3.4 ict strategy

3.4 ICT Strategy

Covered more thoroughly in the next unit

What is a Strategic Plan? Why do organisations have Strategic Plans? What is an ICT Strategy? What is the purpose of a CIO? What does the CIO do?

Scenario 1 You are the manager of a small furniture

company. You have 2 stores situated around the

outskirts of London. The company has been established for 5

years. You have 12 people working for you

within different departments e.g. sales, finance, purchasing, operations

Your stores have regular customers who revisit because of the high standard of service and personable staff

You are aware of your status as a ‘small company’ but you have aspirations to expand into and further around central London

Scenario 2 You are the MD of NAC, a construction

company who do business on a global scale.

You are about to venture into Education for the first time.

You will be building 3 private schools in Abu Dhabi.

Each school will be a British school and have the capacity to host over one thousand students in both Primary and Secondary education.

As well as building the schools your company will act as owners and governors of each school

You are aware of the stiff competition in Education and want to ensure that you offer a competitive edge through the standards you will bring.

All organisations have long term aims / business goals.

Who sets these? (Think Pyramid)

Write down 2/3 business aims for your company (non ICT related)

British Ambulance Service

The overall Strategic Plan aim is to provide a healthcare service which is of the highest quality and is responsive to the demands of commissioners and patients alike; whilst, at the same time, being thoroughly effective and efficient in its use of available resources and satisfying the needs of its workforce.

To provide the best possible service to the public through effective integration within the NHS in accordance with the NHS Plan;

To deliver the highest standards of professional pre-hospital care, involving everyone in the decision-making process, and seeking constantly to improve the working lives of all staff;

Adherence to the NHS Clinical Governance framework through continuing professional development; and

To maximise available resources, and the efficiency with which they are used, to enable the Trust to deliver these aims.

You have just written an organisations Aims

These would exist within the organisations Strategic Plan

A Strategic Plan should outline the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term. It should layout specific aims and objectives of which the company are trying to achieve.

Think back to your scenarios and consider how organisations function in the 21st century. We are no longer living in an Industrial Revolution we are living in an Information Age.

It is almost certain that any Strategic Plans require the need for Information Management. For Example:

British Ambulance ServiceCore Aims◦ To provide the best possible service to the public through effective integration within the NHS in

accordance with the NHS Plan;

The objectives relating to this might be:◦ continue to respond to patients’ needs; ◦ develop a culture of listening to patients, staff and users and matching services to what we are told

Information is required to achieve the above

An ICT Strategy should reflect the business aims and objectives.

An ICT Strategy reflects the business aims and objectives by overlaying the delivery of information services and the mechanisms by which that delivery will take place (e.g. hardware, software, communication, standards, training etc.)

A common phrase is “There are no ICT projects, only business projects”

Therefore it is important that all ICT Strategies are business driven NOT technology driven.

It is Vital that strategic decisions e.g. Strategic Business Plans, ICT Strategies are made at the highest level The Strategic Level

In light of this, most medium to large organisations now appoint a Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Will work at a Strategic Level Acts as a bridge between the business goals of the organisation

and the implementation of the ICT solutions that are needed to meet those goals.

The CIO (Also known as CTO Chief Technology Officer)◦ Writes the ICT Strategy (Contributes to the business strategy)◦ Coordinates between the technical team, users and

management (Manages the ICT Department)◦ Suggests areas where ICT can help the organisation◦ Oversees the strategies implementation through the Policies

written◦ Manages the unrealistic expectations with regards to what is

possible◦ Should be the champion of ICT within the organisation

Internal Business goals Finance Size, type and structure of organisation Legacy systems (Hardware and software) Information Assets over time

External Where its customers are (Geography) Technological changes Competitors Compliance with external organisations Compliance with legislations

Internal – Business Goals

◦ A business goal might be to reduce the volume of data input by the employees

◦ The ICT strategy could include the development of online forms fro the website for customers to fill in directly

Internal – Finance

◦ Cost benefit techniques have to be used Will a new system improve

efficiency? Will a new system reduce time spent

transferring data between systems?

◦ Might have to consider initial costs against time

◦ Consider ways of reducing costs Maybe lease out hardware and

software

Internal – Size, Type and Structure of Organisation

◦ Do you outsource parts of the system?◦ Do you have your own in-house development

team?◦ What functions/procedures already exist in the

organisation?◦ Is the Information Flow, formal/informal

Formal hierarchical structure requires methods/procedures

Internal – Legacy Systems

◦ What hardware and software make up the existing system?

◦ It may not be possible to replace existing systems How can the old and new systems work together?

Must data be transferred from one to the other? Must data portability be considered? (data transferred

when necessary)

Is new hardware compatible with existing hardware? Is new software compatible with existing software?

Internal – Information Assets over time

Information Assets refers to any resources associated with information systems e.g. paper based and electronic information, hardware, software, communication devises etc.

Companies change over time so it is important to predict any likely growth◦ New Staff might be hired (ICT equipment required)

◦ A new branch might be opened (ICT equipment required)

Growth not just in software and hardware required but also in relation to data collected and information produced◦ Over time data volume can be extreme (strategy must consider this)

What data will be kept?

Where will the data be kept?

How long must it be stored and how will it be kept secure? (DPA)

What methods should be used to store the data? (Technology available)

How and when will the data be backed up?

How will it be accessed? (Will it be achieved?)

Who will be allowed to Access it?

What else can be done with the data?What is the difference between Archiving and backing up data?

External – Geography

Where are the clients located?

