COM 0623.000 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPENDIX LONG RANGE SYSTEMS PLANNING The need for an information systems plan was identified by the 1990 and 1991 audits. In 1991, a plan was prepared internally by the County's data processing department. This plan was not accepted by the County Council and asole-source contract was given to an independent contractor to develop a systems plan for the County. A "Long-Range Strategic Information Systems Plan" (Plan) was prepazed for the County in April 1992. The content of this plan is similaz to the plan prepazed for the County of Maui. The Plan does not include all of the analyses necessary for the County of Hawaii to adequately plan its information systems. The systems plan should include the following (see Exhibit I): • Business Model -The purpose of a systems plan is to ensure that the administration allocates system resources and establishes priorities based upon countywide needs. This analysis identifies the organizational mission, objectives, and critical success factors for the County administration. Information systems development efforts should be tied to the County's strategic plans and objectives. Systems must deliver information where it is needed. Therefore, systems development planning must include planning for all areas of the County Administration. The County's Plan does not identify the objectives and critical success factors for the County Administration. • Function Model -For information systems to support the needs of the County, a common understanding of the County's processes must be developed. The function model defines the administration's processes and how they relate to one another. By linking these processes to the objectives and critical success factors, the most important processes can be identified. By linking processes to organizational units, redundant business activities can be identified, and the interaction between organizational units can be determined. The function model is not the same as an organizational model. Organizational boundaries are eliminated and only the functions of the County aze identified. The function model describes the activities performed, whereas an organizational model describes one way of organizing human resources to perform those actions. Because activities performed by the County aze shown only once in the function model, the data and systems to support these activities will only be created once. Redundant data and systems can be avoided and the systems supporting a function model will be much more stable than systems built according to an organization chart. This stability derives from the fact that what an organization does changes much less than how it is organized. Because the Function Model identifies how the County administration operates, it is the foundation for building future information systems. The County's Plan does not provide a function model for the County. -16-