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Abstract:
Information systems are implemented with
an inherent assumption that they can handle the associated events the
organization faces. However, the implementation process inherently
includes two factors that are hard or impossible to control: system’s
design and system’s environment. In a large number of cases, the system
covers its domain area only partially, that is, all requirements are not
incorporated in the system, the requirements are conflicting, they are
misinterpreted, or will become badly implemented.
Even in ideal
cases where all requirements are met by perfect design, the system
starts to outdate from the very day of its completion, due to the
changes in its use environment, that is, the domain area the system was
designed to cover changes after the system was implemented. Regardless
of the technical or organizational environment, the system is supposed
to serve, the organization and the world around it are in constant
change, eventually causing changes in the technical environment as well.
The extent the above mentioned two
factors influence the usability of the systems varies greatly. When an
information system is not able to handle all events of its domain,
exceptions arise.
The approach presented in this paper uses
the number and kind of exceptions to analyze the operational usability
of information systems. It is claimed that a system associated with a
high ratio of exceptions versus normally handled events is not serving
the organization. Various characteristics of exceptions are briefly
discussed to provide means for more thorough analysis of the system and
the process in order to find the most crucial points to be improved.
Four main benefits of such analysis to information systems management
are suggested. Case examples are provided to illustrate how the
evaluation can be done and to demonstrate the value of such
exception-based analysis.
Keywords:
Information Systems Evaluation, Exception Handling, Information Systems
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