Planning for information systems integration: some key challenges

Over the last few decades, technological advances in computer and telecommunications technologies have promised much to organisations. Yet it is clear that, in practice, the reality generally seems to have fallen well short of the ideal. Organisations seeking strategic advantage from their information systems frequently undertake a Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) exercise as an initial step. However, despite the substantial increase in SISP activity over the last decade, it would appear that most strategies have not been successfully implemented. In this paper, some important recent research in support of this contention is summarised, and key problems in SISP implementation are identified. It is argued that: (i) the objective of data and systems integration is a distinguishing characteristic of SISP work; (ii) such integration may cause major changes to the balance of organisational power; (iii) SISP implementation is unlikely to be successful unless political turbulence caused by potential power losses is adequately addressed; and (iv) political turbulence may well be the single most important issue facing SISP implementors. Strategy implementation problems are illustrated through reference to a recent, major (three-year) case study of a SISP implementation in one of Australia's largest organisations. We conclude by presenting some suggestions aimed at offering a way forward out of the current malaise.