THE CASE FOR PLANNING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B01152R000700910018-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2008
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: June 14, 1983
• Content Type: REPORT

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THE CASE FOR PLANNING
Planning is a great untapped resource in offi..ce systems management. While
all pay homage to it, few actually practice it. Reactive-management: sis surw
vival behavior, taught by-:.years of- organizational - fire fighting. As manage=-
ment repeatedly focuses its attention to respond 'to the; compelling demands of
issues which require immediate attention,... organizational myopia-----results.
Planning receives relatively low priority.
There is an, additional- deterrent: to planning, in the informat.ion.,:arena:
the only industry.- constant -is: change:?._Planning is frustratingly complex in an
environment which is evolving so rapidly that it denies the illusion of cer-
tainty. As a result, there are two radical poles of thought on office automa-
tion planning: either WAIT until the "perfect" system is available, or BUY
ANYTHING to avoid missing the parade. In between is a continuum, in which a
balance may be found in cautious evolution.
Office information systems have become the focal point of ever-increasing
organizational resources in the past five years. By the year 1990, 85% of all
clerical and secretarial personnel in the U.S. will be using a terminal to
facilitate their work. And the number of technical, professional, managerial
and executive individuals using personal computers, decision support systems,
and specific application programs grows daily.
Managing the burgeoning population of office information systems requires,
greater organizational expertise, more technical knowledge and industry per=.7=,.
spective, and better planning, with a shorter learning curve, than any other
challenge which has faced corporations and government agencies to date:'
Planning is key to good systems management. A strategic plan for office
s;jstems addresses the user population and its needs, defines the parameters of
the desired systems, sets a timetable for assessment and installation, facili-
tates vendor negotiations and contracting, and establishes benchmarks to track
progress. In brief, a strategic plan is a reasonable course of action, serv-..
ing as a "road map" which may ultimately show one where one has been better,.,.'
than where one is going, but without which it is extremely difficult to chart
a course.
LON?INUOUS INFORMATION SERVICES tNTERNATIONA;_ DATA CORPORATKON
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ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES: Organizational information strategy.,is linked
with the organizational business strategy. Thorough understanding of the-
business objectives of.any -organization is the:~first step in the planning pro=
cess. Beyond having a general feeling about business priorities and objec-
tives, it is good practice,to formalize those-priorities by committing them-to
paper: The simple act of putting organizational objectives in writing takes'1~
one a large step toward assuring that those objectives will be met,;
Due to its evolutionary nature, office automation can change status within
the organization from a support operation to an operation of strategic value
in terms of organizational survival and. success. In the insurance and banking
industries, for example, advanced technological implementation is no longer a
matter of choice. It is a matter of survival, and a measure of the ability to
compete within those industries.
ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE: Organizational culture, politics, and-individual7
strategy. ultimately -define the parameters within which an,advanced office plan
will both succeed and fail. '":Understanding the personal priorities of the in-
dividual steering the planning process is also important. Either as the plan-
ning leader or as a member of the planning team, it is important to recognize
that an advanced office plan designed by an individual whose career goal is to
be appointed chief financial officer will look markedly different from the
advanced office plan of an individual whose career objective is to be director
of strategic planning.
PLANNING OBJECTIVES: Whether the planning group is run as a democracy or
as an enlightened dictatorship, the group should go through the process of
establishing a finite set of planning objectives.. Objectives come in differ-
ent flavors, from the desire to create a showcase "office of the future" to
the need to find more economical and effective methods of providing the ser-
vices which form the structure within which the larger organizational goals
can be addressed. Again, the seemingly unimportant act of putting planning
objectives on paper validates them. It is paramount that one knows where one
wants to go before beginning the process of assessing alternative routes.
Objectives are not brittle entities. Once established, it is perfectly ac-
ceptable to recognize that along the way to achieving a goal, new objectives
have appeared, or that the pot of gold appears to have shifted as you approach
it.
INFORMATION IMPACT: Assessing information impact on service levels and
organizational performance is an attempt to define what the result of the plan
will look like, and feel like, within the organization. Picture the result
you are after, and if that vision has the look you want and matches the envi-
ronment of the organization, then proceed. At the highest levels of informa-
tion use, such a projection may not be feasible. Also, there are hazards as-
sociated with succeeding with an advanced office plan. Improved support sys-
tems invariably lead to increased demand for additional services.
