The Value of Strategic IS Planning: Understanding Consistency, Validity, and IS Markets

The impact of IS technologies on the competitive capacity of the firm has increased the need for effective strategic IS planning. This paper argues that an effective strategic IS planning process must provide for (1) definition of key markets (within the firm) for IS products and services; (2) internal consistency, particularly between the strategic business plan and strategic IS plan; and (3) a means to assess the validity of the planning process. The need to establish validity is seen as critical in today’s highly turbulent business environment. Results of an actual planning process are used to illustrate how assumption surfacing can be used as one means to address the validity issue.