【正文】 anization. Develop an assessment: In this step, the information gathered in the preceding steps is analyzed so that a baseline is established. Key activities include: ? paring what information technology is required by the business against what exists so that an understanding of the major gaps is formulated。 ? developing a petitive profile of the business, through a business planning methodology, with respect to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. ? developing a petitive profile of the business in the use of information technology, preferably by reference to available benchmarks, such as expenditure on information technology as a percentage of total expenditure or total assets, service delivery times or customer satisfaction levels。 ? assessing the impact, if any, of anizational structure and policies on the scope — for example, for autonomous business units the practicality of formulating centralized strategies。 ? developing a specific timetable for the pletion of the plan, particularly the key phases。 ? describing current applications — nature, scope, source, language and hardware requirements, functionality, interfaces, dependencies, age, operating cost, plexity and known limitations。 change management。 ? assessing alternate approaches and associated risks for meeting the technology infrastructure needs which are patible with the chosen application and satisfy the service level requirements of the anization, including technology infrastructure standards。 and ? estimating the implementation timeframe for each project. At the end of this step, all the projects required to support the implementation of the strategic plan will have been specified. Prioritize projects: The strategic plan provides only broad guidance on the priorities of the projects. Now that the projects are specified, their priorities must be confirmed. Criteria to consider include: ? strategic impact of the project in supporting the business strategy。 ? assigning accountabilities for the implementation of specific projects within the plan — for example, a project sponsor and project manager。 ? business imperatives — for example, the launch date of a new product or changes to regulatory requirements or meeting petitive or customer needs。 and ? identifying anizational processes and policies needed to support the acquisition, development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the information systems and the various ways that these needs may be met — for example, defining new policies, reengineering business processes, recruitment of additional personnel。 business and information technology assumptions。 ? listing technology infrastructure — processors, peripheral and storage devices, munications and work equipment, terminals and personal puters — and associated operating system software, protocols and munications software. The nature, use, age, cost, residual life and limitation of each group should also be identified。 and ? formalizing the reporting mechanism for the project team. Generally, the team reports to a steering mittee which is headed by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Information Officer, or another senior business executive and prises key business unit managers, the information technology manager, and an information systems audit manager. At the end of this step, a methodology, approach and timetable will have been established, background information gathered and an information technology planning team will be in place for the planning activities remaining. 2. APPROACH — Phase II: Assessment In the second phase of the information technology planning process the focus is on establishing a base line. During this phase, data is