Strategic Information Systems Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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- This report documents planning activity for the
KIMIS project at Kwangju Bank in the city of Kwangju, South Korea. The report is a
Strategic Information Systems Plan (SISP) for a Strategic Data Model. KJB and KEMI staff
defined this model with Clive Finkelstein of Visible Systems Australia Pty Ltd (previously
called Information Engineering Services Pty Ltd - IES). Micro Banking Systems (MBS)
Corporation in Seoul provided consultants for additional data modelling and project
management support to the KIMIS project.
- KJB managers and business experts reviewed the
Strategic Data Model in a Review Session. It identifies information that is needed by KJB
managers to achieve the strategic goals and objectives in the KJB Strategic Plan.
- A town plan is the plan for construction of a
city. So also a Strategic Model is the "town plan" needed for construction of
databases to support the Bank and its customers. As the layout of streets in a suburb is
documented using a street map and a street directory, so also data definitions are
documented using a data map and a data directory: called a data model.
- Operational data, summarized in an Information
Warehouse, can be analyzed historically. For example, many factors that contribute to the
profitability of a Branch over time can be analyzed in an Information Warehouse. An
Information Warehouse can be developed from the KJB Strategic Model to analyze the Bank's
operational databases so that any time-dependent and other trends can be determined.
- As a street directory enables people to find their
way about the city, so a "Repository" is a directory of information in
the Information Warehouse and in KJB databases and systems. The Strategic Model documented
in this SISP report, with more detailed data models still to be developed at the tactical
level, provide input to the KJB Repository.
- The KJB Strategic Model, used to develop databases
for an Information Warehouse (and for operational use where relevant), provides the
following benefits to the Bank:
- A framework for provision of timely and accurate
information: accessed, manipulated and presented in many different ways to support the
changing requirements of business.
- A directory of information defining the meaning of
data, its current and historical context, and the relationship of that data to other data.
- Data integration to remove data inconsistencies:
reducing situations where regions and branches maintain different versions of the same
data or depend on data distribution from head office. Data distribution can fail, or
locations can update data at different times.
- An Information Warehouse that offers ease of use
in obtaining information from operational data bases, where that is currently very
difficult to obtain.
With an Information Warehouse:
- Reduction of inflexible, hardcopy reports that are
not responsive to business needs.
- A saving in ad-hoc programming costs and time:
desktop tools enable managers and their staff to obtain information without having to wait
for IT resources to perform the work.
- Instant access to data to satisfy immediate
information needs of management, so removing the delays caused by multiple interactions
between managers and IT staff - with intrinsic possibilities for misunderstanding.
- Timeliness: delays in access to information incur
considerable costs for the Bank - due to an inability to respond promptly, and wasted
resources, both human and material.
- Sophisticated end user tools for user friendly
access - with a capability to "drill down" through different levels of data
summarization and aggregation in an Information Warehouse, from the big picture to fine
detail. A manager can examine the result of an information request and request further
information to be provided immediately.
- Trend analysis: the opportunity to examine trends
over time and respond where needed to achieve outcomes.
- "What if" scenarios: the ability to
create hypothetical situations and assess their affect on the Bank. For example, "if
manpower in an area was to change in a defined way, how would this affect costs and
product delivery?"
- The Strategic Plan identifies information needed
by goals, objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs). The SISP reviewed the Mission,
Vision, Direction, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs), Goals and
Objectives of the Bank.
- The KJB Strategic Plan was analyzed by Visible Advantage, an Integrated Computer
Aided Software Engineering (I-CASE) software package that automates support for business-driven Enterprise Engineering
- the methodology used for this SISP project. Diagrams, reports and matrices that were
produced are documented in Appendices of the SISP Report.
- Business-planning methods help staff develop
detailed plans at lower levels. Business-driven data modelling methods then help them to
identify their information needs, based on those developed plans. Identified information
is then provided from the Information Warehouse.
- The Strategic Model was analyzed to identify
Business Activities and develop Project Plans for data modelling. Activities were
identified which management should assess, to identify priorities. These activities will
become priority projects to be developed and delivered early to provide maximum benefit to
the Bank.
- Some activities may already be carried out as
functions in various business units of the Bank. Other activities exist in current
functions but have not yet been identified because of the high-level focus of the
Strategic Model. Activities may also suggest functions that do not yet exist; they may
address new directions to be taken by the Bank - such as Internet-related activities for
Electronic Banking and Electronic Commerce to support the Bank's Global Banking goal using
the Internet.
