
• Projects that develop completely new capabilities, or changes to existing capabilities within enterprise resources

It is precisely because enterprises have transformed themselves from a project to a release environment that information systems plans that can be created, evolved, and maintained on an enterprise-wide basis are essential.

There are four major sets of activities within the continuous flow process environment. The user/client is represented at the top in the small rectangular box. Each of the ellipses represents an activity targeted to a specific need. The four basic needs are:

• Need Identification
• Need Assessment
• Design
• Deployment

The box in the center is the meta data repository. Specification and impact analysis is represented through the left two processes. Implementation design and accomplishment is represented by the right two processes. Two key characteristics should be immediately apparent. First, unlike the water-fall approach, the activities do not flow one to the other. They are disjoint. In fact, they may be done by different teams, on different time schedules, and involve different quantities of products under management. In short, these four activities are independent one from the other. Their only interdependence is through the meta data repository.

The second characteristic flows from the first. Because these four activities are independent one from the other, the enterprise evolves by means of releases rather than through whole systems. If it evolved through whole systems, then the four activities would be connected either in a waterfall or a spiral approach, and the enterprise would be evolving through major upgrades to encapsulated functionality within specific business resources. In contrast, the release approach causes coordinated sets of changes to multiple business resources to be placed into production. This causes simultaneous, enterprise-wide capability upgrades across multiple business resources.

Through this continuous-flow process, several unique features are present:
• All four processes are concurrently executing.
• Changes to enterprise resources occur in unison, periodically, and in a very controlled manner.
• The meta data repository is always contains all the enterprise resource specifications: current or planned. Simply put, if an enterprise resource semantic is not within the meta data repository, it is not enterprise policy.
• All changes are planned, scheduled, measured, and subject to auditing, accounting, and traceability.
• All documentation of all types is generated from the meta data repository.

Information systems strategy planning is the process through which organizations identify a portfolio of IT applications to achieve their business objectives. It starts from identifying IT applications and underlying technologies for the present and future needs of the business. In a competitive business environment, effective information system planning is important because it shapes and changes the way a company does its business. The essence of IS strategy not only encompasses issues concerning technology management but also involves a broad range of organizational and human factors. IS research in developing countries such as India has largely focused on social and developmental issues. Existing literature focuses on the weaknesses in national setting and the contextual factors, including state of expertise, availability of technology and infrastructure, lack of financial and human capital, and constraints imposed by social contexts.

With increased usage and impacts of IS, the company started following a formal, systematic approach to defining, identifying and executing its IS projects. We have to meet the steering committee met periodically and ensured the appropriateness of the initiatives. The outcome of these efforts was a detailed IS objective and IS strategy documents that were approved by the top management committee. These two
documents were circulated among the key departments across the organization. One IS senior manager said “we have placed the two documents along with the vision and mission statements of the organization, the organization, being a privately held one, was very selective in disseminating information within as well as outside the firm.

Even the IS-related deliberations were not disseminated to organizational members at large. Further, since formal business planning system was not in place, IS strategy too was not formalized in terms of process and documentation. However, according to a senior IS executive, the very nature of ownership of the organization is the reason for the less formal planning systems. There was no formal steering committee or any other type of top management involvement that was found. Both IS and functional managers were only made aware of the less formal IS strategy of the organization. A consulting firm was used as part of the business and IS planning. Though IS strategy process was ormalized, IS strategy was less communicated to various functions of organizations. This was primarily due to the fact that top management wanted to try a suitable approach for implementation of IS strategy and kept the lower level IS and functional managers less informed.

As part of the IS strategy, the organization should include the responsibility for implementation along with detail and time dimensions. The implementation responsibility was rested with the steering committee unlike the previous periods during which IS function was responsible. Specific application areas along with appropriate technologies were identified along with approaches for implementation for the first time.
As part of the strategy the IS function was reorganized by diving the IS function with each having clear focus.

Specific technologies or approaches towards implementation were not part of the strategy. The implementation responsibility was with the steering committee headed by the director of IS. Implementation plan contained a time frame of three years and applications were defined as part of the strategy. As part of the implementation plan we have to decide to outsource key development and implementation projects to another company from the group.

