FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGING ROLE

OF INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS IN ORGANIZATIONS

Jorge Cordeiro Duarte and Mamede Lima-Marques

Centre for Research on Architecture of Information, University of Brasilia , Campus, Brazilia, Brazil

Keywords:

IS, IT, Framework, Strategies, Role, Organizations.

Abstract:

Information Systems (IS) evolve with advances in technology in a silent but radical manner. Initially mono-

lithic and isolated, now they are modular, diversiﬁed, integrated and ubiquitous. This ubiquity is not always

planned. New applications arise quickly and spontaneously. Current IS applications serve different needs and

different audiences, inside and outside the organization, not always in an organized and integrated manner.

Technology trends, such as BPM and SOA accentuate the pace of change. The wide range of applications and

the pace of innovation brings complexity to the IS planning, developing and integration. This work comprises

a study of the evolution and current status of IS in organizations. Its main objective is to provide an integrated

theoretical framework helping academy and organizations to understand, plan and conduct efﬁciently their

current information systems efforts.

1 INTRODUCTION

Information Systems (IS) are no more monolithic, ex-

pensive and isolated solutions. The wide availability

of computers has expanded the availability of appli-

cations and today virtually all information organiza-

tional needs are supplied by some kind of solution

that we can classify as a IS application which is inte-

grated with other IS applications. Currently, IS are a

wide range of applications with diversiﬁed objectives

for different users within and outside the enterprise.

With this wide range of applications, objectives

and users, IS, that never was considered a easy dis-

cipline (Brooks, 1986), become even more com-

plex. Some authors identify a crisis of identity in IS

ﬁeld (Hirschheim and Klein, 2003), considering the

breadth of knowledge necessary to the practice of the

discipline. So, IS is complex and complexthings must

be studied in depth, in all of its dimensions and with

adequate instruments.

IS is widely discussed in the literature as a disci-

pline and as practice. Researches are usually focused

on speciﬁc aspects of IS and we rarely ﬁnd research

which connect all the variables of IS in comprehen-

sive and integrated frameworks. A framework is a ba-

sic conceptual structure used to solve or address com-

plex issues, usually a set of tools, materials or com-

ponents (Wikipedia, 2009). Speciﬁcally in a software

context the word is used as a name for tools that shows

components and relations.

The aim of this paper is to present a set of frame-

works that analyze IS in its various aspects: con-

cepts, practices, interrelations, objectives, users, ef-

fects, tools, value, and maturity. IT also studies the

impact on IS of new concepts and technologies such

as BPM, SOA and EA. Thus, we aim to provide an

integrated view of IS that can help scholars and prac-

titioners to understand, study, plan and practice IS in

a comprehensive way.

2 IS DEFINITIONS

In order to understand IS scope we need a good def-

inition of IS as a product, as a discipline of study, as

a activity and as a profession. We also need the un-

derstand IS relations, with other products, other disci-

plines and with other professions.

2.1 IS as a Product

A IS is a combination of technical components (hard-

ware, software, and telecommunications), built and

used by people to collect, create, and distribute useful

data and used typically in organizational but evolv-

ing for personal use (Jessup and Valacich, 2005; King

and Lyytinen, 2006). Figure 2 shows these concepts

283

Cordeiro Duarte J. and Lima-Marques M. (2010).

FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGING ROLE OF INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS IN ORGANIZATIONS.

In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Information Systems Analysis and Speciﬁcation, pages

283-294

DOI: 10.5220/0002909402830294

 SciTePress

Figure 1: Information Systems as a Product (Jessup and

Valacich, 2005; King and Lyytinen, 2006).

together. As a product IS is strongly related to orga-

nizational processes.

2.2 IS as a Discipline

In this work we agree with the following deﬁnition

of IS as discipline of study, suggested by the UK

Academy for information system: ”The study of in-

formation system and their development is a multidis-

ciplinary subject and addresses the range of strategic,

managerial, and operacional activities involved in the

gathering, processing, storing, distributing and use of

information, and its associated technologies, in soci-

ety and organizations” (King and Lyytinen, 2006).

