16.0 - Execution of the ISP Study

Abstract

This chapter focuses on execution of the ISP study. ISP studies are based on two fundamental ingredients. The first ingredient is the data— process flow—and the second ingredient is the entity. It is important that the organization covered by the study is monolithic. That means that the processes are strongly related by the data. At times, this is not the situation. It is important that the part of the organization under study has a certain binding between the processes. When this is not the case, the problem of finding the information system boundaries can be handled without interviewing all the relevant persons. In the situation of loosely coupled processes, the problem of defining the application development priority is much harder to solve. The managers do not see a logical sequence in the data stream nor the importance of central data bases and how they are dependent on data from other departments. The choice of priority cannot be based on this dependence, only on economic justification. When it is clear that an ISP study is the right thing to do, and the initiator of the study agrees, the first thing is to find the right sponsor. The sponsor has to be convinced that an ISP study is the right action to take.