The relative success of alternative approaches to strategic information systems planning: an empirical analysis

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is an exercise or ongoing activity that enables organisations to develop priorities for information systems development. It has been suggested that the ‘SISP approach’, a combination of method, process and implementation, is the most complete way of describing SISP activity. Based upon questionnaire responses from 267 IT Directors, four distinct approaches to SISP have been derived using cluster analysis. A comparison of these four approaches with five approaches of Earl, M.J., 1993. Experiences in SISP, MIS Quarterly, (March), 1–24, indicates that three bear strong similarities to the ‘organisational’, ‘business-led’, and ‘administrative’ approaches, whilst the fourth cluster is related to both Earl’s ‘method-driven’ and ‘technological’ approaches. An analysis of the relationship between SISP approach and SISP success demonstrates that the ‘organisational approach’ is significantly more successful than the other three approaches.