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SUPPORT NEEDS: Understanding that the kind of work performed and work
tlow at all levels of personnel will be affected by a new system is an impor-
tant step in designing systems which will improve organizational effective-
ness, particularly at routine function levels (clerical and secretarial).
This is a labor-intensive step, and it is sometimes useful to employ outside
"experts" and tried data collection techniques. Since there are universities
and consulting companies filled with people who spend their lives perfecting
the collection of valid statistical information, there is no reason or benefit
to be gained from spending the time and effort to reinvent the wheel. Use of
outside consultants isa "cultural" matter: some organizations trust outsid-
ers, others do not.
ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION FLOW: Information industry consultants are
fond of asking audiences what they expect to achieve by automating a paperwork
jungle. The answer, of course, i s a bigger, faster mess. The contemplation
or undertaking of an advanced office planning exercise, presupposes the belief
that it is possible to improve the working environment: that providing bet-
ter, faster information makes possible better, more timely, business pro-
cesses. Knowing what information is needed, by whom and where is essential to
limiting the possibility that an advanced office installation will turn cur-
rent information problems into monsters.
Again, the process of understanding information flow breaks down at the
higher application levels, where even an executive cannot verbalize a list of
the types of information which he/she needs to make decisions. At this level,
and to the extent that each knowledge worker engages in some of this level
activity, understanding information needs and flow would be tantamount to map-
ping the processes of an individual's mind.
PERSONNEL IMPACT: Despite the finest planning and the most elaborate
technology, it is ultimately the individuals who will use (or not use) the
advanced office system who control and measure its success. Selection of the
pilot environment, or the first groups to receive new technology, has impact
on how complex systems are received. There are many selection criteria:
o People already comfortable with advanced technology will tend to
adjust to new systems more easily than the computer illiterate.
0 Organizational visibility, installing in the CEO's office early
for example, may and may not be advantageous.
o Individuals with the greatest need, may and may not provide the
most receptive environment in which to begin.
The list of alternatives will be based on specific organizational priority
issues and culture. Many enthusiastic planners have learned that over-selling
the benefits of a technology can be the "kiss of death" for an installation.
Pre-selling the user population and adequate training and support are the pre-
cautions which leverage your investment in the plan.
TARGET APPLICATIONS: Although many applications are available off-the-
shelf, office systems are sufficiently immature that industryspecific applica-
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tions are likely not to match organizational needs exactly, and at the very
least may require tuning. The applications which the planning team. targets
are inextricably bound to the goals of the advanced office project and the
needs of the individuals who will be using the system.
AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES: An advanced office is a flexible entity, which
allows for the idiosyncracies of each environment much as a chameleon adapts
to foliage. The fact that there is no one static advanced office system is an
advantage. An advanced office may include a variety of technologies in. a con-
figuration which suits the individual organizational climate, priorities, and
desired results. A discussion of the capabilities of individual technologies
follows later in this document.
THE OPTIMUM SYSTEM: Attempting to define an "optimum system" is a worth-
while exercise. Whether or not it is'realistic is another matter entirely.
With an understanding of the organizational culture and climate, a sense of
organizational information impact, knowledge of the types of work and applica-
tions and individuals targeted, planning objectives, and a true grit, one is
prepared to join the quest for an advanced office system.
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE: It is useful to specify the phases of organiza-
tional study, technology assessment, system recommendation and approval, ac-
quisition, implementation, training, monitoring, and project assessment.
Without such a schedule, the temptation would be to plan forever.
THE ADVANCED OFFICE TEAM: The plan itself is not the goal, of course.
Implementation of a successful system is the goal. There is no advanced of-
fice system success without the team which gathers information, assesses the
data, prioritizes, configures the system, disseminates information within the
organization, selects the equipment, negotiates with vendors, manages the in-
stallation, supports the users, and reviews the accomplishments of the pro-
ject. Nor is there any advanced office system success for a large scale im-
plementation without strong corporate support from the executive level, from
finance, from the affected departments, and ultimately from the users of the
system.
