SAD 1 : Assignment 1

Based on your learning of Chapter 1, identify and discuss some characteristics you have as a good Systems Analyst. (at least 2500 words)

Last December 9, 2009, we had our last meeting in our Systems Analysis and Design for this year. Also, the first two group reporters are able to present there reports. The first group of presenters discuss the Chapter 1 – “The world of Systems Analyst” and followed by the group who shared about the 2nd chapter which is all about the “”. In chapter 1, the discussions was all about a Systems Analyst. They mentioned different information about a system analyst like: skills, characters, role, and etc. They did a good job in sharing their ideas on what they have understood about their reports. Listening to their presentation and being present on that day was already a plus. So, by now, I have some ideas and key points about what a Systems Analyst and how this kind of job look like. But to have a further knowledge about this kind of job, I surf the internet to gather more data or information. Combining those facts from my resources would be a great idea so that I could come up with a good answer for this assignment and I could compare myself if I have those qualities, characteristics and skills of a good Systems Analyst.

Let me define first a Systems Analyst. According to Wikipedia, “A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements. The systems analyst plays a vital role in the systems development process.”

Because of the rapid growth of technologies nowadays, in reality most of the companies rely on computers. That is why every computer in every company has to be set up properly and needs to be maintained in order to accommodate it’s users. A systems analysts are responsible in choosing the most efficient computer solutions for a business or organization. They make sure that the systems meet all the company’s needs. Mostly, they are in charge for deciding what software, hardware and settings that would be needed for each computer and even the different methods necessary in maintaining them. This kind of job plays a vital rle in a system development in an organization because they plan, implement and even manage multi-computer systems that’s within an organization. Thus, if you want to be a System Analyst you must have a solid understanding on computer software and hardware. You have to make sure that you are update with all the latest technologies. And lastly, you must be willing to listen to the needs and even complaints of the end-users.

The Wikipedia also elaborate four skills that a Systems Analyst must acquire to be successful. They are as follows:

• Analytical Skills
- enable systems analysts to understand the organization and its functions, which helps him/her to identify opportunities and to analyze and solve problems.

• Technical Skills
- help systems analysts understand the potential and the limitations of information technology.

• Management Skills
- help systems analysts manage projects, resources, risk, and change.

• Interpersonal Skills
- help systems analysts work with end users as well as with analysts, programmers, and other systems professionals.

These four skills must be present in a Systems Analyst. A Systems analyst needs to have an analytical skills because it is his/her duty to analyze and be aware of the organization and its functionality so that he would be able to come up with a solution that the company and the user will benefit. He/She must have this type of skill since the job of a System Analyst starts in determining the general and specific needs of the company. In terms of technical skills, a Systems Analyst should be updated with the different innovations and the purpose, uses and functionality of the different hardware components given that they are the one responsible in the maintenance and system development.They must also have an enough knowledge with different programming languages, operating systems and computer hardware. A Systems Analyst do the feasibility study in an organization. They study the following possible risk that the company may encounter when a new system is implemented or a new hardware or software was installed. They plan for projects that the organization will benefit and also planning for the organization be competitive and be able to adapt the enormous changes in its environment. That is why a systems analyst must learn to manage himself/herself and also the organization. And lastly, an interpersonal skill. Though systems analyst have a lot of responsibilities, it is essential that he/she has a good communication and personality. He/She must know how to interact with the different persons that would be involve or connected with his job like the end users, programmers and etc.

If I would be a Systems Analyst someday, is it necessary that I should be a graduate of a computer related courses like having a bachelor degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Science, or Management Information System? It is also been a question in our first reporting session in this said subject since the one interviewed by the sharers was a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. Weighing which is better a graduate of business related courses or a computer related one. Doubts comes up in my mind. I couldn’t think of what to choose. Again, I browse the internet to gain some ideas. And luckily, I found some. According to what I have read and comprehend, there are different ways in preparing yourself and get ready to become a Systems Analyst. There are several types of analyst : Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, Computer Systems Analyst and etc. Usually, many computer systems analyst earned a bachelor’s degree in computer related courses like Computer Science or Information Technology. There are also some analyst who finished with it’s bachelor degree in other field and then, they pursue computers classes just to gain computer experiences. A number of analyst increase their knowledge by having a Master’s degree in business for them to understand better the types of computers and businesses needs. What is essential for an Analyst to have is that he/she must know computers, math and planning, and also a logical thiking skills are very important. They need to be good on speaking and writing skills so that it would be much easier for them to explain their systems and be able to give a good and reliable instructions.These are just the minimum requirement for you to be get ready if you aim to be a Systems Analyst someday. But, it would be preferable if you have both business and technical education because combining both work or educational experiences would be a great advantage for you.

After discussing what a Systems Analysts are and what are some of the skills that this person must have, the next thing to know is what would be or what should be the characteristics of a good Systems Analyst. I tried to surf for possible ideas but unfortunately, I have a hard time doing so but I still found some that would help me. But I guess having those informations that I have mentioned above is enough to construct the characteristics of a good Systems Analyst. These characteristics give important clues about the nature of the work and its work environment. Hence, here are some of my ideas of what a Systems Analyst must be.

Responsible.

A Systems analyst play a vital role in system devlopment processes. Engage with different, critical and essential responsibilities. Responsibilities like planning, documentation, research, and analyzing and choosing the most efficient computer solutions.For these some reasons, I conclude that as a Systems Analyst you should be responsible with your work. As a Systems Analyst you are also considered one of the professionals that is why you should be able to do not just your work but more than your work. Its essential to be responsible in this field beacuse one single mistake would be considered a big risk for the organization.

Knowledgeable of technology.

As I mentioned above, it is one of the minimum requirement needed for your to become a Systems Analyst that you are a graduate in technical field. Recalling that some of the responsibilities of a Systems Analyst are related with computers. Computer hardwares, softwares, operating systems and even networking computers are part of their duties. And looking back with the four specified skills of a Systems Analyst, it also mentioned about technical skills. Therefore, it is considered as one quality to a Systems Analyst to be knowledgeable on technologies. Tha fact that there is a rapid growth of breakthroughs and it is not easy to adapt with the fast-evolving changes in our environment. People are more becoming technical in other words we mostly rely on the technologies that we have. A systems Analyst is responsible to keep up-to-date with the new trends of technologies and system developments.

Knowledgeable of business.

