Importance of the IS Strategy Triangle

The Information Systems(IS) Strategy Triangle is a simple framework which relates business strategy with IS strategy and organisational strategy. That is to say, the IS Strategy Triangle consists of business strategy, organisational strategy and information strategy.

As we know, a successful firm should have its own aims and plans. To this point, it is that successful firms have an overriding business strategy that drives both organisational strategy and IS strategy. As business strategy is the foundation of successful business. Because the decisions made regarding the structure, hiring practices, and other components of the organisational strategy, as well as decisions regarding applications, hardwares, and other IS components, are all driven by the firms' business objectives, strategies, and tactics. Meanwhile, successful firms carefully balance these three strategies----they purposely design their organisation and their IS strategies to complement their business strategy.

A strategy is a plan. A business strategy is a well-articulated vision of where a business seeks to go and how it excepts to get there. It is a form by which a business communicates its goals. Therefore, we can say, the business strategy is the leader and guider among these three strategies. If it is not the driver, then only the other two will go to the wrong way so that the firm will get failure in its business. There is no doubt that the IS Strategy Triangle will be not the correct and perfect strategy objectives. If only the three strategies do their right job, the firm will achieve competitive advantage among the competitors.

Organizational strategy and information strategy must complement each other. They mustbe designed so that they support, rather than hinder each other. If a decision is made tochange one corner of the triangle, it is necessary to evaluate the other two corners to ensure that balance is preserved. Changing business strategy without thinking through the effectson the organizational and IS strategies will cause the business to struggle until balance isrestored. Likewise, changing IS or the organization alone will cause an imbalance.


Considering a traditional manufacturing company that wanted to take advantage of the Internet and the Web, positioning for speed, one of the New 7-S's framework (D'Aveni), might be a reasonable business strategy. Because to offer an alternative to these third-party Web sites, GE Medical Systems reacted as quickly as possible to bring GEMedicalSystems.com online with services specifically designed for the Internet. For example, the Web site allowed medical technicians to download and test software for upgrading their MRIs. If pleased atthe end of the 30-day trial period, these customers could buy the upgrade. The Web site also enabled GE Medical Systems to monitor the productivity of its customers’equipment in real time via the Web, to provide personalized capacity managementanalysis, and to offer the services of its specialists to remedy mechanical problems that they observed. These services created 'superior stakeholder satisfactionand' and 'shifted the rules of competition' in their industry.

Organisational strategy includes the organisation's design as well as the choices it makes to define, set up, coordinate and control its work processes. IS strategy is the plan an organisation uses in providing information services. IS allows a company to implement its business strategy and is also a function of competition (Wiley, 2008). Therefore, the organisational strategy and IS strategy need to change their design, choices and plans to the firms.


“The job of the CIO is to provide organisational and strategic flexibility” means that Fast company is a full-color not-quite-monthly (10 issues per year) business magazing that reports on innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design and social responsibility. The chief information officer (CIO) is a job title for the board level head of information technology within an organization. The CIO typically reports to the chief financial officer and in IT-centered organizations to the chief executive officer （Hexun， 2009）.




References：
[1] Wiley. (2008) The Information Systems Strategy Triangle. [online] (cited 18 February 2009). Available from
.
[2] Hexun. (2009) CIO accepts new concepts and technology. [online] (cited 18 February 2009). Available from <>.