PROJECT REVIEW: In order to evaluate the success of the plan and to build
momentum for future projects, reviewing the effectiveness of the project is
the essential final step in the planning process. Project review is also the
first step in the next planning cycle. Success in advanced office systems
planning, as in life, is a journey rather than a destination.
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COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS
?
Cost/benefit analysis carries a stigma of being the hammer of finance and
the bane of forward-thinking systems planners. .Although not entirely unde-
served, such prejudice gets in the way of the real issues. Every organiza-
tional action, like every other human activity, has a dual nature: positive
and negative ramifications, costs and benefits. Like yin/yang in oriental
philosophy, neither. element exists without its counterpart.
It is a business reality that one must invest in order to leverage re-
sources, in order to increase profitability. And in order to make educated
investment decisions, the costs and benefits of any investment should be mea-
sured and weighed. In the early days of data processing, cost/benefit anal-
ysis was relatively straightforward and simple:
o $X of computing power could accomplish the work of $Y of clerical
employee power, in less time and with fewer errors.
Early office automation justification was an equation of the same order:
0 $X of word processing equipment plus Y-2 typists produced more
pages of higher quality, with two less employee benefit packages,
than the original Y number of typists could produce on standard
typewriters.
Those were the "good old days." Now it is more difficult to figure which
costs it makes sense to cut, or what benefits are directly related to the pur-
chase of a system. Ours is no longer a traditional , flat view of human capa-
bility and system potential. It is no longer only the static tasks which we
seek to enhance. Suddenly, systems potential impacts such high level, subjec-
tive and personal activities as planning and decision making. How and when
does one know that an executive decision has been a good one, let alone how it
should be measured? The issue is no longer simply the cost/benefit analysis
of the past. The issue of value assessment stretches us beyond the boundaries
of limited systems and prior experience.
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PRODUCTIVITY ASSESSMENT
Analyzing organizational value is one of the most difficult activities
which an individual can undertake. Although "productivity" and "effective-
ness" do not produce or sell the next widget, this is the stuff company fu-
tures are made of.
At the MIT Center for- Productivity Research, Dr. Michael B. Packer divides
the spectrum of economic activities into the following three levels:
1. Structured or repetitive tasks like filing
2. Semi-structured work like operations planning
3. One-of-a-kind unstructured activities which require such intangi-
bles as judgment and instinct.
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CONTINUOUS FOR TION SERVICE
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It is primarily those who engage in the third set, the "knowledge workers,"
for whom we will ultimately plan and implement advanced office systems. These
are the individuals who create, design, direct, and analyze. The work they
perform is generally unstructured, requires judgment, is non-repetitive.
Tasks per se are difficult to specify. Unforeseen results are often impor-
tant. Time lags may occur between actions and outcomes. Their work is multi-
dimensional, having many aspects which may be important simultaneously. Judg-
ments about the results of their endeavors may depend entirely upon the point
of view of the observer.
This is the sort of hay which fuels old efficiency experts' nightmares.
But Dr. Packer is one expert in the area of productivity assessment who disbe-
lieves the "myth" that such activities cannot be measured. Some of the stan-
dard techniques for evaluating effectiveness follow.
Time Expenditure Analysis: A statistical sampling and categorization of
how people spend their time. This technique is a fairly weak surrogate for
dealing with weightier issues like goals and responsibilities. Its popularity
is due to the fact that it gives you something easy to measure, whether or not
it is in fact what should be measured.
Time and Motion Study: Breakdown of individual motions or actions to es-
tablish time standards for tasks. Like time expenditure analysis, this method
of work measurement is inappropriate to the knowledge worker environment.
Communication Flow Analysis: Monitoring of all flows of information by
source, recipient, and type of information transferred. This method is useful
for planning information systems.
Statistical Quality Control: Statistical analysis of data about a re-
pea te operation peration to determine whether the process is "under control" and to
suggest possibilities for improvement. Since the activities of the "knowledge
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worker" have been defined as containing few repetitive processes, this method
has limited applicability here.
Office Procedure Flowcharting: Rationalization of common office proce-
dures through study of initiation, management, and termination rules for each
procedure. This method represents the extension of computer flow-charting
into the semi-structured areas of the work environment. Again, the method can
lead the measurer astray. Here is a measure of activity today, not an indica-
tion of what the subject should be doing.
