Managing User Capabilities in Information Systems Life Cycle: Conceptual Modeling

Information Systems (IS) acquisition prescribes induction of information technologies (IT) in the organization. At times, IS is used for managing broader enterprise level issues like implementing e-business, e-commerce. Enterprise level issues are addressed through adequate involvement of people in the organization which are termed as “user capabilities”. Managing user capabilities is critical since their roles are very important in the entire Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It is seen that failures in IT acquisition are not because of the technology, but failure in choosing it rightly, and poor user capabilities. If planned properly, user capabilities can contribute effectively to SDLC. SDLC works in stages with different sets of users and insensitivities to users contribute to the gap between satisfying organizational needs and end-user deliveries. This problem can be addressed by carefully integrating user capability issues in the SDLC process. In this paper a framework is suggested to capture user capabilities in an IT acquiring organization. User capabilities are identified in two categories: IT users who are IT experts and involved in design, development, and implementation of SDLC driven projects, and, second, non-IT users who, despite having inadequate or no exposure to IT, contribute to SDLC driven projects. The framework is implemented through Unified Modelling Language (UML) based approach. A case discusses the utility of this approach. DOR:  98.1000/1726-8125.2017.15.39.0.1.77.103