Information System Evaluation - Case Study Example

EVALUATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS Introduction what is information systems? It can be described as a grouping of software, hardware, the infrastructure together with trained personnel that are organized with the aim of facilitating, planning, coordination, system control and organization decision making. Other words it can be defined as the software that assists in organizing as well as analyzing data which makes it easy to soft problems in an organization. Many organizations if not all across the world employ some sort of information system which has now become the way of life especial smooth running of the organization. (Anderson & Aydin, 2005). What is evaluating information systems This means that methods, diverse approaches and knowledge interest are given priority. Information system evaluation comprises both the invention from evaluation ant the process of evaluation from which it follows any differentiation in terms of knowledge interests and evaluation process. What do we evaluate? To evaluating information systems, some consideration has to be put on the components of information system. This comprises of information that is being fed into the system, processing of the data fed in, output from the system and lastly the simple IPO model at the base. With the evaluation of the systems special concerned has to be on the effectiveness as well as efficiency of the system, the quality of information being keyed in and the impacts of the information to the individual or an organization. The evaluation occurs in stages and therefore one must know when and what stage to evaluate. Whether is at the design stage, maturity or whole life (Anderson, Aydin, & Jay, 1993). When do we evaluate and Why do we need to evaluation of IS? Here the question of cost in evaluation comes in to justify the serves provided by the organization in relation to advantages associated with the process. The useful quantitative measures evaluating the benefits. Evaluation in information system is important because it helps in management structure functions and assessment of the internal operations. Checks the entire functioning of the whole system prior any planning change takes place. How important of evaluating IS and Current situation of evaluation of IS The importance associated with IS, is in line of supporting business activities as well as management decisions. Most of the decisions that are made are associated with the choosing the right information system, this entails technological background and the human resource, Compare and contrast the contemporary approaches and identify the challenges and benefits Barnes, G. (1988) Points out that, there are different contemporary approaches in evaluating informations systems, some of these approaches consist, the formal- rational model and interpretative approach which deals with quantitative measures and the likely or achieved cost/benefit. The Interpretative approach uses Information systems as social systems with Information Technology embedded into them (Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science. (n.d). There are strategies that are used in achieving these approaches. These are; the goal based – which are driven by the expressed aims of the system in the context (Bosselaers, & Preneel, 1995). The Goal free strategy comprises of the inductive examination of systems in place and practice. Lastly, is the Criteria driven, based on general criteria which are broader that the specific context of the system. Since evaluation occurs in stages. The first stage is the investigative stage which involves investigation that is done on the stated, suggested, unknown benefits and risks. Then analysis is done followed by identification of the benefits/risks to achieve efficiency, effectiveness and understanding (Bellahsène & Rolland, 2002). To be in a good position to give overall and comprehensive explanation about information system success which comprises of different evaluation, DeLone and McLean redefined the current definition of IS achievement and their matching measures and later categorized them into six groups Another one is the measurement stage where efficiency, effectiveness, understanding and evaluation method is selected then measurement is done. It is later followed by analysis then revision and refinement. Information systems success is based on six dimensions. These dimensions includes among others, system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organizational impact. The system quality is a measure through access to information, convenience, data quality, ease of use, interface, flexibility or customization, resilience, features and information integration (Chandler & Holzer, 1988). On the other hand, information quality is a measure through the following ways; accuracy, adequacy, availability, conciseness, format, reliability, uniqueness and usability. Service quality measurement is through training, reliability, responsiveness, flexibility and assurance. The benefits of system evaluation and its impact to the organization are both internal and external. These evaluation processes bring about business process change, competitive advantage, cost reduction, improved communication in business. It enhances better control, enhance reputation, the better decision making through speed and quality. There is improved productivity, performance, management control, customer satisfaction and feedback (European Conference on Information Technology Evaluation, Remenyi, & Berghout, 2004). When information systems were introduced into the society, it received different views and critics. So there has to be a technological adoption of new technology and to get a better understanding of the people and the factors that affect their technological adoption and devise a way of better adoption, training, and acceptance Bellahsène, Léonard & International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CASE, 2008). The adoption process begins with creating awareness then followed by assessing those who have been made aware of the technological change. It is then followed by acceptance by the society, if well received and accepted, learning and training kicks in. when all have learned and mastered the art of using these introduced technology, usage of the technological devices continues. Thats how people adopt the usage of new technology (European Conference on Information Management and Evaluation & Remenyi, 2007). To have desired benefits, often is not quite clear at the beginning of a system implementation, whereas some of the benefits can be easily measured