Value Analysis: Examines cost of each task and its contribution to the
overall va ue of goods or services.
Transfer Pricing: Market-based approach to evaluating the worth of a ser-
vice: how much are people willing to pay for that service?
Gut Feel. Despite the hazards of bias and the difficulty of communicating
a "feeling to others, instinct is your best way to know when a decision or
activity is right. Finance, however, may be unreceptive abort signing an in-
voice on this basis, despite the fact that this is what managers actually do.
There are a variety of evaluation methods which get at the real object to
be measured, in this case the potential benefits and impact of advanced office
equipment. The most sophisticated of these methods draw on techniques from
such fields as educational testing, psychological testing, and market research
to develop reliable measures of the intangible benefits of advanced office
equipment.
In the area of measuring intangibles, some organizations prefer to rely on
outside consultants who have the advantage of being "experts" in their field,
having an objective perspective on the organization, and adding a credibility
factor to the measuring process. The disadvantage of the outside consultant
is the length of the learning curve to understanding the particular organiza-
tion and its culture.
When working with consultants, it is the responsibility of the hiring par-
ties to familiarize that consultant with the particular organization. This is
a mutual education process which is essential to getting the results you de-
sire. Understanding the organizational culture is of paramount importance.
The group experience with new technologies, resistance to change, relations
with outside organizations, even prior experience with consultants is valuable
information. Don't look now, but the moment you accepted responsibility for
an advanced office project you, too, became a consultant.
The two bi-g questions in productivity measurement, or cost/benefit anal-
ysis if you prefer, are: `
? Knowing what you really want to measure, and
? Figuring how it can be quantified.
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The variety of organizational goals on which to found productivity mea-
surement are almost limitless:
? Pure Efficiency
? Financial Performance
e Product??or Service~.Qual ity
? Planning and Goal-Setting Effectiveness
? Information Management
? Internal Control
? Compet:itivePosit.ion-? and Reputation
? .-_Organizational Adaptability
Human-Resource Development
o Morale and Teamwork
? Organizational Growth
? Innovation and Creativity
With a little effort, you can indeed evaluate "warm fuzzy" goals to the
satisfaction of corporate finance. Here is a great opportunity to exercise
your creative instincts and your intuitive understanding of the organization.
If inspiration is in short supply, there are individuals in the consulting
world who can be called upon to help. IDC is aware of approximately 50 large
organizations which have used such consulting services.
We are no longer relegated to justifying human effort on the level of a
"line count." Value is a composite of such factors as:
? The overall information strategy of the organization.
? Information security and integrity.
? The competitive advantage made possible by the use of new tech-
nology.
? Enhanced interfaces among individuals, management groups, divi-
sions, and organizations.
? Control of information.
Indicators of value may come from such diverse areas as employee response,
interaction between operational groups, accuracy and timeliness of informa-
tion, changes in working procedures and relationships, and group morale.
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With personal computers popping up like spring flowers, it will not be
long before organizations make the quantum leap to assuming that advanced of-
fice systems are as necessary as typewriters and telephones.
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This segment addresses the technologies which are both the "form of" and
"delivery mechanism for" the advanced office. The issues of communications,
relating to the overall organizational structural concerns of an advanced of-
fice plan, are given major emphasis. The specific technologies discussed in-
clude:
Planning for the office requires a working knowledge of each of these
technologies, and more. The intention here is to touch on the gamut of exist-
ing technologies, from which the planner selects for the portfolio of applica-
tions to be developed on a priority basis. . Communications is treated in
greater depth due to the scope of the issues and increasing importance in
planning for advanced office systems.
? Communications
? Software
? Word Processing
? Text Storage and Retrieval
o Micrographics
e Graphics
? Electronic Mail & Voice Mail
? Teleconferencing
e Personal Computing
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A remarkable transformation in thinking has occurred in the heads of orga-
nizational planners during the past two years. There has been a total eleva-
tion of communications awareness among individuals and organizations from the
novice system user to the computer sophisticate. Concurrently, our society
has been swept up into the milieux of communication. Networks number among
the "megatrends" of our. daily life. Personal networks, resource networks, and
information networks surround and support us. And at the organizational lev-
el, there is hardly a systems planner today, regardless of system size, who
does not place communications strategy high on the priority list...
