Software systems development and implementation have become more difficult with the rapid introduction of new technology and the increasing complexity of the marketplace. This paper proposes an evaluation framework for identifying the causes of shortfalls in implemented information system projects. This framework has been developed during a longitudinal case study of a problematic project, which is described.

Exceptions are events that cannot be handled by an information system by following normal processing rules. Exceptions arise for two main reasons: flaws in system design and post implementation changes in the system domain. Only few exceptions should arise in an information system serving its user community well. In practice, this is rarely the case and exceptions are sometimes rather common even with routine processes. In this paper, an exception‑based approach to evaluate information systems is presented together with practical examples of its use. The benefits of the analysis to information system management are elaborated on.

The purpose of information systems post‑evaluation ought to be to improve the use of systems. The paper proposes the use of narratives as a tool in post‑evaluations. The potential in narratives is that they can convey meanings, interpretations, and knowledge about the system, which may potentially lead to action. The paper offer three main suggestions: 1) evaluations should form the basis for action; 2) narratives makes evaluation more relevant; and 3) post‑evaluations should be done with the aim of improving use. Narratives should be viewed as a complement to traditional evaluation methods and as a way of making evaluation more formative and thereby moving away from the more common summative perception of evaluation. The conclusion of the paper is that narratives can advance IS evaluation and provide a richer evaluation picture by conveying meanings not included in traditional evaluations.

While defining or measuring the effectiveness of the information systems (IS) function has proven complicated, further effort on refining IS assessment is essential for the effective management and continuous improvement of both the IS function and the organisation. In addition, an effort to investigate the relationships among the established IS assessment tools to better reconcile their existing differences is warranted. This paper aims to clearly differentiate the notions of 'Software' from 'Information Systems'. A new IS assessment model is proposed to provide a more holistic view on how IS quality may be assessed by means of a process capability understanding of evaluating IS effectiveness within the organisational context.

The business community in the past decade has been characterised by debate over the value or effectiveness of e‑Commerce and how this type of technology needs to be implemented. During this period the business world has witnessed many examples of failures of Internet based business. There is little doubt that the high failure rate in Dot.Coms had much to do with misconceptions regarding the ease with which e‑Commerce could be implemented. Unrealistic expectations caused tried and tested business rules to be abandoned as hyperbole over took sound business sense. Although it is clear today that the Internet and the Web can facilitate business processes to add value to organisations, this technology has to be managed with considerable care. This paper reports on a case study conducted in kalahari.net, a well known South African e‑Tailing business. This case study highlights several valuable lessons to do with the evaluation of an e‑Commerce investment and how to ensure its success. Specifically the case study closely examines aspects of kalahari.net's IS management policy, and identifies a set of preliminary e‑Commerce success dimensions.

The widespread distribution of HIS requires professional evaluation techniques. In this study we present a usability questionnaire called IsoMetrics which is based on the international standard ISO 9241 Part 10. The questionnaire was applied to assess the usability of a Hospital Information System. The equivalence of the online and a paper‑and‑pencil format of the questionnaire were investigated. The results show that the different formats do not affect the subject's ratings. IsoMetrics was proven to be a reliable technique for software evaluation in the field of hospital information systems supporting usability screenings in large organisations.

A quality model links together and defines the various software metrics and measurement techniques that an organisation uses which when measured, the approach taken must be sufficiently general for hybrid hardware and software systems. In this work software quality factors that should be taken into account in very large information systems will be considered. Such systems will require a high degree of parallelism and will involve a large number of processing elements. We start by identifying the metrics and measurement approaches that can be used. Many of the quality factors would be applied in similar way for sequential and paralleldistributed architectures, however a number of factors will be investigated which are relevant to the parallel class. In such a system many elements can fail which can have major impact on the system's performance, and therefore it affects the costbenefit factors. Portability and usability are other major problems that need to be taken into account when considering all the relevant factors that affect quality for such environments.

The development of Web applications is an important focus of the modern information enabled organization — whether the Web application development is in‑house, outsourced, or purchased as 'commercial‑off‑the‑shelf' (COTS) software. Traditionally Web application development has been delivered via the dominant waterfall system. The waterfall system relies upon well‑defined governance structures, linear phases, gating, and extensive reporting and sign‑off documentation. An increasing number of development stakeholders criticise the waterfall system for web application development. The criticisms include a disproportionate focus on governance and process at the direct expense of flexibility and, most importantly, reduced productivity. One consequence of these criticisms is the increasing adoption of Web application development via agile‑system methods. This agile‑system approach centres upon smaller design teams, fewer development phases, and shorter development time tables. This case study examines the implementation of the agile‑system approach as used by a Small‑to‑Medium Enterprise (SME) software developer. The case study data collection involves interviews and observations across three different SME sources: project managers, Web application programmers, and customers. The case study analysis synthesises the experiences of these managers, programmers and customers to produce an overall assessment of the usefulness of Web application delivery via agile‑system methods. The major conclusions from the case study are that a 'default' agile‑system approach may be tailored or fine‑tuned to fit an individual developer's software process. This tailoring is based upon the developer's assessment of best practice from the overall agile‑system methodology. This tailoring, however, delivers a software development process that exhibits efficiencies and risks. The efficiencies include a more fulfilling role for each development team member, greater richness and continuity in design, a simple management system that delivers key information on a timely basis to all stake‑holders, and increased business and technical quality within the delivered application, and a relatively low cost for actioning changes to user requirements. The risks pivot upon experience levels, skills levels, and the quality of interaction within — and between ‑ both the development team and customer organization.