As a Systems Analyst, it is an advantage that you are knowledgeable not only in the technical field but also in the business area. Organizations nowadays are on business. If you have this intelligence, you can be either a business analyst or a system analyst. Though business analyst and systems analyst are different roles and perform different task throughout the software development lifecycle, both roles are needed and both are very important in an organization. The business analyst do primarily the documentation and gathering of the business requirements while on the other hand, systems analyst are challenge to provide a link between those business requirements with IT solutions. That is how important for an analyst to be intelligent in the field of business because there are opportunities to choose what type of analyst you want to be.

Easily get along with people.

The end-users are one of the things that a Systems Analyst must consider and gave importance. A Systems Analyst also interacts with the programmers, designers for the software interface, and also their client or the end-users. Hence, it is necessary that a Systems Analyst knows how to negotiate with the people around him. It is a good practice that you know how to get along with others so that for some circumstances or if you need some assessment for the completion of your project you will not be hesitate to approach someone. And the end-users will be comfortable in telling their complaints and other needs.

Able to communicate in writing and orally.

Systems Analyst should be able to communicate both in writing and oral. For the reason that their are informations and ideas presented in writing that you have to read and understand or for some instances you have to write your ideas so that others will understand. Often times, you have to speak and discuss your system, the process and even explain the functionalities of your system. Talking with others is also a tool to convey information effectively.

Good listener and sensitive with what people say.

In terms of software programs, every user has its own requirements. They usually differ in their needs and complaints. That is why it is important that the systems analyst must be a good listener for him/her to know the specific needs of each end user.He/She must be sensitive with their complaints. Accept all the criticism and complements from your users to be able to make your project work well and fit the needs of everyone.

Trusthworthiness

Another quality of a systems analyst is that it is trusted. Systems Analyst plays a vital role in the development of the systems so, if you are tasked as a Systems Analyst, the company trust you and looking forward for your recommendations and observations. If the company trust you, you should also show the organization and to your fellow workers that you deserve to be trusted. Worthy to be trusted is not only a quality of a Systems Analyst but also as a professional. If people saw that you are responsible and trusted, people will appreciate your work.

If those characteristics are present on you, then you will be proud and worthy to be called a good and professional systems analyst. Honestly speaking, some of those characteristics that I mentioned are not present in me so I still cannot consider myself as a good System Analyst. But I am still on the preparation and still aiming to fit on the minimum requirement of a systems analyst. I am not that responsible as of now. Often times I’m careless and do things later. But I guess, if I motivate myself and practice do things as early as I could would help me be a responsible one. Its just a matter of determination. Thinking that I am a BS in Information Technology student, I’m proud to say that I fit a bit on the second mentiond quality of a Systems Analyst. Being knowledgeable of technology doesn’t mean you should master programming. What is essential is that you have a proper general knowledge of its concepts and terms. I am not an expert in business but a systems analyst is not expected to be an expert with that field. You just have to understand decently so that you can accomodate your client who is in the field of business. In school, we have two accounting subjects so I already have some information about business. If I aim to be a System Analyst someday, I should study hard my accounting subjects. I cas assure myself that in the fourth and fifth characteristics I fit.  It would be not that hard to get along with other people. If you do good, I guess it would not be that difficult to interact with others. And I can communicate both in writing and oral way. So, I can conclude that I pass the fourth and fifth declared trait. On the sixth feature, everyone can be a good listener if they would be interested. On the last characteristics stated, Everyone can be trusted if you show to them that you can be.

Aiming to be a Systems Analyst would not be that easy. The skills that was cited above are just few of the the numerous skills that a System Analyst usually have. Analyzing is not an effortless task. It needs enough knowledge and time. A Systems Analyst is required to come up with a successful IT project. It is very important in a company to have it’s own systems analyst to help the organization in their decisions especially on the technical part and even the business field. Changes in the environment are fast-evolving that is why a company needs this person to help the organization cope up and be able to adapt this rapid changes. Be competitive in the world of global market is what all business organizations goal or objective. Hiring a Systems Analyst in an organizations is a good way and a great help to be competitive in this type of world. As of now, I can’t picture out myself be a systems analyst but maybe soon I can fill those requirements, skills and qualities and I can be a good System Analyst.


References:

http://orion.kent.edu/steinberg/sys3.htm
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.techterms.com/definition/systemanalyst
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/preedman/business-analyst-and-systems-analyst-they-are-different-677

MIS 2: Assignment 5

In the spectrum of organizational change ,which is the most radical type of change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering, or paradigm shifts? (You are expected to read an article about this question) .. at least 3000 words

Organization, as defined by Wikipedia, is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. One thing that never change is that things are always changing.Change is a thing that we must all face. Other chnges are caused by advances in technology, particularly information technology. Orgnizations nowaday wants to create an organizzational environment that is accessible to change. The fast change in our environment affects every organization. In the range of organizational change, there are different manner of change in an organization. As elaborated from the given question, they are automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts.

The world is rapidly changing into something that no one can easily predict and rather difficult to calculate. Hundreds of opportunities and drawbacks passed every now and then. Many business companies today are thinking of what would be the best thing to do in order to survive and grow and be competitive with the others. There are numerous techniques, solutions and methods that was declared helpful enough in improving the productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in a business. To really understand organizational change, it would be much recommended that you willl begin by understanding the basic systems and structures in organizations. This also includes the typical terms and roles in an organization.

Discussing the effect of automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts would be a great help for us to know its role in organizational change. Elaborate their effects on the organization. In automation, there are two factors that are basically responsible for this change. This is based on the Air University Review of Lieutenant Colonel J.R Brown ( July-August 1967 ). First is the totalsystem concept, which is on input and data-base oriented, and the other is the improvement in computer communication links. There are numerous tactics to the subject of automation and its effect on organization. These approaches are concern with: assignment of programmers and systems analyst, management of the data processing functions, the possible change in organizational structure resulting from advancementsin the design and development of informationsystems and the speed. Automation uses the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks. It is a common form of Information Technology enabled change. With automation, it enable to assist the employees perform their tasks more effieciently and effectively. Rationalization of procedures is the streamlining of existing operating procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient. It follos quickly from the early automation. Example of rationalization of procedures is the Toshiba who had rationalize its procedures down to the level of installation manuals and software instruction and had to create standard names and formats for the data items in its global data warehouse. If we would try to think deeper, without a large amoutn of business process rationalization, computer technology would have been useless. Business reengineering or business process reengineering, as defined from my resources, is the main way which organizations become more effecient and modernize. Business process reengineering (BPR) transforms an organization in ways that directly affect performance. It is the key to transforming how people work. To be successful, BPR projects needs to be top down.Business Process Reengineering is the radical redesign of business processes, combining steps to cut waste and eliminating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks to improve cost, quality, and service and to maximize the benefits of information technology. Involves radical rethinking, can change the way organization conducts its business and it strikes fear, its expensive, very risky and its extremely difficult to carry out and manage. BPR builds a prototype of the new process, identify the opportunities in applying Information Technology, and understan and measure the performnce of existing processes. Paradigm Shift is a radical reconceptualization of the nature of busniess and the nature of the organization. Example of a paradigm shift is the e-business. Paradigm shift is new for me. So I surf the internet to know more about paradigm shift. Paradigm shift is defined as a means of revolutionary change in methodologies, systems and structures. It focuses more on the people’s movement. I have read a journal article excerpt that talks about organizational change as paradigm shift:analysis of the change process in a large, public university by Hasan Simsek and Karen Seashore Louis. According to what I have read, the term “paradigm” and “paradigm shift” are part of the popular language of change at the present time. The concept of paradigm is typically used to refer to any set of beliefs that swifts action. The article shares that organizations are defined by their paradigms and the radical change in organizations may be constued or a discontinous shift in this socially constructed reality.

