Strategic information system

Strategic information systems (SIS) are information systems that are developed in response to corporate business initiative. They are intended to give competitive advantage to the organization. They may deliver a product or service that is at a lower cost, that is differentiated, that focuses on a particular market segment, or is innovative.

Strategic information management (SIM) is a salient feature in the world of information technology (IT). In a nutshell, SIM helps businesses and organizations categorize, store, process and transfer the information they create and receive. It also offers tools for helping companies apply metrics and analytical tools to their information repositories, allowing them to recognize opportunities for growth and pinpoint ways to improve operational efficiency.

Some of the key ideas of storefront writers are summarized. These include Michael E. Porter's Competitive Advantage and the Value Chain, Charles Wiseman’s Strategic Perspective View and the Strategic Planning Process, F. Warren McFarlan’s Competitive Strategy with examples of Information Service’s Roles, and Gregory Parson’s Information Technology Management at the industry-, firm-, and at the strategy level.

The concept of SIS was first introduced into the field of information systems in 1982-83 by Dr. Charles Wiseman, President of a newly formed consultancy called "Competitive Applications," (cf. NY State records for consultancies formed in 1982) who gave a series of public lectures on SIS in NYC sponsored by the Datamation Institute, a subsidiary of Datamation Magazine.

The following quotations from the preface of the first book establishes the basic idea behind the notion of SIS:

A SIS is a computer system that implements business strategies; They are those systems where information services resources are applied to strategic business opportunities in such a way that the computer systems affect the organization’s products and business operations. Strategic information systems are always systems that are developed in response to corporate business initiative. The ideas in several well-known cases came from information Services people, but they were directed at specific corporate business thrusts. In other cases, the ideas came from business operational people, and Information Services supplied the technological capabilities to realize profitable results.

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