It is eminently clear that systems,. can no longer be viewed as stable enti-
ties. They expand at an astounding rate which is the result of a combination
of such odd allies as chip technology, high-level software flexibility, elo-
quent information management techniques (Information Center), and insatiable
user demand. As systems expand, and their power and domain increase, communi-
cations is the bridge from office to office, department to department, divi-
sion to division, organization to organization, and along the diagonal between
any of those layers. The technology which is the key to making any growing
system viable long-term (longer than six months.).-is communications.
After the Ethernet announcement (September 8, 1980), there were two years
of industry arm wrestling over which would become the ultimate communication
standard: baseband vs. broadband. Now that argument is purely academic. The
user population has come to realize that there are positive and negative as-
pects of each, and there are also other options to be considered: PBX, IBM's
token ring alternative, fiber optics, and microwave. What is essential to
effective planning is matching the technology and the media of delivery with
unique organizational needs and environmental variables. Communication is no,-
longer an intramural sport. -Communication is a necessity of life and the best
configured communication architectures are going to make use of multiple net.-;:-
work technologies.
There are two poles of thought about networks, one view positing that mod-
ern information networks are as old as the first functional PBX and the other
that electronic networks were born on September 8, 1980. Other networks did
exist in between, notably ALOHA in the late 1960s and Arpanet in the late
1960s to early 1970s. But the issue is not the dating of the technology,
rather it is the recognition that we all, users and vendors alike, are very
new at managing communications technology. The learning curve is high, and
Early communication theory, like old=system theory, posited a finite uni
Q managing a community of unintel-
vrse governed by a central controller (host) Y
ligent users: teletype, CRTs, etc. There was not much sense in planning for
communication between "dumb" terminals, and the technology and architecture
supported the "dumb" terminal theory. (Remember the vintage science fiction
movie, "The Planet of the Apes"?) Over the years, the end user has become
increasingly more knowledgeable about information technologies. The need for
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provided-. good,. service.:far-:: years, ,but making changes to-newer more :flexible,
systems.,.'di fficul t..,_ :The': large organization is characterize' by more general
and, wider ranging requirements than the small office environment.
A general list of communications systems requirements, as identified by
Dr. Charlie Bass (vice president, Ungermann-Bass, Inc.), a leading expert in
the network field, reads as follows:
additional capability, communications, and autonomy has evolved rapidly. This
demand for new communication structures to support user needs, in turn, is
driving modern network technology.
For the sake of definition, the world of communications users can be di-
vided into two groups: small offices and large organizations. The require-
ments of each of these groups is flavored by the types of communications which
take place. In the small office, localized communications are emphas-ized with
an emerging trend toward providing individual applications solutions via clus-
ters of personal computers (PCs) accessing a variety of shared peripherals.
(Corvus and Nestar have found their niche by providing systems for this mar-
ketplace.) The small office also provides a potential market for the integra-
tion of voice technology into the total system scheme, due to the fact that
small offices are not inhibited by a large investment in a costly PBX archi-
tecture. Largeorganizations,' by contrast;.- are more=-bound by previous pur-;
? A communications network should be FLEXIBLE. Flexibility means
that the network is, to some extent, expandable and changeable to
allow for both present and future organizational requirements.
a A communications network should be COST EFFECTIVE THROUGHOUT, but
particularly at the cost-sensitive low end.
o A communications network should be POWERFUL to permit such
overhead-intensive operations as protocol translation and file
conversion.
n A communications network should have VERY HIGH RELIABILITY.
r A communications network should ADHERE TO INDUSTRY STANDARDS.
This point is essential to wide-scale acceptance, and therefore
to wide-scale applicability.
At present, the integration of data, voice, and video in the local area
communications. market is limited, but we can expect to see the areas of inter-
section' increase in the future.
There are very good reasons why these technologies have not been further
integrated to date, beyond the observation that most organizations are not
geared to take advantage of true hybrid communications. The requirements for
voice and data have traditionally been different from each other. Voice com-
munication requires rapid response times, but is very forgiving in terms of
error rates. We can functionally lose a good deal of the voice signal itself
and still recreate intelligible information on the receiving end. Data, on
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the other hand, is very different. What is critical to data transmission is
that there must be very few errors, but response time for data transmission is
not a particularly critical factor. Terminals and other data sources can be
polled in a variety of ways. Computer communication occurs in bursts, while
video traffic is a continuous analogue phenomenon requiring high bandwidth.
