Application Systems and a change in business processes

Your information systems include a compilation of applications that work with the data as it is organized. Many applications are tailored to specific departments and function within your organization. Some sharing may occur. For example, Accounting and Finance use many common pieces of information while applications for each department use the information differently.

If you are changing your organizational structure to support the new business model, you need to address the use of applications and the underlying data. New processes and procedures approved by the business side of the house may have a profound impact on the applications and data that support the old alignment.

Before you go into finite detail in changing the organizational structure, business processes and procedures, give the CIO a heads up. Even at a high level, the CIO will be able to estimate the impact (time, effort, money) the changes will have on the supported technology. The high-level impact analysis of the new business model will address key information technology issues such as (but not limited to):

• Security restrictions with data availability and access
• Tweak, purchase or rewrite specific applications that support the new business processes
• Connectivity within and outside the organization