CompSci 1032a Taylor Ward November, 15, 2011
Chapter Nine: IS Strategy, Governance, and Ethics
Relationship between Organizational Strategy and Information Technology Planning
- Use Porter’s five forces model to consider the industry structure and then develop a competitive
strategy for the organization
- This competitive strategy is supported through activities in value chain, which consist of collection of
business processes supported by information systems
Supporting an Organizations IT
- How many computers? Type of computers? Purchase hardware when? Operating system- which one to
support? Applications being used? Purchased licensed software when? Networks, internet access, email
Information Technology Architecture
- Basic framework for all computers, systems, and information management that support organizational
services
- Enterprise architect (new job description)
o Creates blueprint of organization’s information systems and the management of these systems
o Organizational objectives, business processes, databases, information flows, operating systems,
applications and software, and supporting technology, www.ewita.com
IT Architecture
- No standards yet, typically complicated document
- Popular method created by John Zachman (1980)
o Divides system into two dimension: six reasons for communication (what-data, how-function,
where-network, who-people, when-time, why-motivation) and stakeholders (planner, owner,
designer, builder, implementer, and worker)
- First step to understanding how IS support business objectives
Enterprise Architecture- Framework
Alignment: It’s Importance and Difficulty
- Alignment: process of matching organizational objectives with IT architecture, not straightforward
process (low-cost retailer vs. high-end technology of Wal-mart), measured as degree that IT
department’s missions, objectives, and plans overlapped overall business missions, objectives and plans
- Ongoing continuous change: fitting IT architecture to business objectives
- Typically communication between business and IT executives is most important indicator of alignment CompSci 1032a Taylor Ward November, 15, 2011
Information Systems Governance
- Ensure organizations: produce “good”
results, avoid “bad” results
- Development of consistent management
policies and verifiable internal processes
- Establishment of rules applying to
sourcing, privacy, security, and internal
investments
- Goal is to improve benefits of
organization’s IT investment over time
o Reporting structures, review
processes, improve quality,
reduce service costs and delivery
time, reduce IT risks, better
support business processes
o Organizational governance associated with Information Technology Architecture
Laws: Sarbanes-Oxley Act (US) and Bill 198- Budget Measures Act (Canada)
Laws, force companies to comply with standards of collecting, reporting, disclosing info
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Budget Measures Act
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002): revision of Exchange Act (1934), governs reporting of publicly held
companies, enacted to prevent corporate fraud (WorldCom, Enron)
- Bill 198: similar legislation introduced in Canada, increased level of responsibility and accountability of
executive management of publicly held Canadian companies
- Require managements to create internal controls: produce reliable financial statements, protect
organization’s assets, and issue statement indicating this has been done
- Organization’s external auditor issues opinion on quality of controls and management’s statements
- Expose management and
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