I have read two articles from Yogesh Malhorta, the founder and chief knowledge architect of @Brint.com (a leading online sponsor of high-profile worldwide knowledge management and E-business events), which is entitled “Knowledge Management and New Organizational Forms: A Framework for Business Model Innovation” and “Knowledge Management for E-business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to ‘Internet Time’”. Both articles discussed about the four type of change in the field of organizational change: automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shifts and both piece focuses on knowledge management.

As what I have understood, the impression about knowledge management is common and familiar in an information systems practice and research. Many companies use models of knowledge management that will match the industrial era. In the earlier period of information system, changes are relatively slow and predictable that most formal information system can translate and control. The traditional organizational business model aims to guarantee optimization and efficiencies that was based on developing agreements, junctions and observations. Throughout this age, information systems that was based on programs that will convey effectiveness based on the given business contexts.

Mentioned on the two articles of Malhorta, automation, rationalization of procedures and business reengineering is under the information-processing paradigm of knowledge management. Over the last few decades, information-processing view of knowledge management has been established and common in information systems practice and research. The evolution of the information-processing paradigm during the past four decades to build intelligence and manage change in business functions and processed over three phases: Automation, Rationalization of Procedures, and Reengineering.

The three phases are defined as follows:

Automation
- Increased efficiency of operations.
Rationalization of procedures
- Streamlining of procedures and eliminating obvious bottlenecks that are revealed by automation for enhanced efficiency of operations.
Reengineering
- Radical redesign of business processes that depends upon information technology intensive radical redesign of work flows and work processes.

The following three phases of information-processing paradigm are characterized by technology-intensive, optimization-driven, and efficiency-seeking organizational change. The operation of information technologies in each phases are build on a relatively predictable view of products and services as well as contributory organizational and industrial procedures.

If there is change, there is also risk. So, in an organizational change risks are always associated. Here is a figure that will show the three phases and its risk and relevant return.

If we will observe the figure given, in every phase there is an increase on the risk. In spite of the increase risk and the corresponding returns applicable to the three kinds of information technology allowed organizational change, there was a bit emphasis on business model innovation. The figure illustrates the old world of business. Most Net-based start-ups have realized that although technology is important, business model innovation is the key lever for global market share. Business model innovations represent paradigm shift that characterized not only the transformation at the level of business process and process workflows.

In the new world of business, achievements or disappointment for most project depends on the organization’s ability to continually question and adapt their programmed logic of the way things are done. The new world of business was described as a ‘world of re-everything’. The old world’s guidelines to achieve success would still exist side by side with the new world or world of re-everything. In this new world of business is more on understanding and adapting the unstoppable changing of environment.

I have to illustrations from the two article of Malhorta. And if we will try to observe them both you will see its similarities.

From the article entitled “Knowledge Management for E-Business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to Internet Time”

From an article entitled “Knowledge Management and New Organization Forms: A Framework for Business”

As what I have observed on the two figures, new business models serve Paradigm shifts. The nature of business and the nature of the organization itself characterize paradigm shifts that are the trademark of business model innovation. An example of a new business models include Amazon.com and eToys, which are relatively new applicant that can threaten the traditional business models personified in organizations. Such business model innovations represent paradigm shifts that are characterized not on the transformation of the level of business process and process workflows but on the fundamental rethinking of the business as well as the dividing lines between an organization and the industry. The paradigm shift gives a bigger risk and larger returns than the combination of the automation, rationalization of procedures and business reengineering, which is part on the old world of business. The estimated risk and returns would be 70 percent.

Essentially, the corporate world is now encountering not only unprecedented pace of change but also radical discontinuities in such change that make yesterday’s best practices tomorrow’s core rigidities. In the new world of E-business, literally everything is up for grabs, including traditional concepts of industries, organizations, products, services, and channels of marketing, sales and distribution. The new world imposes a greater need for ongoing questioning of the programmed logic and for a very high level of adaptability to incorporate dynamic changes into the business and information architecture and grow systems that can be readily adapted for the dynamically changing business environment.

If we check the exhibit 4: From the “old world” to E-World Business: Knowledge Management for “Paradigm Shifts”, from automation wherein we replace humans with machine which means the work of the human is programmed into machine, then points into rationalization, a streamlining bottlenecks, and then point into reengineering, defined as information-technology-intensive radical redesign. These three are categorized as part of the old world, which then point towards the new world, or E-World of Business, a knowledge management for paradigm shifts.

If I were to choose which of the four, automation, rationalization of procedures, business reengineering and paradigm shift, is considered as the most radical type of change I guess all of them are radical but if I were to choose only one that would be the automation. As what I have understood the three first mentioned are all part on the old world of business and paradigm shifts belongs to the world of re-everything. The old world of business is still present on the today’s modern world of business. As the years increase, changes also escalate. However, what I considered as the fundamental or the original type of change is the automation. Why I choose automation? It is because the rapid changes in an organization are caused when human is changed with machines and information technology is always appearing now and then. In addition, without automating everything, there is still change but not that rapid. As what we have observed, everything is automated, computerized and work are becoming easy because of these innovations. Technology nowadays is fast evolving and throughout the years many new inventions and technologies are appearing. Therefore, I assume that the radical type of change in an organization is the automation.



Reference:
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1967/jul-aug/brown.html
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/business-process-reengineering.html
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4105562
Articles:
Malhorta, Y. (2000). Knowledge Management for E-Business Performance: Advancing Information Strategy to Internet Time. @Brint.com LLC, USA.
Malhorta Y. (2000). Knowledge Management and New Organization Forms: A Framework for Business Model Innovation. @Brint.com LLC, USA.