We have to provide a descriptive account of IS strategic planning experiences of the university and also to evaluate the critical parameters that affect the ultimate performance of the IS. Examining the scenario, we have to identified and discussed the importance of the five important IS planning parameters that contribute to the IS implementation success in the developing university context. That management of IS planning parameters should undergone major changes in developing a certain plan. The changes witness high degree of linkage of IS planning with business planning, increased top management’s participation in planning process, evidence of formal processes for documentation and dissemination, redesigning IS governance structures and specifying details for plan for
implementation.

Organizations have to realize the need for linking the IS plans with business plans. Changing the mindset of the top management to realize the role of IT for achieving competitive advantage will lead to the participation of the top management in the IS planning process. Formal structures for SISP and dissemination of plans to key stakeholders would guide in achieving the organizational readiness for implementation. Many organizations have problems in evolving matured IS function due to several economic and organizational factors. Transforming the nature and role of IS function from a technical to managerial focus through suitable tactical approaches would lead to successful SISP.

The research has many implications for theatrical development. Firstly, we have to contribute to the understanding of IS planning practices in developing settings, a relatively new area in IS research. Secondly, the study also revalidates some of the earlier researches on IS planning that have largely been conducted in the developed country contexts. Thirdly, we have to identify critical factors that are likely to contribute to effective IS planning in an organizations. Future research could examine findings using field surveys in developing country settings. Further, we have to use retrospective case studies, based on interviews after the events had occurred. Future researchers could employ action research to examine the issues as they happen.


Sources:
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262
http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

---MIS2 Assignment # 3---

What are the two most frequently experienced causes of frustration of IS professionals and users while working on an IS plan?

We are to interview IT personnel regarding their experienced or shall I say their most frequently experienced causes of frustration while working on IS plan. Basically many problems would arise in making plans; even a single and simple plan has a bit of frustration especially in implementing it. In a world of “professionals” they are expected to make or create projects which address to their client a perfect work, for what they are called a professional if their work is not excellent. Many frustrations would come to our way, if we all experience this scenario; even a big company like GSIS encounters a problem to their system which only sat that we cannot avoid such frustrations in dealing our own capacity to do so.

Before we would move on to the interview of on IT user or professional, let me first define what frustration is. According to wikipedia Frustration a common emotional response to opposition. Related to anger and disappointment, it arises from the perceived resistance to the fulfillment of individual will. The greater the obstruction, and the greater the will, the more the frustration is likely to be. Causes of frustration may be internal or external.

In people, internal frustration may arise from challenges in fulfilling personal goals and desires, instinctual drives and needs, or dealing with perceived deficiencies, such as a lack of confidence or fear of social situations. Conflict can also be an internal source of frustration; when one has competing goals that interfere with one another, it can create cognitive dissonance. External causes of frustration involve conditions outside an individual, such as a blocked road or a difficult task. While coping with frustration, some individuals may engage in passive-aggressive behavior, making it difficult to identify the original cause(s) of their frustration, as the responses are indirect. A more direct, and common response, is a propensity towards aggression

This would means that every man or women must posses frustration if they have this so called “will” in every action they are making. According to the personnel we Interview there are two frequently experienced causes of frustrations of IS professional and users while working on an IS plan.

1. User Error (user did something they shouldn't have.)
2. User Error (They did it again)

In today's economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens continuously, and often at rapid speed. Because change has become an everyday part of organizational dynamics, employees who resist change can actually cripple an organization.

Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or status are threatened.

If management does not understand, accept and make an effort to work with resistance, it can undermine even the most well-intentioned and well-conceived change efforts.

The Nature and Causes of Resistance

Symptoms are the specific behaviors individuals exhibit when they are resistant to change. According to Bhutan, it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change, and the causes behind it. These behaviors fall into two categories -- active-resistance or passive-resistance. Symptoms of active-resistance include finding fault, ridiculing, appealing to fear, and manipulating. Passive-resistance symptoms include agreeing verbally but not following through, feigning ignorance and withholding information.

It is safe to assume that any attempts to cover all of them would produce volumes of literature. However, there are several that are quite common and prevalent, which help provide a solid basis to understanding the concept.

Employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many case there is not a disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown future and about their ability to adapt to it.