- Each activity was described in banking terms: what
the activity represents; why it is needed; and how the Bank uses it. Examples that
illustrate the operation of the activity were also included, drawn from current functions
or described for new functions that are needed to support that activity.
- Each Activity was assigned to the relevant
Function that is (or should be) responsible for that Activity. Some activities related to
functions in particular business units. Other activities applied to different business
units, but not as a function of that business unit. Activities were therefore also
assigned to Business Units - as for assignment of activities to functions.
- Definition of Goals, Objectives and KPIs in
Strategic Plans indicates information that will be required by managers. Some of this can
be summarized from operational databases on a periodic basis and printed in reports. Other
analysis of information can be done in an Information Warehouse.
- Software packages that help managers analyze
information and present results in graphical, tabular or report format on a desktop
computer are readily available for an Information Warehouse. These packages are Executive
Information Systems (EIS), Decision Support Systems (DSS) and OnLine Analytical Processing
(OLAP) systems. Key criteria for the purchase of EIS, DSS or OLAP packages are ease of use
and flexibility for specification by managers of any required analysis and presentation
formats.
- An Information Warehouse delivers information from
many perspectives or dimensions; this is called "multi-dimensional analysis". It
enables managers to examine change trends over time. Demographic change trends (or other
population changes) that affect needs for banking products and services - and help
management assess the most effective ways of delivering those products and services to
satisfy the needs - are all of great interest to KJB management.
- What cannot be purchased from outside, however, is
the information that is to be analyzed and presented by these packages. The Strategic
Model represents that information; it will be defined in greater detail later, by tactical
and operational modelling in priority areas.
- Much information is performance-related: Goals,
Objectives and KPIs should be measurable and can be calculated and presented by an
Information Warehouse using EIS, DSS and OLAP packages. But a problem exists: one of
monitoring progress towards achievement of the results (or "targets") over time.
This monitoring can be carried out automatically within manager-defined boundaries by
Decision Early Warning (DEW) systems.
- An Information Warehouse can deliver this
information to a manager's desktop in Head Office or in bank branches throughout the
country and overseas. It enables bank managers to interrogate data at the branch level, to
analyze data themselves, and to create ad-hoc reports - without time-consuming and
expensive programming to develop inflexible hardcopy reports.
- Three main project areas emerged that are all
important to the Bank: Marketing; Risk and Finance; Planning and Resource. In each
project area there are several focus areas, each of which comprise a number of projects
for activities identified in the Strategic Model. These are summarized below. They are
described in more detail in the SISP Report.
| Project Area |
Project
Focus Area |
| Marketing |
- Market
- Customer
- Product
- Branch
|
| Risk and Finance |
- Risk
- Portfolio and Treasury
- Finance
- Cost
|
| Planning and Resource |
- Planning
- Performance
- External Factor
- Resource
|
|
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- There is much work yet to be done to identify the
information that is of most interest to management, so that the Information Warehouse can
deliver it. Priorities were identified so that resources can be allocated first to those
project focus areas that offer greatest benefit to the Bank and to management. Other areas
can be left till later.
- A number of candidate model views were considered
to determine priority projects for the Tactical Modelling phase. These were discussed in
terms of the basic and advanced systems that apply to each area. Detailed Project Maps
were developed for the highest priority model views. Advantages and disadvantages of each
view were identified. The model views follow:
- Customer Management : For Marketing
purposes
- Financial Management : For enhancement of
the quality of profit and loss control
- Portfolio And Treasury : For the
improvement of funds management and asset control
- The Strategic Model and SISP will enable KJB to
align its information systems directly with its strategic plans, and build an Information
Warehouse. However these benefits will only be achieved if the strategic model is expanded
to tactical and operational model detail, and priority systems and databases are
implemented. The following recommendations therefore address the initial steps that should
be taken to achieve this.
- The assessment of project priorities indicated
that an emphasis on Customer Management and on Portfolio and Treasury for initial tactical
modelling offer considerable potential to KJB. These will also need to include some of the
prerequisite activities from Financial Management and Market Management.
- Tactical business plans should provide input
for Customer Management.
The Mission, Goals, SWOTs (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats), Strategies and KPIs for Customer Management should be defined
sufficient to be used for tactical modelling of Customer Management.
This completes the Executive Summary of the SISP
Report. The next section comprises the body of the report, while the Appendices contain
the detailed documentation of the strategic model.
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