MIS 2: Assignment 4

You were invited by the university president to prepare an IS plan for the university, discuss what are the steps in order to expedite the implementation of the IS plan. (at least 5000 words)

Being invited by the university’s president to prepare for an Information System plan for our university is a priviledge but it would not be that easy to conduct and create an IS plan. But having this chance is an advantage and opportunity for me ,as an Information Technology student of the said university, to be able to know and examine the processes of the university’s infomation system.

But before hand, let us have some review of some key points that was already discussed and defined in the previous assignments. Let’s define Information System, Planning, Strategice planning and Strategic Information System plan.

Information System.
As I explore the internet for definitions, I have gathered different ideas about information system. As what I have understand, Information Systems were thought to be similar with corporate data processing and was considered as some back-room oepration in support of day-to-day ordinary task.

Planning.
As described by the wikipedia, “Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them”.

Strategic Planning.
According to a very reliable source, which is the Wikipedia, Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.It is the formal consideration of an organization’s future course. Various techniques can be utilized in strategic planning. This include SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opprtunities, and Threats), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological), STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors) and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal).

Information System Planning.
Refering to what I have understand on my researches and looking back to what I have post in the previous assignment, Information System Plan can also be compared as a strategic planning in a management or organization. In developing an IS plan you need to formalized your objectives, priorities and authorization and must identify what specific project you wnat in the future and especially, it should be flexible so that for some circumstances it can be adjusted if necessary. An IS plan should be useable, timely, maintainable, quality and reproducible.

Strategic Information System Planning.
According to an article of Somendra Pant and Cheng Hsu entitled “Strategic Information System Planning: A review” that I have read after surfing the internet, Strategic Information System (SISP) is the analysis of a corporation’s information and processes using business informationmodels together with the evaluation of risk, currentneeds and requirements. They noted that SISP is a management function and not a technical one. SISP is used to identify the best targets for purchasing and installing new management information systems and help an organization maximize the return on its information Technology investment. It is a major change for organizations, from planning for information systems based on users’ demands to those based on business strategy. Another definition that I have read about SISP is from the article of Albert L. Lederer and Vijay Sethi entitled “The Implementation of Strategic Information System Planning Methodologies”. On the abstract of there documentation, they are able to define SISP. It says that Strategic Information Systems Planning (SISP) is the process of deciding the objectives for organizational computing and identifying potential computer applications which the organization should implement. This article gives a thorough definition of SISP and then illustrates it with three methodologies.

Planning for an Information System always start by identifying with what the customers and the organization needs. So, in planning for an Information System in the university it is necessary to equate with what the university, the faculty and staff and especially the students’ needs. And as what I have observed after staying in the university for almost four years, there are numerous of complaints from the student. Even I, I have some moan that the university will soon listen and be implemented if possible. I do agree that the university gave quality education and are able to produced competitive gradutes but there are some things that the university are not able to give to the student, faculty and staff. Not enough facilities and classrooms are just few of the things the university must look after for the benefit of everyone.

If I will be invited to prepare an IS plan, I would recommend that I’m going to make a Strategic Information System Planning. Planning is very vital for an organization. Doing a strategic way of planning is more reliable because of the fast-evolving changes in our environment. An information system plan is mostly similar with strategic planning. It is important to formulized your goals, vision, mission and objectives first. And since the university has its own vision, mission and goals, we can now procede with our strategic information system planning.

As the years had passed, numerous information technologies, methodologies for system development and new ideas of information system are appearing. The only thing that never change is that things are always changing. In fact, more and more new hardwares and softwares are emerging. Everyone are aiming to be updated with what is the new trend in technologies, softwares, programming languages and others because we want to. That is why when we plan, we have to make sure that it is flexible enough to be able to adapt and be competitive with the rapid changes in our environment. That is why I want to organize a Strategic Information System Planning to our university.

On the article of Pant and Hsu, they have mentioned there that the evolution of information system deals with the three-era model of John Ward,et al.(1990). They said that these eras are related and significant. The three eras are as follows and is defined with its characteristics:
60s : Data Processing (DP) – standalone computers, remote from users, cost reduction function.
70s & 80s : Management Information systems (MIS) – distributed process, interconnected, regulated by management services, supporting the business, user driven.
80s & 90s : Strategic Information Systems (SIS) – networked, integrated systems, available and supportive to users, relate to business strategy, enable the business – business driven.

The overall applications of the three mentioned era model of Information System are need to be planned and managed for its future contribution to the business. This applications are categorized as strategic (applications which are critical for the future success), Turnaround (applications which may be of future strategic importance), Factory (applications which are critical to sustaining existing business) and support (applications which improve management and performance but are not critical to the business).

It is not an easy task to make a Strategic Information System Planning, which is in the present SIS era, because different processes are inserted in the organization’s business processes. Bear in mind that these systems are required to accommodate all the demands of the organization, serving the goals, complaints of the costumers, and as well as gathering the organization’s data processing and MIS needs. The point is that planning an Information System is not merely about aiming to cut the cost but it is essential to weigh all the benefits that the organization may have.

Strategic Information System Planning Methodologies.
Often times, an organization dont know how to act the tasks in Strategic Information System Planning because it is difficult and complex. According to Pant and Hsu, Vitale, et al.(1986) classify SISP methodologies in to two categories: impact and alignment. Those SISP methodologies that helps construct and align new uses of Information Technology belongs to impact category. While on the alignment category are those methodologies that support Information System objectives and organizational goals.

Impact metthodologies consist of Value Chain Analysis and Critical Success Factor Analysis. While reading on the article of Hsu and Pant, it was stated there that “According to Michael Porter (1984), every firm is a collection of activities that are performed to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. All these activities can be represented using a value chain.” Current rapid technological change in information system and information technology is a competitive advantage in an organization who have a better technology than its competitors. Value chain analysis is a form of business activity analysis that helps in formulating information system that would probably increase the organization’s profit. As what I have understood, the core potency of this type of methodology is that it concentrates on direct value adding activities of an organization and in this way throws the right of information system into domain of adding value than cutting the cost. Though it sound useful enough in an organization,there are few drawbacks in a value chain analysis method. Its good to hear that value chain analysis provides higher information for the organization but it fails deliver the development and implementation issues that may occur and fails to identify the firm’s data structure. Critical success factor analysis is considered as an impact methodology but it can also be an alignment tactic. It focuses on the core information requirements in an organization and business unit. And the best thihg with a critical success factor analysis is that it is easy to implement and can be done with a lesser number of resources. Still, there are some weaknesses in this method. It fails to classify the data architecture of an organization and do not draw attention with value added features of an information system.

