"The difficulty in implementing IS/IT strategy has been to identify what the starting block is. Every company has its own unique requirements to fulfil that are as diverse as its goals. There are companies that have plunged into IS/IT deployment without knowing the implication of their undertakings or having the tools to make informed decision, only to come to realisation of costly failure. Most companies will not have the resilience or the resources to bounce back of such mishaps. This, in turn, is detrimental to IS/IT development in Indonesia.
Having a clear understanding of why the company needs to deploy IS/IT program is paramount to the success of the program itself. How will the IS/IT program support the overall business strategy? What changes will befall the company? How will the deployment alter the way the Company does business? When is the right time to deploy it? Will postponement of such an undertaking be deleterious to the viability of the company?
The main purpose of this research is to employ strategic planning tools in assisting the naissance of a new Internet venture, Rumah-Indonesia.com, as an extension of a conventional trade company. This new venture will broaden the company's reach in its business, build competitive advantage and help build new markets in Indonesia's newly found provincial sovereignty in the regional autonomy. By laying the foundation in the strategic planning, the company hopes to minimise the risk of setback.
This planning will utilise many tools to approximate as close as possible, that elusive 'common ground', which any company may utilise as the conception for its IS/IT planning. Even though there are no identical strategies that can be implemented by different companies, narrowing down the possibilities down to a few alternatives is far preferable to choosing from a myriad of selections.
The start is to identify the need for Rumah Indonesia to extend its business model into the Internet to be able to maximise its potential. By reviewing its business model, the new complementary model can be developed in harmony with its existing business strategy. Rumah Indonesia will concentrate in representing big corporations, while Rumah-Indonesia.com will cater for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in provinces. After the separation of focus, then the detail target market can be drawn up and the full business model and revenue model can be concluded. The phase development schedule, detailing the strategic long-term deployment of competitive advantage services, is also completed.
Using the chosen the tools available and described in earlier chapter, the assessment for current positions of the company in relation to itself and its environment can be completed. These include the assessment of corporate issues, from leadership, management process to technical issues among others. Competitive analysis is prepared using SWOT, Competitor, Five-Forces analyses among others.
By knowing its own competence and ability to gauge competitors' strength, Rumah-Indonesia.com will be able to devise suitable response to increase its survival probability.
This study is done in exploratory way, with the writer as an active participant in the development and is involved in the actual evaluation and decision-making processes, from near the conception to completion. This gives the direct observation and first-hand experience to record any subtleties, internal dynamics, political influences, or other situational characteristics that otherwise cannot be captured."
Depok: Fakultas Ilmu Komputer Universitas Indonesia, 2002