Project Guidelines

General Questions:

What is our current IS environment? What computers and software do we use to manage
the business? What is the condition of our IS environment? What are the strengths,
weaknesses, and areas of vulnerability of our IS environment? Do the IS and associated
processes help us facilitate the delivery of services and products to our customers in the
most cost-efficient and effective manner?
How can we make the best decisions about our IS investments?
What should be our investment priorities?
What is our IS resources currently working on? How do the IS employees spend their
time? How does the size of our IS organization compare with the industry?
How much money is the company spending on IS? How does our IS spending compare to
the industry? How much has the spending grown over the past few years? We have been
doing well without substantially increasing spending, so why do we need to spend more
now? How can we decrease our spending on IS, or spend our money more wisely?
What are the industry technology trends, and how do the industry trends affect us?
What is the status of our competitors IS? Is our company behind or ahead of our
competitors?
Do we have the internal skills necessary to take the environment where it needs to be?
How much can we do with internal resources, and how much should we utilize external
resources? Why does it take so long to get things done?
What are the business mission, objectives, and strategies?
What type of business will the company be in during the next few years?
How does the business want to function in the future?
What are the true business requirements and priorities?
What are the key information needs?
What are our customers and suppliers demanding of us?
Are there any IS issues constraining the business

Questions to Answer during the Planning Process

Business Applications:
What is the current portfolio of business applications that the company uses? What
percent are custom and what percent are vendor packages?
What percent of the applications are supported by the business departments and what
percent by IS? What is the age and viability of each component of the applications
portfolio? What is the business purpose of each of the applications? How many
individuals use each of the business applications?
What are individual user applications, departmental applications, and enterprise
applications?

What application projects are in progress? What projects are planned? Are these the
proper projects for the business? What application projects should the company work on?
How fast are projects completed? Is delivery time meeting business requirements?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current business application environment?
What are the areas of risk with the current business application environment?

The Visioning Phase

What is the business direction and what are the key business requirements for the future?
What business process improvements are necessary?
Will the current business applications meet the companys needs in the future?
Will the current ERP system meet the needs of the future?
From a global perspective, are the business applications meeting the needs?
What technology and applications are the competitors or others in the industry utilizing?
How do our business applications compare with competitors or the industry?
How can the company utilize technology for a competitive advantage in the market?
How can technology assist the business achieve the business goals? How can customer
satisfaction be improved with technology?
What is the e-business strategy? How can the company utilize Web technology more
effectively?
What are the strategies relative to business applications?
What will be the business application portfolio that the company needs in three to five
years?
What is the business case for the investment required in business applications? Why
should the company invest money in the business applications?
What is the impact of not investing in the business applications? What is the next step?
What are the risks to the business and are they properly managed?

Technical Infrastructure:
What is the current technical infrastructure? What is the desktop, server, network, and
telecommunication environment?
Is the proper technical infrastructure in place to meet the business needs of the future?
What are the service-level requirements for the technical infrastructure?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current technical infrastructure?
What are some of the risks with the current technical infrastructure?
How does the technical infrastructure compare with the industry?
What should be the long-term direction for the technical infrastructure?
What are the vision and key principles that should guide infrastructure decisions and
investments?
What are critical technology trends and emerging technologies in the industry that the
company should watch and potentially employ to assist the business?
What technologies should be sunset (or eliminated)? What technologies should be
strategic?

How does the technical infrastructure need to change to meet the service level
requirements determined by the business?
What is the business case for any technical infrastructure investments that are necessary?
What are the risks to the business and are they properly managed?
People/Organization:
How is IS organized? What are individuals working on? What are the roles and
responsibilities of each area of the organization?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current IS organization?
What are the organizational risks?
How should IS be organized?
How satisfied or unsatisfied are the current IS employees?
Do IS employees have the proper amount of resources? Do they have the right skill set
and training to be effective in the future?
Is the IS reporting structure proper for the company?
How does IS fit into the overall company organization?
What is the sourcing strategy for IS? Where, when, and why should the company utilize
outsourcing?
How does our IS budget and staffing compare with the industry? Should we have more IS
resources or fewer? Do we have the right mix of resources?
What should be the role of IS in the future in our organization?
What are the risks to the business and are they properly managed?
Processes:

What are the current IS processes?

What are the strengths, weaknesses, and areas of risk with the current IS processes?
How can IS increase its efficiency and effectiveness? What are ways to improve?
How can IS better serve the needs of the organization?
In what areas is IS doing a good job, and what areas require improvement?
How should the company prioritize IS projects? What methodology or process should be
used to balance the IS projects with the budget?
How should the company develop and update an IS strategic plan on an ongoing basis?
What are the expectations the business has of IS?
What is the current level of IS satisfaction by the business departments?
How should we measure the value of IS? What would be an appropriate balanced
scorecard and metrics?
How can the communication channels be improved between IS and the business?
How can the system development, project management, and delivery process be
improved?

The Visioning Phase

How can the alignment of IS to the business be improved? Does the proper governance
process exist? What processes should be in place to obtain proper input from the
business?
How can IS implement a process improvement culture?
How can the business support the IS process improvement culture?
Budget:

What is the IS budget spent on?

How does our IS spending compare with the industry?
How can IS reduce costs and total cost of ownership? Meet with executive management
team members to ask what they hope to accomplish from an IS strategic planning
process. There may be a few hidden agendas. However, it is better to know these hidden
agendas before beginning the process. Ask open-ended questions as to what they hope the
planning process will accomplish, how success will be measured, and so forth. Document
the purpose of the planning process and obtain agreement from executive management.

The scope will frame the planning boundaries. The following are some of the questions
that the scope can address:

What geographic locations are included and excluded?

Does the scope include providing worldwide information or solutions? Do you have
authority over the systems necessary to provide the information and systems, or does it
require interfaces?
What product lines or divisions are included and excluded?
What functional departments are included and excluded?
What business applications are included and excluded?
Are there phases or timed expectations?
Will the scope include business process reengineering? If so, to what extent will IS be
involved in the business process reengineering exercise?
Will the scope include interfaces to external entities (for example, customers, suppliers,
and third parties)?
Will the scope include paper files and manual processes?
Will the scope include other hardware platforms (fo