Strategic planning for automation within an information services department

Today there is a growing trend within organizations for departments to become ''islands of mechanization.'' Departments compete for machine and personnel resources in order to develop individualistic, automated systems which frequently overlap in data content. To avoid this trend and prevent development of future ''islands,'' organizations must emphasize management of in-house information systems to improve the economy of operations, meet organizational objectives more effectively, and control operations more efficiently. The method by which these goals can be realized is formal planning. Planning for information systems becomes the key to the present and future. The longer planning is delayed, the more costly it will be to combine, modify, and standardize existing subsystems into an integrated systems design. There are many different types of plans which can be developed, e.g., short-, medium-, and long-term plans. However, long-term or strategic planning is the most important, as it determines an organization's major objectives. Once objectives have been defined, policies and strategies can be developed for resource allocation to meet those objectives. Action plans will implement the strategies and make the objectives become a reality. A plan for data processing support for the Information Services Department at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is described. The plan is an attempt to unify automation efforts within the Department and insure future planning. Department organization, concerns which led to plan development, background research which went into the plan, and, finally, the plan itself are described including major objectives, strategies, and plans of action