Low tolerance for change is defined as the fear that one will not be able to develop new skills and behaviors that are required in a new work setting. According to Kotter & Schlesinger, if an employee has a low tolerance for change, the increased ambiguity that results as a result of having to perform their job differently would likely cause a resistance to the new way of doing things. An employee may understand that a change is needed, but may be emotionally unable to make the transition and resist for reasons they may not consciously understand.

Personal compacts are comprised of formal, psychological, and social dimensions. The formal dimension is the most familiar. It is the aspect of the relationship that addresses the basic tasks and performance requirements of the job, and is defined by job descriptions, employee contracts, and performance agreements. Management, in return, agrees to supply the employee the resources needed to perform their job. The psychological dimension address aspects of the employment relationship that incorporate the elements of mutual trust, loyalty and commitment. The social dimension of the personal compact deals with organizational culture, which encompasses, mission statement, values, ethics and business practices.

Competing commitments should not be viewed as a weakness, but as a version of self-protection. If these competing commitments are a form of self-protection, then what are employees protecting themselves from?

Positive Resistance

Managers often perceive resistance negatively, and employees who resist are viewed as disobedient and obstacles the organization must overcome in order to achieve the new goals. However in certain instances, employee resistance may play a positive and useful role in organizational change. Insightful and well-intended debate, criticism, or disagreement do not necessarily equate to negative resistance, but rather may be intended to produce better understanding as well as additional options and solutions.

What some managers may perceive as disrespectful or unfounded resistance to change might be motivated by an individual's ethical principles or by their desire to protect what they feel are the best interests of the organization. Employee resistance may force management to rethink or reevaluate a proposed change initiative. It also can act as a as a gateway or filter, which can help organizations select from all possible changes the one that is most appropriate to the current situation

Employee resistance to change is a complex issue facing management in the complex and ever-evolving organization of today. The process of change is ubiquitous, and employee resistance has been identified as a critically important contributor to the failure of many well-intend and well-conceived efforts to initiate change within the organization.

In many cases, vast amounts of resources are expended by organizations to adjust employees to a new way of achieving desired goals. The natural propensity for individuals to "defend the status quo" presents a set of challenges that management must overcome in order to bring about desired change. Management must also seriously take into account and consider the myriad of problems that may result if they are not responsive to issues of resistance in the workplace.

In order to facilitate a smooth transition fi7om the old to the new, organizations must be competent in effective change management. The process of change management consists of getting of those involved and affected to accept the introduced changes as well as manage any resistance to them.

This investigation stresses that change usually involves an individual's psyche, so there are no concrete textbook answers and solutions to the problem. Since each individual is different, their perceptions and reasons for resisting are also different. As a result, researchers and scholars can theorize on how to lessen or remove employee resistance to change, but in the final analysis the only way to do so effectively is to understand the unique circumstances within each individual that is causing their particular resistance.

Information systems (IS) planning is recognized as one of the dominated managerial issues of MIS. Based on prior studies in strategic and IS planning, this study integrates three domains to investigate the effects of organizational contexts and planning system dimensions on the effectiveness of IS planning from a contingency perspective. The model is supported by the empirical data, showing the importance of many contextual factors and planning system dimensions to attaining greater effectiveness of IS planning. In particular, the results demonstrate the pivotal role of an organization’s improved planning capability in mediating the effects of organization contexts and planning system dimensions on IS planning effectiveness. The implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.

To avoid this conflicts that causes frustration between IS professionals and user, they should know their own capability before making the entire plan…they should question their own selves if they can handle it together. The IS-professionals and users should have formal relationships to each other; there should be policies that give one group the ability to command actions during the development of the plan. If the user don’t know or doesn’t understand about the system the IS professional has a responsibility to share and to give the scope of the system and to explain it further. Typically, practical solutions to this problem have focused on specific problems in specific contexts and have ignored the group relationship itself. IS professionals especially, have tended to look at good individual and project relations, and then wondered why user’s attitudes were still so negative. I suggest that if the problem of poor user - IS relationships to be adequately addressed , it must be treated as a problem between organizational groups, since this relationship affects all other contexts in which users and IS people interact. In this solution problems may easily be fix because they will meet the problem as a whole not individually.

