PROBLEMS AND PITFALLS IN DEVELOPING MIS

An effective MIS requires continuous,  consistent, long-range planning with involvement and commitment from the management as an institutionalised planning process involving everybody concerned. There is a need for an information steering committee and it may take more than one iteration to establish the process firmly. It has to undergo an application development cycle consisting of analysis, synthesis and implementation phases. Systems feasibility (consisting  of technical, economic and operational feasibilities) is a most important starting point of MIS development. In other words, the development process should take into account the rationale, definition and characteristics, economics, design, specification; schedule, implementation plan, implementation status and review. Some of the usual pitfalls and problems in developing and running effective Information System are mentioned below along  with -some  ways of  increasing effectiveness: 

1. Emphasis on Clerical System: Just taking over an existing clerical system and modifying it without upgrading or changing it does not help. The clerical system has to be upgraded to a management system. On the other hand, computers have been put to work on those things that are best understood and easily structured and which require little management involvement. 
2. Communication gap between Computer Technologist and Manager/ User: Ensuring maximum cooperation and coordination between computer personnel and managers is necessary. A greater degree of interaction and involvement between the systems function and themanagement function  is required. 
3. Lack of a Master Plan: A systematic long range plan/planned approach is necessary for establishing an effective  Management Information System. Increased focus on the area of problems definition is required in the  systems analysis. The dramatic changes in business strategy together with changes in the top management personnel  and organisation structure call for a through plan.
4. Subordition of MIS Function to EDP Accounting System: Management Information System's function should be made an independent function so that it reports directly to top   management.  
5. Lack of Managerial Participation: This involvement and support of top management  as well as participation of  all managers in the design of their own management information system are necessary. If top management tends to depend upon its informally designed private information systems, development of structured, formalised and a public management information systems becomes difficult. Many top managers wrongly feel that good strategic decisions are  made more by intuition than by a quantitative analysis of the available data.
6. Overlooking Human Acceptance: Users of Management Information System should be involved right at the early stages of design. Their cooperation by demonstrating how  Management Information System will positively affect their job is a must. 
7. Lack of Resources and Trained Personnel: Lack of trained personnel consisting of system analysts, system designers, programmers and chief information officers who are business trained and/or have a basic business prospective is a  handicap.  
8. Voluminous and Unstructured Nature of Data: Sometimes the volume of data itself can be a hurdle unless careful sifting is done. On the other hand, it may also be difficult to locate and retrieve relevant data.Often, the data required by top management is unstructured, non- programmed, future oriented. inexact and external and hence difficult to  capture.
9. Limited Use of Management Science and or Techniques: Some of the ways of increasing the effective of Management Information System include motivating managers to participate and get involved in Management Information System, establishing consistent performance and work criteria for Management Information System, maintaining simplicity and ease of use, training systems analysts and careful consideration of basic computer feasibility criteria like volume and repetitive nature of transactions, degree of mathematical processing, quick  turnaround time, accuracy and validity of data, common source documents and well understood processing logic. 
10. Enormous Time, Effort and Resources Required: MIS budget includes data processing costs, hardware costs, personnel  costs, supplies, services, etc.