Business System Planning (BSP), Strategic System Planning (SSP), and Information Engineering are categorized as part of alignment methodology. Business System Planning was developed by IBM and it combines top down planning and bottom up implementation. We already recognize that in an organzation or every orgainzation has its own vision, mission, goals and objectives. In this methodology, it mainly focuses on the business processes of an organization. Every business processes are analyzed for their data needs and after that data classes are then identified. And if there are similar data classes, they are combined to develop a database. There are several steps in Business System Planning that needs to be followed orderly: Gaining Executive Commitment, Preparing for the Study, Starting the Study, Defining Business Processes, Defining Data Classes, Analyzing Current Systems Support, Determining the Executive Perspective, Defining Findings and Conclusions, Defining the Information Architecture, Determining Architectural Priorities, Reviewing Information Resources Management, Developing Recommendations and Action Plan,and Reporting Results. The study produces vast amount of information. Usually, BSP places more importance on the top management and the executive involvement on their analysis. When we look at the top down strategy of a Business System Planning, it looks similar with the Critica Success Factor Analysis method. It is for the reason that it build up an overall knowledge on business plans and supports the Information System needs through discussions. The disadvantages of having this methodology is that it solemnly expect a degree experience in Information Technology within its planning team, there would be risk in connecting the gap of the top down planning and bottom up implementation, and it is timely and needs more effort for its successful implementation. Strategic Systems Planning was developed by Robert Holland which is almost similar with Business Systems Planning. It is also called PROplanner. With this method, it characterized a business functional model through investigating the major functional areas in business. After definign the business function model, you will be able to derived your data architecture and new systems with its implementation schedule will be derived having the data architecture as its basis. One thing that SSP is different from BSP is its automated way of storage, manipulation, and presentation and handling of the datas being collected during the SISP process. SSP has its own steps that should be followed accordingly: Analyze major functional areas, Develop a business functional model, Determine information requirments, Combine information requirements into generic data entities and subject databases, Derive IS architecture, and Define new systems and their implementation schedule. Information Engineering (IE) was a method developed by James Martin (1982). This method offer several techniques that would help in building enterprises, data and process models. As what I have observed, Information Engineering is more on technical approach than any other SISP methodologies that I have mentioned earlier. All its task are relying on the structured techniques which relates on the planning, analysis, design and construction of enterprise information system. IE differs from other methodologies because of its automated tools that would link to the output of the methodology to the succeeding systems development efforts. This reason is considered as the major strength of Information Engineering methodology. Its weakness would be long time planning exercise and the difficulty of finding a team leader that would perfectly fit to its criteria.

An organization generally apply one out of a number of methodologies in order to perform a Strategic Information System Planning studies. But whatever we choose, we cannot dehy the fact that risks are always there. You may encounter problems in the analysis or implementation phase. Certain problems may occur on the structure and implementation part. But the commonly identified problem of the IS managers in the implementation of one of these three alignment methodolgies is the failure to secure the top management commitment for executing the outputs, the requirement of substantial further analysis and the difficulty in looking for a good team leader.

If I were to decide what motehodology I would use is that I prefer to have a method that have both as impact and alignment categorization. Probelm are always there. Risk can never be changed because risk are always coming. One thing that I would focus with is to be able to find a way that will help me face the risk and pursue my IS plan. Technologies today are evrywhere that is why I need to have a method that is willing to adapt with the rapid growth of breakthroughs. Comparing the different methodologies, I guess I would be using a Strategic System Planning. I choose this because out of the three, it focuses with the ddata, define a data architecture and it has an automated support ,which the BSP lacks. SSP is almost the same with IE but I prefer to choose this because I am aiming to expedite the implementation of my Information System plan. If I would go with IE, it is defined that it needs longer time to be finished. So it takes time on the implementation. With regards to steps in Strategic System Planning, it is quite the same with a Business System Planning. What differs is the word automated. Business System Planning dont have an automated support while on the other hand, Strategic System Planning uses automated design tools. With this method, users are guided with the on-line data collection and maintenance. In this model, there is already a software that would produce the reports and provides a data dictionary interface for sharing SSP data. And comparing to its individual steps, the Strategic System Plannig has the lesser steps that needs to be followed.

Improving a Strategic Information System Plan is onee of the major challenge that an Information System executives are facig until the present days. That is why, there is always a need of effective planning ahead of time so that as early as it would take, you will be able to realize the potential collision of computer-based information systems. Problems and risk may come in the middle of your ongoing Strategic Information System Plan or on its implementation but you can never avoid it. Actually, there are four ways on how to treat the risk. It includes: tolerate the risk, terminate the risk, treat the risk , and transfer the risk. If risk would come you must know how to face it. Its up to you if what would you do with the risk. Either you tolerate it, terminate, treat or transfer. There are some risk that is not applicable to be tolerated so you have to look for another way on how you could face it. But, every plan would be pursued and be fastly implemented if evryone would cooperate. I think that would be the best and number one step. What part would you be in the implementation or even in the analysis phase of Strategic Information System Plan, you must be cooperative to avoid more conflicts. There are some instances that the organization had a problem with resistance to change. Even if you already know how to solve the organization’s problem, you know what would be the best solution for the company to be more competitive with the rapid change in information but if the company resist to accept that possible or recommended solution everything would end up nothing. That is why there is a need for a cooperation between the top management, the users, the IS executives, the systems analyst and everyone who will be involved.The influence of new information technology has been one reason why organizations want to have their own Information System.

Adapting to changes is not an easy task especially in an organization. In changes there are risk. With new information technologies, the risk in an organization is the budget or cost. If the university will be more cooperative and aggressive to adapt with the rapid changes and wants to have an Information System of its own, it would be a lesser effort if they will be willing to give the required resources, enough cost and will be eager to give time for this would be a good thing to be able to ake your Strategic Information System Plan applicable, successful and reliable. If the university want to be globally competitive and aims to be the premier university in the South-east Asia, then they should be supportive and updated with what is new in the world of Information Technology.


References:
Pant, S. & Hsu, C.,1995. Strategic Information System Planning: A review. In: 1995 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 21-24, 1995, Atlanta, Georgia.

Article from Albert L. Lederer & Vijay Sethi : “The Implementation of Strategic Information Systems Planning Methodologies”

www.wikipedia.com

MIS 2 : Assignment 2

Assignment 2:

What should be the nature of relationship between a business plan and an IS plan?


Planning is very important for an organization. As described by the wikipedia, “Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them”.There are different kinds of plan. Some is mentioned already in the question for our second assignment in Management Information System. These are Business plan and Information System plan. But before I talk about the nature of relationship between the business plan and the Information Sytem plan, let me define first the two mentioned plans. What is a business plan? What is Information System plan?