enabling the cause-effect relationship aspect to the new systems to be noticed in time. There are several benefits which are intangible and indirect hard to evaluate. The evolution of information systems has really and greatly improved the life of man. It has offered a wider range of opportunities in life, not forgetting the challenges that come with it. Information systems analysis and evaluation involve all the electronic devices used in communication in our current times, past times and times to come. Some of these devices include computers, mobile phones, tablets, and laser machines, all the electronic equipment used in information conveyance in health facilities, watch towers, schools and all relevant institutions (Galliers, 2012). Informations systems devices such as computers possess large chunks of memory space that enables a lot of information to be stored in them. They provide big data and analytics which in turn lead to more informed and quick decision making. For instance; Mobile technology increases that amount of data that is stored and processed because is widely used today. A good example is location data. This means the possibility of providing real time information and analysis to mobile users. Information systems have greatly improved the business sector in the manner that businessmen get to carry out their business transactions online and manage their businesses in real time with people from different geographical locations. Information systems enable customers engagement through computers and mobile devices (List of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems Reviewers, 2005). Mobile technology makes it possible to better engage customers and employees in manner that is easier, simple and first. This is achieved through advertisements and internet marketing or use in real time. Attractive and appealing advertisement for product promotion can be done fast and easily through interactive phone call and establishment of good customer base approach. The other benefit derived from information systems is improved collaboration between different department that help achieve the desired objective or goals (Stefanou, 2011). Mobile and computer technology improves and strengthens collaboration within organizations by better connecting employees with information and also linking one organization to the other. It enhances teamwork and better team work in an organization, for example in the police department this technology improves productivity through mobile working since there is sharing and working to achieve a common goal as pointed out by Sawyer & Huang, (n.d.). Growth in the information systems has been also responsible for the rapid development of industries, innovation, and more job opportunities. These improvements have led to mobile payments, e-learning, e-booking, basically everything nowadays is done online. Developments in mobile payments provide new opportunities for individuals to purchase and for organizations to offer goods and services to customers. This technology has given opportunity to individuals to access location services that help in notifying individuals of their current locations and their acquaintances location that enhances service delivery in time (Appreciation of reviewers for the Journal of Information Technology to December (2002). Information systems also bring about convergence. The union of social media, together with the cloud, and mobile technology means that organizations and individuals are able to link these platforms like never possible before. Cloud opportunities are also available thanks to information systems. The cloud presents opportunities in terms of how we store and connect with our data; this means that, stored data/files are available round the clock. The advancements in the mobile content and computer applications has come as a revolution in technology as information is becoming more and more portable (Boaden & Lockett, 2006). Availability of Apps and mobile websites enables all the information needed by workers and individuals to be available on the move. These information help improve the efficiency of output and speeds up work to be done. Most of the recent technologies invented have proved to be affordable, and this is an added advantage to most users. Cost stands not to be a barrier to adoption. Therefore, internet growth and wearable technology are another opportunity obtained from advancement in technology and information systems (Tosetto, 2010). The ever growing interest and advancement in wearable technology such as Google Glass, Augmented Reality, watches, etc. means that there is an opportunity to better integrate mobile technology into a more complete "mobile information ecosystem". As more items get linked to the internet it is possible to have better control/access to information and services from mobile technology. For example, battery life has increased which makes it more possible to operate on the move and stay mobile for long as you work and at the same time being in tough with family and friends. Out of all these new and greater jobs are created and individuals continue to grow economically as well as our economy. Information systems also have grown in terms of connectivity, just sometimes back we had 2G internet, then later migrated to 3G and currently we are operating on 4G. Data speeds continue to improve (4G) providing new and unpredicted ways of improving work make our life easy (Gunasekaran & Ngai, 2011). With all these benefits, it also come challenges which are faced as a result of advancement in information technology. For example, migration from the old systems to the recently advanced new and mobile systems, security, behavioral issues and concerns around the digital divide. To begin with is the digital migration challenge, also called legacy systems challenge. The initial systems in organizations are fixed. Therefore, people find it hard to migrate from legacy information systems to the mobile environment (Tarafdar & Vaidya, 2007). Consequently, the next generation workers are mobile oriented, therefore, the organization will find it hard to adapt to the new mobile workforce. The challenge of security of information and systems themselves need to be addressed because chunks of information nowadays are stored on cloud. This exposes them to risk of access by hackers; therefore, the Cloud presents a danger - as individuals and organizations store more data in the cloud does creates a dependence on third parties to manage the data (n.d. Retrieved December 2, 2014). Internal and external factors and trends and advances in IT Storing data on the cloud leaves individuals and organizations