This comparison- casts a cloud. of :doubt' over PBX-!vendors who- ' promi se_- to-,deliver'
total communications capabi-l-ity-over- two sets ?of_;;=.twisted_ par::<
The first order planning issue for all systems is the practical one: - what
kind of cable should you pull? The answer is equally practical: "Maths -
Nix." (Regardless of what you put in now, you can bet that within the next
two to five years you will need to put in something else.) IDC's advice on
this issue ethos the bottom line of the IBM book, Wiring Decisions for Build-
ing Planners: INSTALL LARGE:CONDUIT..-._-
The question of designing a communications architecture has three levels
of issues: the large organization philosophical one, the technical issues
(baseband vs. broadband, -CSMA/CD vs. token passing, rings vs. busses vs.
stars), and the media issues (twisted pair vs. coaxial cable vs. fiber optics
vs. radio waves and/or infra-red microwave). The organizational issues are
unique to the nature and character of each particular organization. The media
issues, however, are relatively straightforward. Each medium has its advan-
tages and applicability depending on the requirements of the system and the
logistics of size and location of the network.
Twisted pair is the medium we are all familiar with. The central argument
for twisted pair generally centers around the fact that it is a medium we all
know and love. It has known problems: twisted pair plants are a bit diffi-
cult to manage and difficult to maintain, however, there are techniques devel-
oped to handle these problems. Twisted pair spaghetti is often a fire hazard,
and although most independent phone companies are required to use teflon
coated wires, in many states the Bell system phone companies have been ex-
empted from this wiring code. Ceiling collapse due to the cumulative weight
of copper wire is a problem of which most building planners are acutely
aware. And transmission rates for twisted pair are rising in some of its
forms. Mixed data and voice, as promised by a growing number of independent
telephone companies, is within the range of these newer generations of twisted
pair. Twisted pair will remain a viable local area network technology, par-
ticularly appealing and accessible (in terms of cost) to small companies.
The advantage of fiber optics is security. In areas where high security
is the first priority, as in the Department of Defense, there is no. other se-
cure medium. It is virtually impossible to tap into fiber without being de-
tected. The double edge is that fiber optics have not been installed widely
to date due to the tapping difficulty. There is another, lesser known, bene-
fit of fiber: fiber optics are the medium of choice in areas subject to high
radiation emission, because fiber is virtually immune to the "noise" created
by radiation. The irony of fiber is that although it has an inherently wide
bandwidth, we have not yet been able to use that capacity effectively. Al-
though the medium can handle GHz, we are relegated to operating on it at the
MHz level because of our coupling limitations.
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is 16
The air-based media provide mobility and accessibility which are not in-
herent in any of the fixed media. Radio waves, infrared, etc., may be the
only way to communication with a field unit. The liability of the air-based
media is that they are generally "line of sight" and they leave a wide foot-
print or window for being intercepted.
The coaxial cable alternatives are, at present, subordinate to the base-
band/broadband issues. Beyond the exercise of the argument itself, the de-
bunking of the baseband and broadband myths is essential to being able to make
judicious network decisions. To that end, there follows a review list of the
benefits and liabilities of each alternative.
? Passive media.
? Simple connection.
? High-speed channel.
? Well specified.
o Easily installed and maintained.
? Digital technology appropriate for VLSI.
? Relatively low dollar cost per.bit, per second.
BASEBAND WEAKNESSES
o No multinode.
o Lower aggregate bandwidth.
? Grounding precautions.
BROADBAND STRENGTHS
? Well-developed and tested (CATV) components.
? 30GMHz available.
? Multiple segregated channels -- frequency division multiplexing
(FDM).
? Independent channel protocols -- time division multiplexing (TDM).
e Isolation, grounding excellent.
? Established infrastructure to support cable plant.
CONTINUOUS INFORMATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION
Approved For Release 2008/06/27: CIA-RDP85B01152R000700910018-4