PLANNING
AND
PREPARATION
Many experienced executives react in the
opposite way. Before outsourcing, the
organization develops the broad outlines
of the kind of system it needs.
A GAME PLAN FOR EFFECTIVE
SCOPING
A company taking this approach to outsourcing
begins by putting in place a structure to scope
the project, asking where, what and how.
- Where is there a real need for new or improved
automation? Where can we gain major
improvements in service quality, cost and or
performance?
- What should the new system do?
- How should it do it? (relevant technology,
organizational change required)
A GAME PLAN FOR EFFECTIVE
SCOPING
Effective scoping requires a careful design /
arrangement of the interrelationships among
the 3 essential components of good inf. syst.
planning:



Knowledge insiders
Technical expertise who know the technology
options
Creative a new insights on the part of line
managers about the potential for improvement
inherent / nature in one or more technology
solutions.
Get Real : Assessing the Difficulty of
Outsourcing


Every day the financial press announce senior
executive who link improving profitability with
the company’s cutting one or more “non-core”
functions or businesses.
Increasingly, the trend has turned to selective
IT outsourcing as companies learn the
problems of doing it extensive.
ASSIGNMENT : p.42 – p.43 A Medical Systems
Company
An Outsourcing Decision Matrix

Outsourcing Matrix: Level of Risk
Inherent in the Project
See : Figure 1, page 44.
The Where : How to Do Systems
Thinking
Managers need to improve their ability from
emphasizing specialization to viewing
operations and effective performance in terms
of systems, workflows and processes.
“Reengineering”, systems specialists used the
following framework when looking at a
company’s work processes: simplify, integrate,
automate.
ASSIGNMENT : p.46 - p.49 Questions of manager
for new automation (include the examples)
The What : Working Through the
Broad Outlines of a New System
Management must have idea of what a new
system do, look like & accomplish. What is
the new interconnection? How will work &
data “flow” in the new processing mode?

Visualize a New System in Its Organizational
Context
The What : Working Through the
Broad Outlines of a New System
Errors made by experience line manager :
1. Forget or omit critical steps
2. Specify requirements that simply imitate
existing procedures and routines
(experience contractor believe 80% of
reports are unnecessary and redundant)
The What : Working Through the
Broad Outlines of a New System
Effective new system is not simply automated the
previous way of passing papers, data or
materials between functions. Interaction and
exchange – mutual education – is required
between users and outsourcer technical people
ASSIGNMENT : p.51 – p. 52 Mr. Elton
Systems planning discussions are preceded the
actual design and implementation of the new
software. They provided the outsourcer with
parameters for the system.
How New Technology Can Engage the
Creativity of Line Managers




Strengthen Line-Manager Capabilities
Site Visits (seeing what other company
have done with similar automation)
Control the Potentials of Client/Server
Technology
Avoiding User Errors
Implications for Contractor Selection
The outsourcer in a client/server
environment should view the system
they will be developing and/or operating
as being evolutionary, a work in progress
that serves strategic as well as tactical
needs of the clients business managers.
ASSIGNMENT : p.57 – p. 58 Outsourcing
information processing operation
The elements of a client-based
planning strategy

Great deal of cooperation and interaction
between contractor & line manager / user
in client organization is required.
Plan and Execute OR
Execute and Then Plan
Making intelligent systems design choices
obviously requires thoughtful analysis,
some must take place before any
discussions with vendors or contractors.