However, even if frustration would exist to everyone, this would not mean that we cannot avoid or block this existence. How to deal this issue?

1. Ask Yourself, “What Is Working in This Situation?”

Even if feels like nothing is working, look closely and you will probably find at least something that is going right. So, that’s good. You’ve found something that’s working. Now, how do you improve it? By asking this question, you’ve taken yourself out of the negative mindset of “it’s hopeless” and are back to focusing on the positive.

2. Keep an Accomplishments Log

Write down everything you accomplish in a log. If you do it in a monthly format you will be able to see all that you have accomplished in just one month. You may be surprised by how much you have done. If you realize there’s not much on the list, it may open your eyes to the fact that you may be procrastinating more than working or that you are using too much of your energy going in too many directions and that you need to focus more.

3. Multiple Solutions

You always have options. You just need to brainstorm and figure them out. Tell yourself you need to come up with 8 possible options to what you’re dealing with. Just knowing that you have lots of options will help to make you feel better. You won’t feel like you are trapped in one negative situation. From your list, figure out the best direction and go for it.

4. Stay Positive

Things are usually not as bad as they first appear. Sometimes, things seem much worse simply because we’re tired or mentally drained. Taking a break and remembering to keep your sense of humour can also help. This time of frustration will pass.

Effective communication with your clients

Nothing turns a person's perception of your web site, and therefore your company, suddenly sour than having first made the effort to contact your site and receiving no reply in return. This feeling is doubly so when the person is in contact with you regarding a problem they are experiencing.

This leaves your site user or client with the impression that your operation either does not value or even care about their opinion, or else it is totally inefficient and incompetent. If either of these feelings are experienced by a large enough amount of people in contact with your company and they are allowed to go unchecked, this negative feeling can spell disaster for the long-term stability of your Internet presence.

Feedback from your web site users in a personal format (e.g. e-mails, feedback forms etc.) is perhaps the single most important piece of data that you can be supplied with. As I have discussed elsewhere is detail, site statistics and survey results can be a valuable marketing tool, but if they have one flaw it is that they can not tell you how people feel about your product, site or general image.

To function effectively, professional IT practitioners need not only the appropriate technical knowledge, skills and experience, but also a broad understanding of the context in which they operate.
A good grounding in the relationship between technological change, society and the law, and the powerful role that computers and computer professionals play in a technological society, is essential.
Professional Issues in Information Technology aids IT professionals to be capable in their chosen professional areas, operate effectively in work and community situations and to be aware of their environments.

Sources:
http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html
http://www.akamarketing.com/communicating-with-clients.html
http://www.life-with-confidence.com/frustration.html

---MIS2 Assignment # 2---

What should be the nature of the relationship between business plan and IS plan?

One of the most common sets of activities in the management is planning. Very simply put, planning is setting the direction for something -- some system -- and then guiding the system to follow the direction. There are many kinds of planning in organizations. Common to these many kinds of planning are various phases of planning and guidelines for carrying them out as effectively as possible.

Before we distinguish the nature of business plan and Information System Plan let us first define its category to understand further its uses and essence.

What is Business Plan?

As I surf the net I found some definitions of business plan and according to wikipedia business plan is a written proposal addressed to potential lenders or investors. Typically, it describes a new business and tells why it is deserving of financial support (Earl C.). The first step beyond coming up with an idea for a business is to try and organize the idea. When organizing the idea the first consideration is the business plan. The business plan is a written organized bound book about your possible business. Before even writing the plan there is a great deal of information that must be gathered. This information will tell the person writing the plan more about the business and also create a good base to writing an industry analysis which will also let that person know how well that particular business is doing in the world.

In addition to that answer.com also provide a definition to business plan which state that business plan is a document that summarizes the operational and financial objectives of a business and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized.

Because the business plan contains detailed financial projections, forecasts about your business's performance, and a marketing plan, it's an incredibly useful tool for business planning. A document prepared by a company's management, detailing the past, present, and future of the company, usually designed to attract capital investment.
And lastly 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.

Business Importance

The business goals may be defined for for-profit or for non-profit organizations. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals, such as profit or creation of wealth. Non-profit and government agency business plans tend to focus on organizational mission which is the basis for their governmental status or their non-profit, tax-exempt status, respectively although non-profits may also focus on optimizing revenue. In non-profit organizations, creative tensions may develop in the effort to balance mission with "margin" (or revenue). Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community. A business plan having changes in perception and branding as its primary goals is called a marketing plan.

