Business Systems Planning (IBM Corporation)

1. Business Systems Planning(IBM Corporation) • Initial work on BSP began in the early 1970s. • At first, it was for IBM internal use only; later it was made available to customers. • Its focus on data and especially on processes was an entirely new way to view the firm and to build systems; this process approach has since been copied by many others. • BSP is very comprehensive – and thus time consuming and expensive. Computer Information Systems • Robinson College of Business • Georgia State University

2. Business Systems Planning Designed to define an Information Architecture for the firm. The basic building blocks of the architecture are: • Data Classes • Categories of logically related data that are necessary to support the business • Business Processes • Groups of logically related decisions and activities required to manage the resources of the business Computer Information Systems • Robinson College of Business • Georgia State University

3. Business Systems Planning Steps in the BSP process • Obtain authorization for the study • Assemble the study team • Define the data classes • Define the business processes • Using these data classes and business processes, define the information architecture • Compare this architecture with the present systems and identify missing and/or needed systems • Interview senior management to ensure the architecture is correct and to identify any problems • Establish priorities for each of the major systems contained in the architecture • Prepare the final study report and present it to top management • If approved, initiate the construction of the architecture Computer Information Systems • Robinson College of Business • Georgia State University

4. Business Systems Planning BSP, in addition to its value for I/S planning, also made two other important intellectual contributions: • It helped introduce the process view of the firm. The popular Business Process Re-engineering of the 1990s was built on this concept. • It pointed out the need to de-couple data from the applications that use these data, i.e., data independence. This supported the database approach to systems development. Computer Information Systems • Robinson College of Business • Georgia State University