1 Determining the Gap

2  Now that you understand where you are today and where you want to be in the future, the next step is to determine how to get to where you want to be.  The gap may be large or small, but you need to bridge it in all areas of IS, whether it is the business application, network, or computing environment.

3 Phase 4 : Option Analysis and Action Plan  Service Architecture Assessment

4 Grading Your Current Systems  In all assessments, you should grade your current systems against how well your systems meet the requirements for the assessment, e.g., A : Excellent B : Good C : Average D : Below Average F : Fail, doesn’t meet requirement at all

5 By Reviewing the Grades  You may be able to come to some initial observations. * Perhaps all the systems are in bad shape, or several areas are in excellent shape while only a few areas are poor. * This will determine where your focus will be.

6 Business Operating Vision Assessment Example  6.1

7 Business Operating Vision Assessment Example

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9 Environmental Requirements Assessment  In phase 1 : Document high-level business direction, we described all the environmental (internal) requirements.  With the assistance of ISSC, grade your current systems against how well the systems meet the requirements.  Additional observations can indicate same work areas, or perhaps the business has grown into some new areas and the current systems haven’t kept pace with the changes.

10 External Requirements Assessment  The information about the external requirements is documented in phase 1.  Assign grades with the help from ISSC.  Perhaps your systems rate well with the internal requirements, but not the external ones.

11 Information Needs Assessment  The information about (MIS) Information Needs is documented in phase 2 : Detailed Business Analysis.  Assign grades with the help from ISSC.  Key information needs should be readily available in the desired format to provide the business with information necessary to make business decisions.  This shouldn’t require manual manipulation, intervention, or rekeying to get the desired information.

12 Business Requirements Assessment  The information about Business Requirements is documented in phase 2 : Detailed Business Analysis.  Assign grades with the help from: ISSC and the people who work daily with the systems and who give the business requirements.

13 Business Application Assessment  By business area (Manufacturing, Distribution, Finance), list the strengths and weaknesses of each application.  Ask each ISSC member to meet his/her group and send you a list of strengths and weaknesses. Typically those who use the application daily or regularly are able to quickly formulate the list for you.  Another way is to conduct a user survey.

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19 Business Application Summary Assessment  After having the detailed assessment, in a meeting with ISSC, brainstorm and list the strengths and weaknesses for the business applications as a whole.

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22 Computing Architecture Assessment  The information about the computing architecture is documented in phase 3 : Determining the High-Level Direction of IS.  Grade the current computing environment against your desired computing architecture.  You can do this best with the help from the ISU.

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24 Service Architecture Assessment  For each category (e.g., of processes, people, organization, culture, technology, and metrics), determine the strengths and weaknesses of the category.  In the people category, you may need to fill up the “people skill” gap.

25 Summary of the Gap  It should be clear how large the gap is and if the gap exists in all areas or only in a few areas.  Summarize the gap * One way to summarize it is to use the basic building blocks : Business applications, PC, and network

26  6.5

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30 Plan Contents VIII. Gap Analysis Present the gap analysis to ISSC, EC, and ISU. By now you have the attention of your organization, and you need to rapidly start formulating action plans, because management’s first question will be: What are we going to do about it?