What is Information System Plan?

A process for developing a strategy and plans for aligning information systems with the business strategies of an organization.

Now after defining each plan, let us review each nature, importance and its strategy.

-Business Plan-
Here are five good reasons why you should write a business plan:

1) To test the feasibility of your business idea.

Writing a business plan is the best way to test whether or not an idea for starting a business is feasible, other than going out and doing it. In this sense, the business plan is your safety net; writing a business plan can save you a great deal of time and money if working through the business plan reveals that your business idea is untenable. Often, an idea for starting a business is discarded at the marketing analysis or competitive analysis stage, freeing you to move on to a new (and better) idea.

2) To give your new business the best possible chance of success.

Writing a business plan will ensure that you pay attention to both the broad operational and financial objectives of your new business and the details, such as budgeting and market planning. Taking the time to work through the process of writing a business plan will make for a smoother startup period and fewer unforeseen problems as your business becomes established.

3) To secure funding, such as bank loans.

You're going to need both operating and startup capital to start a new business and you have no hope of getting any money from established financial institutions such as banks without a well developed business plan. And established businesses often need money, too, to do things such as buy new equipment or property, or because of market downturns. Having a business plan gives you a much better chance of getting the money you need to keep operating or to expand.

4) To make business planning manageable and effective.

A business plan is essential if you're thinking of starting a business, but it's also an important tool for established businesses. Viable businesses are dynamic; they change and grow. The company's original business plan needs to be revised as new goals are set. Reviewing the business plan can also help you see what goals have been accomplished, what changes need to be made, or what new directions your company's growth should take.

5) To attract investors.

Whether you want to shop your business to venture capitalists, or attract angel investors, you need to have a solid business plan. A presentation may pique their interest, but they'll need a well-written document they can take away and study before they'll be prepared to make any investment commitment.
Be prepared for your business plan to be scrutinized; both venture capitalists and angel investors will want to conduct extensive background checks and competitive analysis to be certain that what's written in your business plan is indeed the case.

Writing a business plan is time-consuming, but it's essential if you want to have a successful business that's going to survive the startup phase. If your business doesn't have one, maybe it's time to start working on one. The process of writing a business plan can do wonders to clarify where you've been and where you're going.

-Information System Plan-

Information Technology strategy which determines the ‘how’ it is done, in terms of technology policies, a technology framework or architecture which drives, shapes and controls the IT infrastructure.

Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies

The task of strategic information systems planning is difficult and often time organizations do not know how to do it. Strategic information systems planning is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Also strategic information systems planning changes the planning characteristics in major ways.

For example, the time horizon for planning changes from 1 year to 3 years or more and development plans are driven by current and future business needs rather than incremental user needs. Increase in the time horizon is a factor which results in poor response from the top management to the strategic information systems planning process as it is difficult to hold their attention for such a long period.

Other questions associated with strategic information systems planning are related to the scope of the planning study, the focus of the planning exercise – corporate organization vs. strategic business unit, number of studies and their sequence, choosing a strategic information systems planning methodology or developing one if none is suitable, targets of planning process and deliverables. Because of the complexity of the strategic information systems planning process and uniqueness of each organization, there is no one best way to tackle it.

After we define business plan and information system plan we can now give the relationship of the two. In my own notion no matter how small your business is, creating a business plan is always a good idea. A business plan that includes thorough market research and analysis about your industry will help you identify your vision, costs, goals and obstacles. If you intend to seek financing for your business, you must have a business. The primary job of a business owner is to manage and run a business. The term manage implies the task of planning and execution.

The process of business planning helps reduce risks. he relationship of the business plan and the Strategic Information System Plan are the business plan is only focusing in the attainment of the goals of the business in short it gives more attention to the business side while the Strategic Information System Plan focuses in improving the management side and to improve the performance of the business. For me the Business Plan and the Strategic Information System are very essential in a business and these two factors can lead you to the right path of business. As a conclusion, if you don’t have goal in your life why you are still living now? We live in this world to reach our own goals and make your goals as your inspiration. Don’t wait for your goal you must work for it.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_plan

http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessplans/businessplancoachtimberry/article83818.html

http://viu.eng.rpi.edu/publications/strpaper.pdf

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/businessplans/a/bizplanwhy.htm

---MIS2 Assignment # 1---

We are to think about our self worthy to be called as IT professional, how do we see our self 10 years from now, and what are our strategies to get there?

