Management of lifecycle costs and benefits: Lessons from information systems practice

Assessing the economic feasibility of information systems (IS) projects and operations remains a challenge for most organizations. This research investigates lifecycle cost and benefit management practices and demonstrates that, overall, although organizations intend to improve their information technology (IT) management, they squander many opportunities to do so. There are inconsistencies in cost/benefit management practices. Most organizations that integrate operational benefits into investment analyses do not acknowledge operational costs. Planned project goals are seldom formulated in a verifiable or measurable way; there is little structured feedback on individual lifecycle activities, nor co-ordination of various activities. Thus, the attitude towards cost/benefit management appears primarily context-related and incident-driven. A further development of the system lifecycle-based approach is needed to improve IT cost/benefit management theory and practice, because a coherent set of methods is required to assess IT costs and benefits throughout the entire lifecycle.

[1]  Leslie P. Willcocks,et al.  Investing in information systems: evaluation and management , 1995 .

[2]  Chris Edwards,et al.  Information Systems Maintenance: An Integrated Perspective , 1984, MIS Q..

[3]  Luigi Suardi,et al.  How to manage your software product life cycle with MAUI , 2004, CACM.

[4]  Frank F. Land,et al.  Moving IS evaluation forward: learning themes and research issues , 1999, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[5]  Kaj Grønbæk,et al.  CSCW challenges: cooperative design in engineering projects , 1993, CACM.

[6]  I. Janis,et al.  Decision Making: A Psychological Analysis of Conflict, Choice, and Commitment , 1977 .

[7]  Catherine Griffiths,et al.  Responsibility for IT: a grey area of management , 1994 .

[8]  M. Parker,et al.  Information Economics: Linking Business Performance to Information Technology , 1988 .

[9]  Israel Borovits,et al.  Computer systems performance evaluation : criteria, measurement, techniques, and costs , 1979 .

[10]  Leslie P. Willcocks.  Information management - the evaluation of information systems investments , 1994 .

[11]  Chrisanthi Avgerou,et al.  Evaluating information systems by consultation and negotiation , 1995 .

[12]  Rob Kling,et al.  The control of information systems developments after implementation , 1984, CACM.

[13]  Robert J. Kauffman,et al.  An evaluative framework for research on the performance effects of information technology investment , 1989, ICIS '89.

[14]  Edward O. Joslin,et al.  Computer Selection , 1977 .

[15]  Frank Land,et al.  How to Assess Your It Investment: A Study of Methods and Practice , 1993 .

[16]  Philip Kotler,et al.  Marketing management, millenium edition , 2011 .

[17]  Stefano Tornincasa,et al.  Key performance indicators for PLM benefits evaluation: The Alcatel Alenia Space case study , 2008, Comput. Ind..

[18]  S. H. Kim,et al.  A methodology of constructing a decision path for IT investment , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[19]  Marinos Themistocleous,et al.  Evaluating e‐government: learning from the experiences of two UK local authorities , 2005, Inf. Syst. J..

[20]  Erik Brynjolfsson,et al.  The productivity paradox of information technology , 1993, CACM.

[21]  Watts S. Humphrey,et al.  A discipline for software engineering , 2012, Series in software engineering.

[22]  Qing Hu,et al.  European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) 2007 IT Investment Evaluation as a Socio-Political Process : Determinants to Managerial Adoption and Use , 2017 .

[23]  M Looijen,et al.  Managing the life cycle of Information and Communication Technology investments for added value. , 1997 .

[24]  Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics,et al.  Economics of informatics : proceedings of the IBI-ICC international symposium, Mainz, 16-20 September, 1974 , 1975 .

[25]  J. Matthews.  Trust in numbers: The pursuit of objectivity in science and public life , 1996 .

[26]  James D. McKeen,et al.  Linking IT investment with IT usage , 1993, [1993] Proceedings of the Twenty-sixth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[27]  R. Hirschheim,et al.  Analysing information systems evaluation: another look at an old problem , 1998 .

[28]  Lorin M. Hitt,et al.  The Three Faces of IT Value: Theory and Evidence , 1994, ICIS.

[29]  Garry D. Bruton,et al.  STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION , 2011 .

[30]  L. Willcocks,et al.  Strategic Sourcing of Information Systems: Perspectives and Practices , 1998 .

[31]  Egon Berghout,et al.  Methodologies for information systems investment evaluation at the proposal stage: a comparative review , 1997, Inf. Softw. Technol..

[32]  Tom Renkema.  Boekbespreking Farbey, B.; Land, F.; Targett, D.: how to assess your IT investment, a study of methods and practice (Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1993) , 1994 .

[33]  Michael J. Earl,et al.  Management Strategies for Information Technology , 1989 .

[34]  Dan Remenyi,et al.  A Guide to Measuring and Managing It Benefits , 1994 .

[35]  Mannus Hendrik-Jan Nijland,et al.  Understanding the use of IT evaluation methods in organisations , 2004 .

[36]  John F. Rockart,et al.  The information technology function of the 1990s: a unique hybrid , 1991 .

[37]  K. Cassell,et al.  The Information Paradox: Realizing the Business Benefits of Information Technology , 1999 .

[38]  Leslie P. Willcocks,et al.  Shaping the Future. Business Design Through Information Technology , 1991, J. Inf. Technol..

[39]  Joel Dean,et al.  Capital Budgeting: Top Management Policy on Plant, Equipment, and Product Development , 1951 .

[40]  Leslie P. Willcocks,et al.  Evaluating Information Technology investments: research findings and reappraisal , 1992, Inf. Syst. J..

[41]  A. B. Frielink.  INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ECONOMICS OF INFORMATICS , 1975 .

[42]  F. McFarlan,et al.  Corporate Information Systems Management: Issues Facing Senior Executives , 1995 .

[43]  R. H. Klompé.  The Alignment of Operational ICT: Management of Benefits and Burdens , 2003 .

[44]  Geoff Hogbin,et al.  Investing in Information Technology; Managing the Decision-Making Process , 1994 .

[45]  L. Willcocks,et al.  Beyond the It Productivity Paradox , 1999 .

[46]  Mary O'Mahony,et al.  Output, Input and Productivity Measures at the Industry Level: The EU KLEMS Database , 2009 .

[47]  George Willard Terborgh,et al.  Dynamic equipment policy , 1949 .

[48]  Rudy Hirschheim,et al.  Analysing information systems evaluation: another look at an old problem , 1998 .

[49]  Paul Valckenaers.  Performance measurement , 2007, Comput. Ind..

[50]  Steve Smithson,et al.  Information systems evaluation in practice: a case study of organizational change , 2000, J. Inf. Technol..

[51]  Leslie P. Willcocks,et al.  Managing Outsourcing: The Life Cycle Imperative , 2005, MIS Q. Executive.

[52]  Joan A. Ballantine,et al.  Financial appraisal and the IS/IT investment decision making process , 1998, J. Inf. Technol..

[53]  Rüdiger Zarnekow,et al.  European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) 2005 Distribution of Cost Over the Application Lifecycle-A Multi-Case Study , 2017 .