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STRATEGIC INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANNING |
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Table of Contents
- What is a SIRMP?
- Online SIRMP Entry
- SIRMP Components
- Information Resource Vision
- Business Strategy Model
- Assessment
What is a SIRMP?
A Strategic Information Resource Management Plan (SIRMP) is strategic in that
it sets a direction for the use of information resources in the agency over time, and
that it supports the business strategies of the agency. Information resources
means all activities that impact business processes and enterprise information, from
software and hardware to people and policies. It is a plan in that ir represents
the best thinking of the organization at this time, but will evolve over time as needs
and technology change. The result of planning is a series of Information Resource
projects, prioritized and sequenced over the planning period of 6 years.
A Strategic Information Resource Management Plan (SIRMP) begins with the direction of the agency, in the form of business strategy and IT vision. An assessment of the agency's services and technology identifies areas where Information Resource efforts should be targeted, and generates issues and opportunities that become the seeds of projects. Potential projects are ranked for business importance and impact, and are sequenced over the planning horizon of 6 years. The resulting plan gives a vision of the agency's use of Information Resources for the future, and lays out a plan to realize the vision. Most importantly, the plan is driven by the business strategy of the agency, and each project is evaluated based on its business benefit in contributing to the business strategy. The SIRMP is intended to communicate direction to both internal and external stakeholders, including agency business managers and those involved in the budget process - OT, Finance, the Legislature, and the Governor's office.
This plan is to be used as a guide for Information Resource efforts and investments over the next 4 to 6 years. It is also intended to satisfy State requirements for a strategic direction in the deployment of Information Resources. It answers these questions for an external stakeholder, using the associated sections:
| Is the business function appropriate and important? |
Business Strategy Model:
- Intentions
- Values
- Services
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| Will this project and solution contribute in a meaningful way? |
- Assessment of current business services and enabling technology
- Prioritized ideas to improve
- Project requests with business objectives, tied to the business strategy
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| Do I have confidence in your ability to carry this out? |
- Consistent project direction over time
- Prior successes, or what is different this time
- Good steward of resources (e.g. triage)
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| Budget: Can we afford it? |
- Project cost and life cycle
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The Strategic IRM Planning process has 3 major steps: Direction, Assessment, and Projects.
Direction
The first step in the creation of a plan is to confirm and update the agency's business strategy. A future perspective was added by considering business and technology trends. Additionally, an Information Resource vision was developed to guide the overall deployment of technology.
Assessment
The business strategy identified major services offered by the agency. Each service was assessed from a business perspective for importance, effectiveness, and efficiency. Then the enabling technology was assessed for business fit and technology condition. As this assessment was done, issues and opportunities for Information Resources were identified. This list of issues and opportunities was extended by business stakeholders to include any other relevant items, from the business strategy (Intentions, Values, and Environments), and for all elements of Information Resources (Business Processes, Business Information, Information Resource Delivery and Support, User Self-Service, Technology Infrastructure, and Socio-Political-Organizational elements.
Projects
Information Resource Issues and Opportunities represent the initial 'idea' stage. Common items were clustered into potential projects and ranked for business importance and impact. A solution description and business benefit was added to each, and these potential projects were sequenced over time with life cycle stage and estimated costs. This forms the long-term project forecast for the agency. The near term projects were defined in greater detail, using the 'Initial Business Case' format. This document provides a starting point for the State budget request and for project management with PMO.
This plan was developed by both business and IT stakeholders.
Information Resource Vision
The Information Resources Vision sets broad directions and provides guiding principles for more detailed Information Resource strategies and plans. It may include information in each of the following categories: Business Processes (addressing what we do), Business Information (what we need to know), Information Resource Delivery and Support (typically, activities of the IT department), User Self-Service, Technology Infrastructure, and Socio-Political-Organizational (human factors).
Business Strategy Model
The Business Strategy Model is a way to encapsulate a complete definition of a business at a high level. We use this model to guide decisions on which Information Resource projects we should undertake. The focus of planning is on Intentions, Values, and Services.
Definitions
| Intentions |
Why we exist; what we hope to achieve. |
| Values |
These principles or beliefs guide our behavior. |
| Services |
We offer these services to external customers. |
| Markets |
We serve these collections of people or organizations. |
Assessment
The agency provides Services in order to achieve it Intentions, or desired results. The business strategy identifies major services offered by the agency. Each service is assessed from a business perspective for importance, effectiveness, and efficiency. Then the enabling technology is assessed for business fit and technology condition. As this assessment is done, issues and opportunities for Information Resources are identified. Two scatter diagrams help to illustrate where Information Resource efforts should be focused:
- Business perspective: Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
- Enabling technology perspective: Business Fit vs. Technology Condition
Definitions
| Service |
An agency service, from the Business Strategy Model. Services may be combined or split to get a manageable number and an accurate assessment. |
| Intention Supported |
The agency Intention, or end result, supported by this service, from the Business Strategy Model. |
| Priority (of service) |
| A | Core: Defines who we are; essential to achieving our intentions; we should excel here |
| B | Contributes to our intentions: doing this better will impact our intentions, but not as much as an 'A'. |
| C | Less important: we should do this to a standard, but being excellent won't impact our intentions | |
| Effective |
| A | Highly effective: gets the job done consistently |
| B | Somewhat effective: some parts of the process may not produce the desired results, or may not be consistent |
| C | Less effective: often fails to produce the desired results | |
| Efficient/Sustainable |
| A | Highly efficient: makes good use of resources |
| B | Somewhat efficient: some parts of the process require excess time or resources; could be improved |
| C | Less efficient: consumes high amounts of staff time, money, etc; process takes too long; or, not sustainable - high risk of failure, lack of support, staff burnout, etc. | |
| Enabling Technology |
Identifies the application that supports this service. There may be more thatn one application supporting a service, or an application may support more than one service. These may be combined or split to get an accurate assessment of both. |
| Business Fit |
| A | Good business fit: a good match to business needs; helps the business process; provides for information needs |
| B | Fair business fit: does not match some business needs: could be improved |
| C | Poor business fit: the business has changed, or software functions do not meet business needs; may harm the business process | |
| Technical Condition |
| A | Good condition: Current technology; stable; good performance |
| B | Fair condition: Some performance or maintenance issues |
| C | Poor condition: Need a technology upgrade; technology is not serving the business need, is high risk or is not supported | |
| Project |
Project from the SIRMP that will improve the service or its enabling technology. |
Copyright © 2010 Advanced Strategies, Inc.
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