Managing the Systems Development Life Cycle:Systems Strategy

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Systems Strategy

The objective of systems strategy is to link individual system projects to the strategic objectives of the firm. Firms that take systems strategy seriously establish a steering committee to provide guidance and oversight for systems projects. The composition of the steering committee may include the chief execu- tive officer (CEO), the chief financial officer, the chief information officer, senior management from user areas, the internal auditor, and senior management from computer services. External parties, such as management consultants and the firm’s external auditors, may also supplement the committee. This commit- tee is involved not only in developing system strategy but in every major phase of the SDLC.

The strategy stage in the SDLC consists of three fundamental tasks: assessing the organization’s strategic information needs, developing a strategic systems plan, and creating actions plans. The inputs to the systems strategy phase are the business plan, the legacy system situation, and feedback from the user community. In this section we see how these pieces come together to form a comprehensive strategic plan that will generate action plans for selecting and developing individual systems projects.

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