more open to data theft. Another threatening security to most people’s finance especial within the finance institutions is the information system awareness of some employees who may engage in financial fraud since they are able to access secured information and use it with other bank fraudsters or IT gurus. They can manipulate the systems in order to hack. Others include identity theft and violation of privacy. For instance; locations services means that corporations have more data than ever on individuals, without individuals understanding the extent to which this occurs (n.d. Retrieved December 2, 2014). Another challenge or threat is that, if it possesses an illegal alliance with wrong groups or political parties to side with, then it means many things will go wrong due to private information being accessed. Mobile technology enhances collaboration since it makes social movements easier to organize. It might be viewed by certain entities as a threat (Khosrow-Pour, 2014). Behavioral aspects are destroyed by day because of the limitations created by the advancement in technology. Introduction of mobile phones, internet and the likes have bent people to seize meeting up and discuss issue face to face in details, i.e. mobile society reduces the need for face-to-face contact. Nowadays all conversations are concluded online or on the phone. This is a bad behavior since no conversations expressed are appealing. The growing use of mobile phone use by millennial for example in the classroom, dinner table, etc. leads to a culture disconnect due to class concentration which in turn may lead to failure (Henderson, 1967). A culture of distraction as individuals cannot get bored since they can check their mobile phones up to 33 times a day. The culture of reading and writing letters has also reduced with great margin since emails and mobile texts are used on the daily basis because of their fast delivery and instant answers compared to letters that take time. This has lead to very poor handwriting of many people due to gadget use than pens, this does not mean the technology has done a lot of harm to our society but there should be away of balancing the way we use technology to reduce too much dependency in case when things go wrong (Dwivedi, Wade& Schneberger, 2012). The way we consume and send information on a mobile phone is different. We have a preference for short passages of information which means that it becomes difficult for people to digest large passages of text (Information Resources Management Association & Khosrow-Pour, 1990). The issue of slow connection and slowing down of systems due to large capacity of data being transmitted or stored in the systems slows down the rate of work being done and the desired output. There is a concern that as the amount of devices we connect to the wireless internet increases and our appetite for data increases there may not be enough spectrum (Davis, 2003). While connectivity increases in many parts of the world have remained detached from the mobile digital revolution. This creates an information divide and presents challenges in ameliorating socio-economic divides that exist globally. The difference in models of systems is a hindrance and it remains difficult to link different platforms, for example the Windows and Apple difference (The top ten technology disasters of, 2013). This means working across different platforms is difficult and is a barrier to more effective working. Technological obsolescence comes as a challenge too because mobile technology changes rapidly, meaning that devices are out of date soon after release. This increases e-waste and is harmful to the environment (European Conference on IT Evaluation, Brown, & Remenyi, 2001). The other challenge that comes with these technological advancements and information systems is the increased volume of data (Wang, 2011). The increasing volume of data results in more unreliable data, which is problematic for a mobile workforce. It hinders the growth in some sectors of an organization. Mobile applications that have come up has also let to limited openness amongst individuals at home and at the work environment (Tan, 2011). The information systems and technological advancements have been the key influence for high standards of living that people from the middle class and lower class find hard to cope with. In the government sect, it has led to change in governance in different sectors of the economy, from education to industry and the government regulations that help curb certain immoral behaviors and viewing of illegal graphic such as pornography (Tan, 2012). Recommendations What is required now is an intensive and universal approach to understanding the benefits which IT/IS brings. Therefore, understanding both the societal and institutional contexts within which the technology is introduced as well as formulating suitable ways in measuring the effect of the technology. The public domain is always under pressure to prove that the investment in these new technologies is suitable and brings value to both the organization and the larger society. Over the past few years increasing implementations of mobile technologies and information systems have occurred within the public domain in the struggle to advance their operations. Evaluation of information systems plays a major role in ensuring that the benefits are recognized from the investment in mobile technologies and information systems, therefore the state has the responsibility to enact policies that will encourage the wider and safe use of this technology by all generations. Information systems research has lead to that mastering and understanding of the value which information technologies bring to organizations which does not come directly. The reasons behind this are the investment in technology most times occurs along with considerable changes in organizational processes. Systems can consume much time developing as well as implementing and involving a variety of stakeholders who have different agendas and ideologies for its full success. Over advancement in technology also possess exposes us to the digital divide problem where those who have less or no knowledge on information systems find it hard to cope with those who have migrated digitally to the advanced technology. For proper usage and utilization of the technology all of us must be onboard and all efforts have to be made to realize this even if the government has to enact new policies to counter the divide, therefore as the world moves digitally every individual must be aware of what is going on. (Alkhalifa, 2010). Conclusion There is no one size that fits all solution for the evaluation process across different sectors. Simply imitating the things others do or have done without grasping and understanding the framework within which information system evaluation needs to occur will not give practicable and satisfactory results. Concentrating solely on one aspect, such as finance, is not an effective way to evaluate systems. There has been a historical trend to rely on certain types of data to present an evaluation of new IT/IS, particularly quantifiable measurements. This can at times lead to scenarios where implementations are proclaimed successfully yet organizations end up with underutilized systems. References 1. ANDERSON, J. G., & AYDIN, C. E. (2005). Evaluating the Organizational Impact of Healthcare Information Systems. New York, NY, Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. http://proxy.uqtr.ca/login.cgi?action=login&u=uqtr&db=springer-eb&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1007%2F0-387-30329-4. 