On the Concept of Method in Information Systems Development (original) (raw)

Relationship between Information Systems Development Paradigms and Methods

There are well established paradigms for Information Systems development but the methods used for Information Systems development have not been tied to most of these paradigms. Researchers have attempted to document the assumptions underlying different paradigms with the goal of making systems developers become aware of the assumptions and beliefs that they employ for a systems development task. However, a number of Information Systems that have failed are as a result of lack of awareness by the Information Systems developers of some of the methods that should be used when dealing with an ISD problem. IS researchers have not related some of the ISD methods that can be used by practitioners to identified ISD paradigms. In this paper, ISD methods have been classified under some of the major ISD paradigms in form of a matrix. It is hope that such a classification will enable IS developers to easily identify the methods that they should use which should lead inturn to better quality of Information Systems and a reduction in time and cost in Information System Development.

A Framework for Selection of Information Systems Development Methodologies

Computer and Information Science, 2009

Information systems are increasingly becoming regarded as crucial to an organisation's success. A development methodology for an information system is a framework to organize, program and supervise the process of developing an information system. There many are different methodologies for information systems development. Obviously, no methodology can claim that it can be applied to any organisation. Therefore, organisations should have an evaluation framework for selecting an appropriate and efficient methodology. In this paper, we propose an evaluation framework for selecting information systems development methodology in order to facilitate the development process of information systems in organisations. In this work, we will describe and compare different hard and soft systems approaches at first, then in the following sections, one kind of methodology's classifications is pointed and one methodology from each class is introduced. Finally, a comparison framework is proposed and methodologies are compared by this framework. The value of this framework is that, with use of it, organisations can evaluate their development methodology with respect to the key features of it before implementing any methodology as well as expending extra costs. This framework is theoretical in nature, and is build based on a review of related literature.

Information systems development: methodologies, techniques and tools

2003

This paper first provides a historical perspective on approaches to developing infonnation systems and argues that there are major weaknesses associated with the conventional waterfall model and the methodologies which followed. The paper suggests that a contingency approach to information systems development has much to offer and looks at Multiview, which is described as an exploration in infom1ation systems development. Some strengths and weaknesses of this contingency approach an~ highlighted and a new version of Multi view offered. This description enahles a further discussion of infom1ation systems development and suggests that human and organisational aspect are at least as important as the technical ones which tend to he emphasised. Information systems development is seen as first a social process, though it will contain technical aspects. This social process is examined in more detail illustrating the arguments, for example, with different views of the systems analyst and the problem situation in this process. Such a broad approach also suggests that the area of which infom1ation systems development is a part, is multi-disciplinary where technology and computing are hy no means dominant.

An Investigation of the Use of Methods within Information Systems Development Projects

The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries

The development of information systems has always been and remains a volatile environment. Practitioners and researchers within the field of information systems development (ISD) have put forward a number of different ideas over the past thirty years to better monitor and control the process. The use of traditional ISD methods has been one such idea that has not only achieved widespread application but has garnered many criticisms regarding its application. This study seeks to investigate whether these criticisms are supported in terms of how present day organizations utilize traditional ISD methods in light of the increased diversity and sophistication of ISD projects. The findings of the study i ndicate that whilst methods are considered an integral part of the majority of development projects, they cannot be adopted without a significant amount of modification to suit individual development projects. In addition, traditional ISD methods were considered of limited use within the present ISD environment.

An empirical evaluation of a methodology-tailoring information system development model

Software Process: Improvement and Practice, 2008

Over the years a multitude of methodologies of information systems development have emerged. While many of these methodologies have shown promise, prior research has shown that system development is a highly circumstantial process, and that no one methodology will be optimal for every context of every project. Research has also shown that system development practitioners have been using an ad hoc approach to modify formal methodologies in order to create a better fit for their circumstances.

Evaluating Information Systems Development Methods: A New Framework

2002

Our detailed investigation into various approaches to evaluate Information Systems Development methods has shown that numerous attempts to assess these methods only yield inconclusive and questionable results. There are two general trends as to how various criteria for evaluation are organised. There are relatively ad hoc lists of criteria for evaluation, and systematically organised frameworks, which generally provide more authoritative assessment results. However, the frameworks investigated are too generic and disproportionate in their emphases on certain parts of a method. Our initial motivation was the development of a framework for assessment of Component-based Software Development methods. However, in response to the shortcomings in existing approaches to method evaluation, a more generic framework that can be used to evaluate various types of Information Systems Development methods such as object-oriented methods, structured methods etc, is presented in this paper. The proposed framework defines three major elements of a method, namely, System Models, System Development Process and Software Architecture. This paper discusses the technique for evaluation of System Models and due to limitations on length of the paper, discussions on the evaluation of the other two elements are not included.