Is the organisation spread across many sites?◦ LAN – Locally◦ WAN – Globally

E-commerce opens open your business to a global audience◦ Must consider international legislations

External – Technological Changes

Latest hardware is expensive◦ Prices tend to fall rather than rise

Don’t under estimate the disruption of implementing new hardware and software

Consider possibility of upgrading hardware and software

Consider leasing Consider frequency of procurement

External – Competitors

Be aware of what technology other organisations are using to gain a competitive edge

External – Compliance with external organisations

If you are outsourcing parts of your system or departments are offshore, consider their needs, how the information will flow

Consider communication devices and methods◦ Speed◦ Accessibility◦ Security

Remember often with external sources you might have to comply to their requirements

External – Compliance with legislations

Government rules and regulations outline how data should be managed

Organisations must comply with these regulations

ICT Strategy must ensure legislations are followed

A Chief Compliance Officer might be employed to mange and advise of legislations

Legislations relate to:◦ Software Licensing

◦ Data Protestation Regulations

◦ Freedom of Information Act

◦ Computer Misuse Act

◦ Copyright

◦ Rights in Databases Regulations 1997


At AS you cover the details of legislations, at A2 you need to understand the effects that these legislations have on the practical operations.

Imagine you were appointed as CIO of an organisation part of your role is to ensure that the policies written to support the ICT Strategy ensure compliance with the legislations mentioned.

How would you go about this?

◦ Make sure you’re fully aware of the implications for your organisation

◦ Check the current situation

◦ Identify any areas of non compliance and correct them

◦ Update procedures to make sure the organisation continues to comply

◦ Train staff regarding their responsibilities under each act

◦ Build the procedures into induction training, contracts and disciplinary procedures

◦ Check that procedures are being followed


Data Protection Act

Appoint a data controller (responsible for company’s data)

Check the organisation has registered with the Information Commissioner's Office

Look at each of the principles and put the necessary procedures in place

◦ Handling customer requests to view data (Who’s in charge? how’s it logged?)

◦ Security of data (privileges to access data)◦ Updating and deleting data


Freedom of Information Act

Public Sector organisations must comply to this act

Must deal with information requests promptly◦ What information must be released, which information is

exempt

Procedures needed to handle requests and collect payments if necessary


Computer Misuse Act

Down to staff training and network security

Usernames and Passwords key to network access and rights/privileges

Training will involve◦ Not sharing password◦ Leaving workstations logged on


Copyright, Designs and Patents Act

Mainly concerned with software licenses

Software Audits to be carried out Unauthorised software removed Restrictions to install (remove drives, ban internet

downloads, restrict permissions on .exe files) May have to consider use of copyright material (e.g.

stock images used online)


Health and Safety at Work Act

Display Screen regulations are part of the Act

Covered extensively at AS level

Read page 69 (Compliance) – 74 Complete:

◦ Activity 1 (pg 71)◦ Case Study 3 (pg 71)◦ Case Study 4 (pg 73)

You have 3 days to complete this homework

Large organisations need a corporate ICT Strategy that applies over the entire organisation if it is to avoid individual departments following their own strategies and, possibly, putting the corporate aims at risk.

The following technology factors must be considered when developing a Corporate ICT Strategy:

Technology Life Cycle Future Proofing Procurement People considerations Information Management

Technology Life Cycle (Technology)

All technology has a distinct lifecycle

Latest hardware is expensive◦ Prices tend to fall rather than rise◦ But the latest technology may allow you to gain advantage over your competitors

Purchasing technology in it’s mature stage of the lifecycle is likely to be well supported and glitch free

Consider possibility of upgrading hardware and software Consider leasing Consider frequency of procurement

Future Proofing (Technology)

Concerned with finding ways of making sure that a system has a reasonable life and does not need to be totally replaced too soon. Must predict changes in growth.

Consider the Lifecycle of any hardware Consider future network traffic Consider wireless capabilities Flexibility in number of work stations

Procurement (Technology)

Procurement is the acquisition of goods and/or services at the best possible total cost of ownership, in the right quality and quantity, at the right time, in the right place and from the right source for the direct benefit or use of corporations

Organisations must consider this on a grand scale and develop policies to ensure that they have the appropriate resources needed to achieve the business objectives.

People Considerations (Technology)

The CIS should consider how the HR of the ICT staff are managed

◦ Recruitment policies may cover qualifications and experience demanded for various jobs

◦ The CIS will ensure that these rules apply consistently across the company

Staffing issues impact security too◦ Security vetting for staff accessing sensitive data

◦ Job roles and responsibilities can be designed to ensure that sensitive job functions are not performed by a single employee

People Considerations (Technology)

The hierarchy of the organisation will also affect the corporate strategy

◦ Do you centralise the role of the ICT department?◦ Do you distribute ICT within departments?

CIO & Central ICT Department

Sales

Production

HR

Information Management (Technology)

Access to information must be defined at a corporate level.

A corporate Management Information System may be desirable

Issues of security and confidentiality need to be laid down◦ Passed on through security policies◦ Privileges can be set up within the network management software

Rights and permissions are allocated to users

A standard is a common way of doing something

Standards and protocols exist throughout the ICT industry and must be considered when establishing an ICT strategy

The following are examples of standards for communication◦ TCP/IP◦ HTTP◦ HTTPS◦ FTP

A company might consider standard formats for storing business data so it can be exchanged through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)

Portability is also effected by standards

◦ Being able to transfer data to or from another package or hardware

Internal and external Standards must be considered to ensure information can flow through multiple systems an conflicts do not arise.