First is business plan. According to wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, a business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. Business plans may be internally or externally focused. Externally focused plans target goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals. With for-profit entities, external stakeholders include investors and customers. External stake-holders of non-profits include donors and the clients of the non-profit's services. For government agencies, external stakeholders include tax-payers, higher-level government agencies, and international lending bodies such as the IMF, the World Bank, various economic agencies of the UN, and development banks. Internally focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or a restructuring of the organization. An internal business plan is often developed in conjunction with a balanced scorecard or a list of critical success factors. This allows success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures. Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.
It was mentioned above about setting up business goals. What are these business goals? According to Wikipedia again, the business goals may be defined for for-profit or for non-profit organizations. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals, such as profit or creation of wealth. Non-profit and government agency business plans tend to focus on organizational mission which is the basis for their governmental status or their non-profit, tax-exempt status, respectively—although non-profits may also focus on optimizing revenue. In non-profit organizations, creative tensions may develop in the effort to balance mission with "margin" (or revenue).

Business plans are considered as a decision-making tool that will be very helpful in an organization. As I have surf the internet, I have learned that the content of a certain business plan is not fixed for the reason that the contents and its formats are identified by the goals and the audience or the stakeholders. Every business plan should contain the necessary information needed in deciding whether they would pursue their goal or not. Usually, a business plan is very confidential and essential. Considered as confidential since the structure of a business plan includes some important issues about the company like marketing plan, market analysis, financial plan, operations plan, competitive analysis and more. It is measured as a top secret of a certain organization. If you are a business analyst and you come up with a good business plan, it’s already a plus and very helpful for the company to grow and be competitive. Having a business plan doesn’t mean you can already assure your success but it’s a guarantee that if you have a good and flexible business plan you can lessen the failures that you may encounter.

Next is Information System Plan. What is an Information System plan? As I have surf the internet for a definition of information system plan, I have read a paper by Michael M. Gorman that is published on September 1, 1999 and published in TDAN.com on the same month and year which tackles about information system plan. As what I have read, he mentioned five distinct characteristics of a quality Information Sytem Plan before it would be useful. These are timely, useable, maintainable, quality and reproducible. He also describe the following characteristics on his paper. The Information System plan must be timely. An IS plan that is created long after it is needed is useless. In most all cases, it makes no sense to take longer to plan work than to perform the work planned. The IS plan must be useable. It must be so for all the projects as well as for each project. The IS plan should exist in sections that once adopted can be parceled out to project managers and immediately started. The IS plan must be maintainable. New business opportunities, new computers, business mergers, etc. all affect the IS plan. The IS plan must support quick changes to the estimates, technologies employed, and possibly even to the fundamental project sequences. Once these changes are accomplished, the new IS plan should be just a few computer program executions away. While the IS plan must be a quality product, no IS plan is ever perfect on the first try. As the IS plan is executed, the metrics employed to derive the individual project estimates become refined as a consequence of new hardware technologies, code generators, techniques, or faster working staff. As these changes occur, their effects should be installable into the data that supports IS plan computation. In short, the IS plan is a living document. It should be updated with every technology event, and certainly no less often than quarterly. The IS plan must be reproducible. That is, when its development activities are performed by any other staff, the IS plan produced should essentially be the same. The IS plan should not significantly vary by staff assigned.

Every organizations nowadays has its own systems and own strategic plans. And because of the fast-evolving changes in our environment nowadays, oragnizations must have a flexible strategic plans to able to adapt the possible transformations. As what I have understood after reading the said paper, information system plan is the plan by which databases and all the information systems of a particular enterprise is accomplished in a timely manner. This kind of project decides the flow for the implementation of a specific information system. Mr. Gorman said that the goal of the strategy is to deliver the most valuable business informtion at the earliest time possible in the most cost-effective manner. The focus or the scope of an IS plan is not only on one information system but the entire information systems for the organization.An information system involve many essential functionalities and procedures therefore a company must have a good and adaptable information system plan to be able to have a good and reliable business information as an output.

Planning for an information system begins with an identification of what the company and the customers needs. An information system plan can also be compared as a strategic planning in a management or organization. In developing an IS plan you need to formalized your objectives, priorities and authorization and must identify what specific project you wnat in the future and especially, it should be flexible so that for some circumstances it can be adjusted if necessary. I agree with the five distinct chracteristics that Gorman have identified. The value of having an information system in an enterprise is very essential and useful. And a company’s IS plan should evolved, maintained and flexible with the fats chanigng environment.

Now, what is the nature of relationship between the two mentioned plans above? Definitely, information system plan is related with business plan. One thing that never chnage is that things are always changing. New hardwares and softwares are appearing every now and then. That is why company’s are trying to be competitive and be updated of the new trends in the world of Information Technology. In connecting the two said plans is just the same when we compare business with IT. Business involves IT while IT has to do with business. As a result, both of them can benefit with each other. Typically, business plans in an organization are associated with information system plans. When planning for the company’s benefit, there are a lot of things that needs to be consider like: the vision,mission, goals and objectives of the organization, the confidential and essential informations which includes the marketing plan, market analysis, financial plan, operations plan, competitive analysis, the information system of the organization and the etc.

Information System department, Management Information System or IT depatrment are just part of an organization that is mostly responsible for the information system and the systems development and maintenance. It plays a vital role of the company. When there are some changes in your business the IS should adapt that change. So, when an organizations business plans change there would also be some changes with your IS plan that is why you need to have a good and flexible plan for possible circumstances that the company will surely benefit. Both plans should be able to achieve the vision, mission and goals of the organization and also both should be concern with the current structure and operations of the organizations environment. Information System helps the organizations business processes through automation. By automating some parts of the business processes it makes the work more easier and a lesser errors and redundancies may encounter. That is why the organization’s IS plan should align with the organization’s Business Plan. I have mentioned earlier taht is actualy according to my source that business plan must contain the background information of the team attempting to reach the business goals. An information system department is considered as one team in an organization whose task is concerned with the hardwares and softwares of the organization. That is why business plan connects with the IS plan.

Business plan involves the financial and operations plan. When we do an Information System Plan for an organization it is always acquired with cost. Cost for the study and analysis in building up an IS plan and the money that would merely engage when your Information System plan wuould be implemented. The cost for new hardwares, new softwares,payment for the systems analyst, programmers will also be reflected in the business plan. The fact that cost is always there but it is also for the benefit of the organization.

