Development of Long range plans of the MIS

Development of Long Range Plans of the MIS

The plan for development and its implementation is a basic necessity for MIS.
In MIS the information is recognized as a major resource like capital, time and capacity.
If information (resource) is to be managed well, it calls upon the management to plan for it and control it for the appropriate use in the organization.
With the advancement of IT, it is possible to recognize information as a valuable resource like money and capacity.
It is necessary to link its acquisition, storage, use and disposal as per the business needs for meeting the business objectives.
So we need MIS flexible enough to deal with the changing information needs of the organization. It should be open system. The designing of such an open system is a complex task.
It can be achieved if MIS is planned, keeping in view, the plan of the business management of the organization.

Contents of the MIS plan

Long range MIS plan provides direction for the development of the systems, and provides a basis for achieving the specific targets or tasks against a time frame.

Business Plan	MIS Plan
Business goals and objectives	MIS objectives, consistent to the business goals and objectives
Business plan and strategy	Information strategy for the business plan implementation playing a supportive role
Strategy planning and decision	Architecture of the MIS to support decisions
Management plan for execution and control	System development schedule, matching the plan execution
Operation plan for the execution	Hardware and software plan for the procurement and the implementation

MIS plan is linked to the Business plan

MIS Goals & Objectives

Goals are to consider management philosophy, policy constraints, business risks, internal and external environment of the organization and the business

The typical goals are as under

Provide an online information on the stock, markets and the account balances
The query processing should not exceed more than 3 sec.
The focus of the system will be on the end user computing and access facilities
Information support will be the first in the strategic areas of management such as marketing or service or technology.

Strategy for the Plan achievement

Development Strategy: An online, a batch, a real time. Technology platform.
System development strategy: SSAD or OOT. Database VS conventional etc.
Resources for system development: In house VS external, customised development VS the use of packages.
Manpower composition: Analyst, programmer skills and know-how.

The architecture of the MIS

It provides a system structure and their input, output and linkages. It also provides handling of systems & subsystems by way of simplification, coupling and decoupling of subsystems

The system development schedule

A schedule is made for the development of the system. Unless the systems are fully developed their integration is not possible.

Hardware and software plan

Giving due regard to the technical and operational feasibility, the economics if investment is worked out. Then the plan of procurement is made after selecting the hardware and software.
The selection of the architecture, the approach to the development and choice of hardware and software are the strategic decisions and needs to be taken very carefully.

Following points to consider

The organization’s strategic plan should be the basis for the MIS strategic plan

The IS development schedule should match with the implementation schedule of the business plan

The choice of information technology is a strategic business decision and not a financial decision.