2. ANDERSON, J. G., AYDIN, C. E., & JAY, S. J. (1993). Evaluating health care information systems: approaches and applications. Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage. 3. BARNES, G. (1988). A comparative evaluation framework for cadastre-based land information systems (CLIS) in developing countries. 4. BOSSELAERS, A., & PRENEEL, B. (1995). Integrity primitives for secure information systems final report of RACE integrity primitives evaluation RIPE-RACE 1040. Berlin [etc.], Springer. 5. BELLAHSÈNE, Z., PATEL, D., & ROLLAND, C. (2002). Object-oriented information systems 8th international conference, OOIS 2002, Montpellier, France, September 2-5, 2002 : proceedings. Berlin [etc.], Springer. BAWDEN, D. (1990). User-oriented evaluation of information systems and services. Aldershot, Gower. CACCIABUE, P. C. (2007). Modelling driver behaviour in automotive environments: critical issues in driver interactions with intelligent transport systems. London, Springer. 6. CHANDLER, J. S., & HOLZER, H. P. (1988). Management information systems: planning, evaluation, and implementation. Oxford [England], B. Blackwell. 7. DAVIS, C. K. (2003). Technologies & methodologies for evaluating information technology in business. Hershey, PA, IRM Press. 8. EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION, REMENYI, D., & BERGHOUT, E. (2004). 10th European Conference on Information Technology Evaluation Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain, 25-26 September 2003. Reading, England, Academic Conferences International. 9. EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION, & REMENYI, D. (2007). ECIME 2007, the European Conference on Information Management and Evaluation: University of Montpellier, 1 Montpellier, France, 20-21 September 2007. Reading, Academic Confere 10. The top ten technology disasters of 2013. (23, July 29). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10520015/The-top-ten-technology- disasters-of- 2013.html 11. Galliers, B. (2012). Introducing the journal of strategic information systems — the new approach to information systems management. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2, 3- 3 12. List of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems Reviewers. (2005). The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2, 355-358. 13. Stefanou, C. (2011). The complexity and the research area of AIS. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 3, 9-12. 14. Sawyer, S., & Huang, H. (n.d.). Conceptualizing information, technology, and people: Comparing information science and information systems literatures. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 1436-1447. 15. Appreciation of reviewers for the Journal of Information Technology to December (2002). Journal of Information Technology, 2, 225-226. 16. Boaden, R., & Lockett, G. (2006). Information technology, information systems and information management: Definition and development. European Journal of Information Systems, 4, 23-32. 17. Tosetto, M. (2010). Socio-Technical Management of Software Testing In Information Systems Projects. JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, 2, 325- 346. 18. Gunasekaran, A., & Ngai, E. (2011). Strategic enterprise information systems for global supply chain competitiveness. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2, 215-216. 19. Tarafdar, M., & Vaidya, S. (2007). Information systems assimilation in Indian organizations: An examination of strategic and organizational imperatives. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 4, 293-326. 20. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS).-a0115693798 21. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.booklad.org/docid/essentials of management information systems 9th pdf/ 22. Khosrow-Pour, M. (2014). Inventive approaches for technology integration and information resources management. http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/978-1-4666-6256-8. 23. Dwivedi, Y. K., Wade, M. R., & Schneberger, S. L. (2012). Information systems theory: Explaining and predicting our digital society. New York, NY: Springer. 24. Information Resources Management Association., & Khosrow-Pour, M. (1990). Managing information resources in the 1990s: Proceedings of 1990 Information Resources Management Association International Conference. Harrisburg, Pa: Idea Group Pub. 25. Alkhalifa, E. M. (2010). E-strategies for resource management systems: Planning and implementation. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference. 26. European Conference on IT Evaluation, Brown, A., & Remenyi, D. (2001). Eighth European Conference on Information Technology Evaluation: Oriel College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 17-18 September 2001. Reading?: Typeset by MCIL. 27. Tan, F. B. (2012). International comparisons of information communication technologies: Advancing applications. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. 28. Wang, J. (2011). Information systems and new applications in the service sector: Models and methods. Hershey: Business Science Reference. 29. Tan, F. B. (2011). International enterprises and global information technologies: Advancing management practices. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. 30. Bellahsène, Z., Léonard, M., & International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, CAiSE. (2008). Advanced information systems engineering: 20th International Conference, CAiSE 2008 Montpellier, France, June 16-20, 2008 : proceedings. Berlin [etc.: SpringerLink [host. 31. Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2014, from http://www.eriesjournal.com/index.php?idScript=11&idArticle=133 Read More