Critical success factors of strategic information systems planning: a Delphi approach

Purpose: Strategic information systems planning (SISP) has been identified as a key strategy underpinning an effective utilization of information systems (IS) to achieve the core objectives of an organization. This study aims at identifying, ranking and prioritizing factors that IS and business executives consider critical for the success of IS projects. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a qualitative research approach with a 3-round Delphi process to get experts' opinions on critical success factors (CSFs) necessary for successful SISP. A forty-two panel of experts was selected using defined criteria. Quantitative analyses of the data were performed using Kendall's coefficient of concordance and chi-square to obtain a consensus among the experts. Findings: The findings revealed the top managers' understanding of strategic priorities, aligning IS strategies with the organizational strategic plan and availability of internal resources to deliver IS services as the first three key CSFs of SISP. Other highly ranked CSFs were the management's understanding of the role of IS and the need to educate top management on the importance of IT in supporting the business strategy. Originality/value: The CSFs factors obtained in this study would lay a foundation for future research and could be incorporated into a new theoretical model of IS planning.