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CHAPTER 5 – IT PROCESSES_________________
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Study of this chapter will enable the student to:
1. Recognize that there are 38 fundamental processes performed by IT
3. Appreciate the importance of IT’s planning processes
5. Understand IT process ownership
7. Understand the effectiveness of the IT processes today
8. Understand the priority that should be placed on improving each of the IT processes
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter presents and reviews 38 IT processes, organized into strategic, tactical, and operational
layers. This chapter has more emphasis on implementation and execution processes, while planning
processes are discussed in Chapter 6. It is vital that the IT processes are continuously improved and
adjusted because of the rapid change in emerging technologies, methodologies, and tools, and because
of the direct impact that IT has on the success of the business.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
II. How Many Processes are there in IT?
A. Long term-Strategic
B. Short term-Tactical
C. Day-to-day-Operational
III. An Overview of the 38 IT Processes
A. Long term – Strategic Planning and Control
2. Architecture scanning and definition
3. IT strategic planning and control
B. Short term – Tactical
Developmental Planning
4. Application planning
5. Data planning
7. System planning
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Service Planning
9. Service level planning and management
11. Security planning and management
12. Audit planning and management
Resource Planning
13. Capacity planning and management
15. Budget planning and management
16. Vendor planning and management
Management Planning
17. Management systems planning and management
C. Day-to-day – Operational
Project Management
18. Project assignment
19. Project scheduling
20. Project controlling
22. Project evaluating
Resource control
24. Asset management
Service control
26. Problem control
27. Service evaluating
Development and maintenance
28. Software development and upgrade
30. Hardware procurement and upgrade
32. Tuning and system balancing
Administration services
33. Financial performance
34. Staff performance
36. Recruiting, hiring, and retention
Information services
38. Service marketing
IV. Which Processes Are Most Important?
V. Who Owns Each of These Process Containers?
VI. How Much Resource Will Be Applied to Each Process?
VII. How Effective Are Each of These Processes Today?
VIII. What Priority Should Be Placed on Improving Each of These Processes?
EXAMPLES IN ACTION
• None
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ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Differentiate among strategic, tactical, and operational processes.
Strategic level processes are those processes that will have a long-term impact on the enterprise.
2. What are the components of IT architecture?
3. How has productivity increased in application development?
4. How can operational layer processes be performed with much smaller staff than comparable
tactical layer processes?
5. Are there processes that span more than one layer? If so, identify them.
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ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How might a CIO get more involved in the strategic processes of the business functions in an
organization?
2. What is the role of organizational politics and power in enabling or inhibiting the strategic
processes of an IT function?
Organizational politics and power certainly will affect the strategic processes of an IT function.
3. Why have disaster recovery processes and security processes gained prominence in our
economy?
4. Why is planning important for IT processes?
5. What are some of the organizational issues that impede the development and implementation of
effective means of appraising performance?
In order to appraise performance, one must first have performance targets specified. This is not
6. How do the three layers, strategic, tactical, and operational, differ from each other?
7. Why do the names and number of processes differ from one company to another?