"The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don't define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them." -Denis Watley-

Basically it is one of the toughest questions given to us for the reason that, it really hard to think of becoming an IT professional with our situation today. However since we envision of becoming a member of IT professional league, I think we must first define what does this “worthy IT Professional” means.

In the World of IT many people call our selves “IT Professionals,” but what I would like to know is the true meaning of a “worthy” IT professional? Can we be an IT professional if we only use the GUI side or do we really have to be able to use the command line area as well? Would I have the qualification to be called as IT professional?

Worthy, I have heard this word a million times before since when I was young up to now, and yet, I really don’t know the exact meaning. Why does this word exist? What is the word worthy? The word worthy, is it merely just a word? Or is there something deeper meaning beyond its word itself, can any anyone narrow its meaning? It has been used by most people. It is the mostly asked.

The word worthy just what is it? To define the word worthy, according to the dictionary, it is somebody who is good or morally upright or a respectable person. Am I fit to what the word worthy defines? If yes, I don’t know why and how. If not, are there ways to make my self praiseworthy? To be a worthy person, a respectable person, or a good person, they say it starts with small deeds. However, if a person fails to do so then, how could you do big deeds just to be called a worthy person?

Everything around us is changing. Technology is one of the most ideal examples of change. There has been a rapid pace of change in technology in these past years. New technologies were introduced to improve the quality of our life. It is for our own comfort. It is for ease of getting things done. Technology has change the way of our living. And it makes me wonder, “Are there still things that are needed to improve in our life?”

We are in line of what they so called future “IT Professionals”, not because we are soon to graduate as IT student only but the mere fact that we can contribute a massive development to the industry of technology. Can we commit our self worthy to be called IT professionals?

Well, IT professional covers a lot of different jobs similar to doctor a veterinarian, general practitioner, surgeon and all doctors; I would say the same for Programmer, helpdesk support, SQL designer are all types of IT Professionals. It all really comes down to one thing a good knowledge of Computers and a pay packet for doing it. Just as intended applicants to any club or organization are scorned, however, so are technology professionals scorned by the established professions. The intent is to maintain high standing of existing professions by demeaning all else. Most technical professionals are constrained to operate under duress, however, working under deadlines created by delusions and fantasies of persons having no particular technical basis for their determination. Any work product produced under such situations is bound to be flawed.

As I surf the net I found out that Information technology professionals within an organization tend to work together in a team environment. Team members within an organization must learn to work together to complete a job. Professionals that make up this team may include systems analyst, information systems management, programmers, users and other specialists. In order to work well together, a team must strive to communicate clearly and completely with its members. To achieve this, members will have to trust and respect each other. Furthermore each member should put one’s own views second to the views of the group. The responsibility and accountability within a team should be shared, for success in a team environment.

Not so long, I dream to become a boss in my own company or travel around the globe with the help of my premises, but never in my dream to become an It professionals. Really things are meant to be change as time goes by, and this would make me realize that upon choosing my carrier now, I can barely say that dreaming to be an It professional is indeed a big challenge in my life now. Although IT covers many works, still I’m confused on what to choose. Would it be an IT programmer? IT consultant? Or what?

Hmmmm maybe, just maybe 10 years from now Ill be an IT Consultant, not because it deals with meeting with different clients but also indeed it fit my personality as more comfortable in talking and convincing a lot. Here are some definitions about an IT consultant:

An IT consultant works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems. Consultants work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organization’s IT systems. IT consultants may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development. They may also be responsible for user training and feedback. In many companies, these tasks will be carried out by an IT project team. IT consultants are increasingly involved in sales and business development, as well as technical duties.

Definition and Nature of the Work

The widespread use of computers in businesses of all sizes has created a need for computer consultants. Companies that are large enough to computerize their operations but too small to need a computer specialist on staff usually hire computer consultants on a contract or retainer basis.

