IS Strategic Plan

One of the approaches businesses use to ensure that they achieve most of their goals and objectives within a specified time is through the development, and use of an IS strategic plan. An IS strategic plan is expected to outline various concepts related to the proposed project. This can include the estimated implementation time for the project. Therefore the company can use this approach to improve various processes such as project management and organizational management (Guimaraes et al., 2016). In addition to this, this research paper presents a detailed Information Security plan for Jimmy Beans. The company is expected to use the plan to improve its long-term goals, objectives, and achievement.

Business Description

Jimmy Bean is a well-known and common online based retailer company that deals in manufacturing wool and fabric as well as selling different garment. The company was founded in 2002 by a couple and has since then seen steady development and growth brought about by its exceptional performance and sales in the textile industry. Previously the company used different online platforms in making sure that its products and services reached a wider market. The company intends to use different technologies to address some of the factors that are affecting its performance. This means that these strategies are set to improve the overall performance of the company. Jimmy Beans is also focused on using these technologies to create competitive advantages through brand promotion and advertisements.

Proposed IT strategies.

Outlined below are some of the goals and objectives that the company is required to implement within the estimated period.

• As key approaches of preparations, it is upon the company to ensure that it is well equipped with skilled IT experts/personnel and an effective IT support team to handle and manage all the new functionalities and operations. This will also include training personnel and assigning roles based on the newly implemented technologies.
• Expanding the new information t6echnology infrastructures must be included in the project. This must be achieved before the project’s actual timeline.

Discussed below are the proposed technologies that the company will have to implement before the specified timeline.

Mobile Application development

The development and implementation of the Mobile App is an approach that will be used to enhance service availability and business convenience within the company. Therefore, it is part of the company’s considerations to develop a mobile application compatible with both IOS and Android. Through this, the company aims to allow customers to access all the company’s services on a single platform. It will also help customers when making orders and reviewing their products and services (Scott, 2015).

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a marketing strategy set to help Jimmy Beans cut down and lower advertisement and marketing costs spent annually. This strategy will involve using different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. The use of this strategy will be a breakthrough for the company since it will obtain customers’ insights and conduct reviews on various products and services (Scott, 2015).

Data analytics tools

To effectively manage the organization’s or company’s data, there are different data analytics tools that Jimmy Beans should use. Using these tools will help the company in generating more meaningful and relevant insights. Successful implementation of such tools will be determined by the approaches and methods that the company uses to analyze its data.

Sourcing Strategy

Some of the company’s proposed sourcing strategies will include different insourcing approaches and strategies whereby the company will hire external professionals and experts to handle and manage the proposed and implemented technologies for a specified period. This strategy will include different professional marketing experts and IT professionals or teams (Gunawan et al., 2016). Another sourcing approach or strategy for the company should consider cloud sourcing. This will help in handling different data management processes and support systems. The HR department will adopt different insourcing approaches that will help train employees. Employee training will be done by different Information technology professionals and experts (Gunawan et al., 2016).

Financial Case

The table below illustrates the financial case for Jimmy Beans that clearly highlights the different financial investments the company has made, the project’s net profit, and the payback time. The company’s financial case has been divided into a period of three years. This can also be determined by the company’s internal and external rates of return.

Table 1

Implementation Timeline

The approximated and projected timeline for the implementation and completion of the proposed project will be three years. Within this projected timeline, all the project milestones will be distributed equally. This shows that the implementation period for each of the proposed technologies will be one year. In addition to this, an evaluation of these technologies will be done before the implementation of any other technology. Therefore the one-year timeline can be categorized into two different phases. These are the project implementation phase, where the proposed project will be implemented while the other phase will involve evaluating the effects and impacts of the implemented technologies. Through this, employees are expected to be familiar with some of the implemented technologies.

Governance Model

The company’s governance models are rules or regulations set to offer guidance when conducting various projects. It can also be used to identify and define different roles responsibilities for project participants. This means that it is effective in developing and creating a structured communication plan. The developed communication plan will break down the chain of communication between the project participants while executing the project. The governance models for Jimmy Beans will consist of project stakeholders, the project auditing team, the project team, and the project manager. The mode or methods of governance that will be sued include brainstorming sessions and meetings. The project manager will play the role of controlling and managing all the resources required for project completion.

The mode of governance will be mainly through meetings and brainstorming sessions. He will also work with different stakeholders to ensure that the project is on track. The project manager has the overall control of all the project resources and works alongside the stakeholders to keep the project in check.

Key Performance Indicators

The company’s key performance indicators will help the company determine the measure or level of its improvement and growth after effectively implementing and adopting the identified technologies. Therefore this shows that key performance indicators can be classified as determinable and measurable values that will indicate the organization’s progress based on the goals and objectives that it was to achieve (Parmenter, 2015). In addition to this, these key performance indicators will be used to determine if the primary project objectives and goals have been achieved through the implemented technologies. The key performance indicators for Jimmy Beans Company range between project management and financial management KPIs.

Discussed below are the key performance indicators that the company will use while developing the project and after completing the project. These are

Customer Turnover Rate

The customer turnover rate is one of the sales key performance indicators that will help determine the company’s overall performance in terms of services and products based on the customer turnover rate or number at a particular time or period. In addition to this, the customer turnover rate will help Jimmy Beans to evaluate the impacts and effectiveness of the technologies that it implemented (Parmenter, 2015).

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin is a financial key performance indicator that Jimmy Beans can use to identify and indicate key improvements made by the company in terms of sales or any effective changes related to the product market. This can be determined by measuring the company’s overall profit within a specified period.

Customer Feedback and Satisfaction

For Jimmy Beans to effectively understand its product reception and customers/clients, take on its services and products, it will have to use customer feedback and satisfaction key performance indicator. This KPI will help the company to obtain a clear understanding of its customer’s satisfaction levels in relation to the products and services that it offers (Parmenter, 2015).

Project Resource Utilization

Project resource utilization is one of the financial management key performance indicators that can help Jimmy Beans to analyze and project the success of some of the proposed projects (Matthews, 2015). (Matthews, 2015). This will be achieved by evaluating and analyzing the distribution of project resources, as well as how they were utilized.

Click-through rate on advertisements

This KPI is a marketing KPI that is appropriate and ideal for Jimmy Beans Company because it will help identify the actual number of customers who have gone through the company’s advertisement over the internet. This will help the company create customer traffic that will keep track of various improvements made by the implemented marketing strategies.