Development of MIS:

Business Plan Versus MIS Plan

Business plan
Business goals and objectives.
Business plan and strategy.
Strategy planning and decisions.
Management plan for execution and
control.
Operation plan for the execution.
MIS plan
Management information system, objectives, consistent
to the business goals and objectives.
Information strategy for the business plan
implementation playing a supportive role.
Architecture of the Management Information System
to sup- port decisions.
System development schedule, matching the plan
execution.
Hardware and software plan for the procurement and
the implementation.

The plan of MIS is dependable on the business plan of the organization. The
information needs for the implementation of the business plan should also be included in the
MIS. It is necessary that the business plan—strategic or otherwise, states the information
needs. The information needs are then drawn from the source data and the systems in the
organization. The plan of development of the MIS is linked with the steps of the
implementation in a business development plan. The system of information generation is so
planned that strategic information is provided for the strategic planning, control information
is provided for a short term planning and execution. Once the management needs are
translated into information needs, it is left for the designer to evolve a plan of MIS
development and implementation.
 Contents of the long range MIS Plan-
The plan would have the following contents which will be dealt by the designer
under a support from the top management.
 MIS Goals and Objectives
It is necessary to develop the goals and objectives for the MIS which will support the
business goals. The MIS goals and objectives will consider management philosophy,
policy constraints, business risks, internal and external environment of the organisation
and the business.
The goals and the objectives of the MIS would be so stated that they can be
measured. The typical statements of the goals are as under:
• Provide online information on the stock, markets and the accounts balances.
• The query processing should not exceed more than three seconds.
• The focus of the system will be on the end user computing and access facilities.
Such statements of the goals and objectives enable the designer to set the direction
and design implementation strategies for the MIS Plan.

 Strategy for the Plan Achievement

The designer has to take a number of strategic decisions for the achievement of the
MIS goals and objectives. They are:
 (a) Development strategy: An online, a batch, a real time. Technology platform Is to be
decided.
(b) System development strategy: Any approach to the system
development—Operational versus Functional; Accounting versus
Analysis; Database versus Conventional approach; Distributed
versus Decentralized processing; has to be selected
(c) Resources for system development: In house versus external,
customized development versus the use of packages. Are to be
fixed.
(d) Manpower composition: Analyst, programmer skills and know-how.

 The Architecture of the MIS

The architecture of the MIS plan provides a system structure and their input,
output and linkages between them. It also provides a way to handle the systems or
subsystems by way of simplification, coupling and decoupling of subsystems. It gives detail
about the subsystems from the data entry to processing, analysis to modeling, and storage to
printing.
 The System Development Schedule
A schedule is made for the development of the system. While preparing the
schedule the importance is given to the system in the overall information requirement also to
logical system development. For example, it is necessary to develop the accounting system
first and then the analysis.
Unless the systems are fully developed their integration is not possible. This
development schedule is to be considered against the time scale for achieving certain
information requirement related to a business plan. If these are not fully met, it is necessary
to revise the time schedule and also the development schedule, whenever necessary.
 Hardware and Software Plan
Giving due regard to the technical and operational feasibility, the economics is
decided. Then the plan of procurement is made after selecting the hardware and software.
One can take the phased approach of investment starting from the lower configuration of
hardware going over to higher as development takes place. The process is to match the
technical decisions with the financial decisions.

The selection of the architecture, the approach to the information system

development and the choice of hardware and software are the strategic decisions in the
design and development of the MIS in the organization. The organizations which do not
care to take proper decisions in these areas suffer from over-investment, underutilization and
are not able to meet the critical information requirements.
It is important to note the following points:
1. The organisation’s strategic plan should be the basis for the MIS strategic plan.
2. The information system development schedule should match with the
implementa- tion schedule of the business plan.
3. The choice of information technology is a strategic business decision and not a
finan- cial decision.
An example for long range MIS plan is given in the table below:
Table I. A Model of the MIS Plan

Contents Particulars Focus

Corporate information Business environment and current Where are we?
operations. Information on KRA.
Corporate mission/goals/ Current and new mission/goals/ob- Where do we want to reach?
objectives jectives.
Business risk and rewards Clear numerical statements on these What is the risk?
factors showing a tradeoff (balance)
between the risk and rewards.
Business policy and strat- Details of the strategic and policy deci- How do we achieve the goals and
egy sions affecting the business. objectives?
Information needs Strategic Planning: managerial and What is the key information?
operational.
Architecture of the plan Information Technology details. What are the tools for achievement?
Schedule of development Details of the systems and subsystems When and how will it be achieved?
and their linkages against the time scale.

Organization and Manpower and delegation details. Who will achieve it?
execution of the plan Internal and external resources.
Budget and ROI(Return Details on the investment schedule How much will it cost?
On Investment) and benefits. Budget and ROI.