Unquestionably, the use of the information technology in businesses helps the organization in achieving its goals and its already a plus for an organization to be aggressive and competitive enough in the field of global market. Whether it is a business plan or an Information Sytem plan, we sould always remember that in planning we always have to make sure that our plans are useable, maintainable, quality, flexible and understandable. No one perfects a plan on the first try. There is a what we could Strategic Information Systems Planning where in it is the process of ensuring the alignment between an Information System plan and its objectives and a business plan with its objectives also. It is the method of identifying an Information System that will provide the organization with a competitive edge with the other organizations.That is why the two diffreent plans are actually connected. Don’t limit yourself with the resources that is present and would be helpful in developing your plan. And make sure that your plan would be a great help in leading your organization in to success.


References:
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.tdan.com/view-articles/5262

MIS 2: Assignment 1

Think about yourself worthy to be called as IT professional, how you see yourself 10 years from now, what are your strategies to get there? At least 3000 words

After reading the question for our first assignment in this said subject, I really had a hard time on thinking of what would be the best answer for this. Thinking about myself if I would be worthy to be called as an IT professional in the near future and seeing myself 10 years from now is not an easy task because thinking those things will affect my plan for myself and for my future career.

As an Information Technology (IT) student, am also aiming to be a professional someday. When you do your job, you cannot easily say that you’re already professional. As what I have understood about professionalism it is about doing more than just your job. Professionals are responsive. If you are a pure professional you should know your work well and you must satisfy the needs of your costumer, your boss or even your fellow employee. You should master the art of handling more than one customer at a time while giving them the right services that they want. Professionals should be knowledgeable. It’s true! As an IT professional you must know what your field is and in what field you are master with. You should be updated with the latest innovations and the latest news in the world of Information Technology. You should have enough knowledge that would help your company grow and be competitive with the other bigger companies. Another behavior of a Professional is that they care about what they do. Being knowledgeable with your job is not enough you should also be concern with your job. As an IT professional you should be able to give not only the services that your clients want but the right and perfect services that you could ever give. It is a quality that says we maybe individuals that are competing but when certain circumstances exist we must also show that we are united. The behaviors of being a professional maybe simple to think but what’s not simple are the consistent application of it. It takes effort and proper discipline.

If I want to be recognized as an IT professional in the future I must have some qualities that is present to a true professionals. First quality is trustworthiness. Well, it is very significant to gain the trust of your costumer, your company and your fellow worker. Knowing how to talk to one another is more than a mannerism but it is also the ability to motivate one another to create a good result and you and your fellow employee will be in good terms. When trust is present, you can do your work with no conflict and can gain more costumers that will lead your company and yourself to success. Another quality of a professional is that one should be helpful. Being an IT professional you should be knowledgeable with your work and you should know how to help. One great tool to show that you are willing to help is through negotiating. However, be sure that you negotiate fairly because knowing how to make deals is an essential skill to the success of a professional. If those qualities and behaviors that are mentioned are present, with no doubt you are not just a professional but a person that gets paid well and has a balanced life and you stand out from the crowd and grow rewarding and you can have a satisfying careers. Once you’re truly a professional you can just go anywhere and people will appreciate your work.

Information Technology is not only for creating an environment for the benefit of an organization to advance but also helping them to adjust with the enormous changes outside their own boundaries. IT professionals are responsible for keeping databases, computer and security programs for the entire companies. Now, back in the question, am I worthy to be called an IT professional? As of now, am not sure but having those ideas of what would be the best behavior and good qualities of a professional would be a big help in molding myself so that in the future I would be proud to call myself worthy to be called an IT professional. The duties and responsibilities of an IT professional is very vital and difficult (I guess) so therefore, I should know the field of my expertise since organizations nowadays are relying mostly on the technologies.

Ten years from now. What would I be? A simple question but needs an answer that would be part of my plan for my life. There are enormous job available for an Information Technology student like me. Like, lead application developer whose work is to manage software development teams in design, development, coding, testing and debugging of applications, data modeler the one who analyze the organizational data requirements and create models of data flow, Network manager who is responsible for directing the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the firm’s networking technology, IT consultant who works in partnership with clients, advising them how to use information technology in order to meet their business objectives or overcome problems and also work to improve the structure and efficiency and of an organization’s IT systems and they may be involved in a variety of activities, including marketing, project management, client relationship management and systems development, a web designer that are responsible for creating the look and feel of the World Wide Pages for a client’s web site and may take part in the initial planning of a Web site, meeting with the client to discuss ideas for the layout and organization of the site, the types of colors or images to use (photos, illustrations, videos, etc.), and other matters concerning overall graphic design, programmer the usual and primary job for an IT student who work with the user on development of the software specification. Ability to create and document a conceptual and detailed design and write a code based on a conceptual description of the business logic, or a business analyst who plays a key role in Technology Solutions project from an analytical perspective and analyzes plan documentation, defining and documenting project requirements, and business processes. There are numerous profession offered for a graduate in information technology but the questions are, am I capable of doing those kinds of jobs? Do I have the skill? If I dream one of those jobs that I mentioned, what would be the best plan in achieving that goal or how can I make that dream come true?

One of our instructors told us the essence of planning. Sometimes we consider that we fall short into the ground with our dreams or goals in life because we fail to plan but what we actually did was we plan to fail. He told us that we plan but what bothers there is that we plan to fail and that’s the core why we never achieve our goals. We should plan well to hit the goal, to stay focus and to be able to manage ourselves. There are a lot of ways on how to plan your own career what matters most is on how you deal with the fast changing environment and on how you discipline yourself. Everyone can be what they aim to be if and only if he plans properly and effectively. How you see yourself ten years from now is like plotting your upcoming career that you can accomplish in a maximum span of time of ten years or one decade. Ten years from now I would be a Senior Web Designer or if am not lucky enough with that field I’ll try to fit myself as a Business Analyst. As an Information Technology student I aim to be one of the IT professionals here in the Philippines.

If I plan I should also set some strategies or activities that would help me attain my target. Implementing particular strategies would not be simple because we cannot foretell exactly what would happen next. It should be flexible so that if certain circumstances exist we have some alternative tactics that can assist us to surpass and can still led us nearer to our goal. An effective strategy needs proper discipline. Setting up strategies would never be effective if we don’t discipline ourselves. Not only our strategies are flexible but we ourselves should also be flexible enough so that we can face the dilemmas and maybe barriers along the way.

When I think of steps that would be of great help in achieving what I want for my future, it reminds me of the movie “My Big Love”( I hope everyone of us have seen this movie ^_^ ). In the movie the leading actress (Ms. Toni Gonzaga) has 5 steps to make you fit. As I can still remember, the five steps are GOAL SETTING, START TODAY, NO SHORTCUTS, MOTIVATE YOURSELF and lastly BE HAPPY :-D . These steps are intended for those who aim to be slim and physically fit but it can also be applied in molding your future career. Well, these steps could be part of my strategies to attain my target profession. The steps are simple and easy to understand.