Most computer consultants work independently, although some are employed by consulting firms. Their duties vary according to the needs of their client companies. A computer consultant might spend only a few hours helping a dentist select and learn to operate a small office system. For a larger company, the consultant might spend several months establishing a complicated database, creating a network of small and large computers, writing user manuals, designing a Web site, or conducting computer training classes. Consultants also may recommend and design security features for a computer system. Computer consultants can be software programmers, hardware system installers, networking specialists, database specialists, systems analysts, or a combination of the above.

Education and Training Requirements

Most computer consultants are college graduates. They may have degrees in computer science or data processing. Experts recommend that aspiring consultants gain experience as staff computer specialists before working independently.

Getting the Job

Interested individuals can apply directly to computer consulting firms. If someone wants to work independently, he or she can advertise in computer magazines or send a resume directly to firms that potentially require the services of a computer consultant.

Typical work activities

Task typically involve

• meeting with clients to determine requirements;

• working with clients to define the scope of a project;

• planning timescales and the resources needed;

• clarifying a client's system specifications, understanding their work practices and the nature of their business;

• traveling to customer sites;

• liaising with staff at all levels of a client organization;

• defining software, hardware and network requirements;

• analyzing IT requirements within companies and giving independent and objective advice on the use of IT;

• developing agreed solutions and implementing new systems;

• presenting solutions in written or oral reports;

• helping clients with change-management activities;

• project managing the design and implementation of preferred solutions;

• purchasing systems where appropriate;

• designing, testing, installing and monitoring new systems;

• preparing documentation and presenting progress reports to customers;

• organizing training for users and other consultants;

• being involved in sales and support and, where appropriate, maintaining contact with client organisations;

• identifying potential clients and building and maintaining contacts.

Information technology (IT) consultants work in firms of management consultants, software and systems houses within large manufacturers of computing equipment, or occasionally internally in major industrial companies.

What IT consultants do

• analyze IT requirements within companies and give independent and objective advice on the use of IT

• provide specialist support and back-up to professionals within client companies

• advise on strategic planning and operational efficiency

• may run facilities for clients

• design, develop and test new systems

• train staff in new systems.

Key skills for IT consultants

• analytical approach to work

• excellent problem-solving skills

• interpersonal skills

• communication skills

• ability to absorb complex technical information and pass this on clearly

• stamina to meet deadlines

• ability to work under pressure

• project-management skills

• detailed technical knowledge

• motivation.

Training to be an IT consultant

Training is usually on the job, and may include training in programming languages, systems analysis and testing, or in business skills. Practical project experience under supervision is also given.

Information technology consulting (IT consulting, Computer consultancy, Computing consultancy, technology consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses' behalf.

The IT consulting industry can be viewed as a three-tier system:

• Professional services firms which maintain large professional workforces and command high bill rates.

• Staffing firms, which place technologists with businesses on a temporary basis, typically in response to employee absences, temporary skill shortages and technical projects.

• Independent consultants, who function as employees of staffing firms (for US tax purposes, employed on "W-2"), or as independent contractors in their own right (for US tax purposes, on "1099").

There is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and IT consulting. There are sometimes overlaps between the two fields, but IT consultants often have degrees in computer science, electronics, technology, or management information systems while management consultants often have degrees in accounting, economics, Industrial Engineering, finance, or a generalized MBA (Masters in Business Administration).

According to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, IT consultants' revenues come predominantly from design and planning based consulting with a mixture of IT and Business Consulting. This is different from a Systems Integrator in that you do not normally take title to product. Their value comes from their ability to integrate and support technologies as well as determining product and brands.

With all these thoughts and beliefs, I would probably say that that the mere fact that I’m holding my own key to success is the fact that I have to struggle more in fulfilling my vision and mission in life not only an ordinary person but as the future IT professional.

I don’t know if this will help me a worthy person or a worthy IT professional. It is just small and there is nothing special. However, it will be a good start isn’t it? I shall end this with a quotation by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt saying that far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Sources:
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsp
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/196/Computer-Consultant.html
http://www.get.hobsons.co.uk/advice/consultancy-IT-consultant
http://www.answers.com/topic/information-technology-consulting