First we have goal setting. I have said earlier that ten years from now I would be an IT professional. I aim to be a Senior Web Designer or a Business Analyst for my future career. It may be easy to set up your goals but you have to make sure that when you set your goals you know what are the possible risk and obstacles along the way. You should be patient, focus and disciplined. When we plan we always have to set our vision, mission, goals and objectives. We have to set our priorities.

Second, start today. Absolutely! We should not start tomorrow, next day, next month or next year but TODAY. After you have set your goals you should start right away. In view of the fact that I am still a student, I must study hard and finish schooling. Currently, I am a fourth year college student but third year in standing. Why? Because I fail my subject (Computer programming I) and with that made me realize that I receive a failure grade for the reason that I lack self discipline and though I aim to pass but unfortunately what I did was I plan to fail. When I say finish schooling, it’s not merely about having a diploma. Since I have to extend hopefully a year here in the university, I should make sure that I will pass my grades (get higher grades if ever^_^) and start to motivate and discipline myself. Encouraging myself to work harder with my studies and restraint myself to stay focus and avoid those temptations that would block my way in accomplishing my plan.

The third on the step is no shortcuts. No one takes place on the top without experiencing the bottom. You can never skip one step in acquiring your goal. Every IT professionals always start from the scratch. What I mean here is that in order to progress and become a professional you should perceive all the necessary steps needed. These may serve as a preparation for you to be commendable on what you will attain in the future. Doing shortcuts just to get hold of their ambition are persons who are lazy and dependent person. Nowadays, most of the people depends their luck to those people who are already on the higher position in a certain company for them to have a job. Though you earn your job on that way you still have to show everyone that you deserve and capable with your job. I’m aiming to be a professional so I have to finish my schooling first. Study well and staying focus on it for me to understand all my subjects. When I graduate, I have to gain experiences. I should start looking for a job that would fit my interest and my field of expertise. It would also be recommendable if I took some studies that would enhance my expertise and since I’m aiming to be a senior web designer someday I have to make sure that I fit that position. If I want to be a senior web designer I have to master my field. I ought to have the required skills like outstanding design collections and ability to manage multiple projects. Since Web Design (from the word itself) creates and designs webs therefore there is a great need of having enough fluency in using photoshop and illustrators. I must have a hardcore experience in using flash, Adobe Photoshop, and any related software in graphic design. It is a requisite that I must be proficient and specialized and mostly advance on the different web application or programming software like PHP, MySql, javascript, HTML, XML, XHTML, CSS, ASP, AJAX, Action Scrip and etc. Moreover, I must also experience and learn how to use and create 3D modeling with the use of some tools like Maya, 3DS Max, Blender, etc. And as a web designer I must be informed and familiarize the web designs standards. On the other hand, I also aim to be a business analyst someday. The business analyst plays a key role in Technology Solutions projects from an analytical point of view. In this position, the candidate or applicant will practice the fundamentals of systems analysis, design, and testing of Technology Solutions projects as assigned, acting as a relationship between the clients and the system developers. Business analyst will work with Divisional and National Consultants and Project Managers to investigate, plan, analyze and develop cost effective solutions for e-commerce and Human Resource business issues. A professional Business Analyst will work closely with Technical Leads and System Developers on system development projects to ensure the systems are meeting the clients’ needs and expectations. And he/she should have strong analytical skills and have experience in one or more of the following areas: Health and Welfare Administration, Pension Administration, HR Self-Service, HR Shared Services, or HRIS/Payroll. All of our work is team-based with the focus on delivering the highest levels of client satisfaction, and therefore strong interpersonal skills are required within the team, as well as with the client. One reason why I aim this work because in this field you are also required to have some travel (weeh, that’s interesting) and may include long-term projects of 12 months or more. Those things that I have mentioned will serve as my guide in acquiring my desired goal in the future. I may have to options but if I would be eager I know I can make may dreams happen.

Next step which is the Fourth step is motivation. I already mentioned the different requirements, skills and behaviors of an IT professional and my vision career. Next, I have to motivate myself. Inspire myself to work hard and study well. I have to mold myself to be capable of slowly achieving my dreams by making sure that I have filled all the required applications to be a best and professional web designer or a business analyst. You can have persons to help you motivate yourself. For me, my family is my inspiration. They are my main impulse why I aim high so that I can help them and I know they are the first persons who will appreciate my achievements. I have to stimulate myself so that my plans won’t fail because I don’t want to plan for failure.

And lastly, be happy. A simple step but it means a lot. If you aim something make sure you are happy with it and would be happy for it. Pointing toward your target goal doesn’t mean you would always be serious and focus on it. I should also make some time to enjoy myself and do what I want to do that would make myself happy and in high spirit so that I will be more eager to motivate myself in achieving my goals. A work of an Information Technology professional is a serious task and needs a lot of brainstorming (I guess. Heheh^_^) therefore I have to manage some time to take off all the stress, anxiety and pressure.

There are several steps you can do in achieving your goal. We have different idea on what would be the best thing to do first and next. We often times change our mind. Just make sure that you know and love what you are doing. Because of the fast evolving technology, people and our environment change. No one knows what will happen in the future therefore we should be flexible with the coming changes in our self and in our surroundings. These changes may affect our plan that’s why you must adapt those changes and motivate yourself so that you will not be tired in aiming your goal. In the future, if you already have your jobs learn to love it and appreciate what you have achieved. But for now, learn to love your course and don’t hesitate to explore new things that would be helpful for you in the coming future and don’t be limited on what you know. Think Big and Dream Big. Who knows? You will be more than what you think you will be. Just don’t forget to pray. Pray not because you want something but pray for thanking the Lord for giving you time to do what to you want to do and pray for enlightenment and patience. That is the number one tool that will help us all the way. And if ever you have achieved what you desired learn to say thanks to the people who help you and to the almighty one. Hopefully, soon I would be worthy in what I wanted to be.

References:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-774-Who-is-Hiring-Top-10-Jobs-in-Information-Technology/?ArticleID=774&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=b9da424f3cbe4fd3ae85d1c9fd8576ef-312003463-RS-4&ns_siteid=ns_us_g_jobs_for_information__
http://www.jobsdb.com/PH/EN/Job.asp?R=JDBP130524799
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/p/types_of_job/it_consultant_job_description.jsp
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/142/Web-Designer.html
http://www.iqrc.com/ProgrammerJobDescription02nobenefits.htm