IS as discipline of study is related with other

technical and social disciplines (King and Lyytinen,

2006) as shown in ﬁgure 2. With technology IS

shares knowledge with Software Engineering, Com-

puter Science and Telecommunications Science. Re-

lated with data, information and people IS shares

knowledge with Information Science. When related

with people IS also shares knowledge with Sociology

and Psychology.

Figure 2: Information Systems Discipline and Relations.

Adapted. (Jessup and Valacich, 2005; King and Lyytinen,

2006).

2.3 IS as a Practice

Information systems are produced and managed in

a practice that has many activities. These activities

frequently comprises four phases: analysis, design,

implementation and maintenance (Freetutes, 2009).

The four stages approach is too restricted to analyze

the complexity of current information system prac-

tice. Figure 3 shows a more comprehensive approach

which includes activities divided in six main phases

(Ortiz et al., 1999). The early phases are conceptual

which help to understand the demand. Other stages

deal with details of the multiple elements of the sys-

tem in activities such as design, implementation and

maintenance.

Figure 3: IS Activities and Phases (Ortiz et al., 1999).

2.4 IS as a Profession

Currently there are several kinds of professionals in-

volved in the full cycle of system analysis. Function

scope and job names varies from organization to or-

ganization depending on its size and technology com-

plexity. Figure 4 shows an approach identifying six

professionals: system analyst who analyzes, designes

and also manages the entire cycle of the application,

business analyst who knows the business, enterprise

architect who manages the organizational elements

and relations in blueprints, data architect who designs

databases, component or software architect who de-

signs components and the developer and tester who

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Figure 4: System Analyst - Functions and Relations.

Adapted from (Ortiz et al., 1999; King and Lyytinen, 2006).

implements the system.

3 IS AND TECHNOLOGY

EVOLUTION

To reach its current state, IS had a series of stages,

each one with radical changes in available resources,

methods used and products delivered. As an IS pro-

fessional we have seen this evolution as shown is ﬁg-

ure 5.

Figure 5: Evolution of Technology and System Applica-

tions.

3.1 Stage 1 - Initial

Technological characteristics at this stage: mainframe

computers, centralized, complex and expensive. Im-

pacts of technology in IS: Automation of repetitive

processes. Characteristics of applications: mono-

lithic, centralized.

3.2 Stage 2 - Distributed Processing

Technological characteristics at this stage: Computers

available at departmental level. Impacts of technol-

ogy in IS: Independence for automation and reengi-

neering departments. Characteristics of applications:

Monolithic and decentralized.

3.3 Stage 3 - Data Bases

Technological characteristics at this stage: Databases

with high capacity and query language. Impacts of

technology in IS: large databases with high availabil-

ity of information. Characteristics of applications:

two layers (data and application) and high availability

of information. Other aspects: Datawarehouse, BI,

CRM and data analysis as a discipline.

3.4 Stage 4 - Telecommunications

Technological characteristics at this stage: Availabil-

ity of terminals to access data, previously available

only in reports and connectivity between computers.

Impacts of technology in SI: On-line access to infor-

mation. Characteristics of applications: Applications

in three layers (visualization, data and logic).

3.5 Stage 5 - Personal Computers

Technological characteristics at this stage: small ma-

chines at affordable prices to individuals. Impacts of

technology in IS: personal computing, automation of

the ofﬁce, explosion of applications, ubiquitous com-

puting. Characteristics of applications: client-server

solutions and data and application integration.

3.6 Stage 6 - Internet

Technological characteristics at this stage: Informa-

tion on the Web. Impacts of technology in SI: Access

to information from anywhere, communication, glob-

alization. Features of applications: Web as a front

end, systems in several layers, systems without bor-

ders (Intranets, extranets and web), Components.

4 APPLICATIONS AND USERS

Information systems as a product aims many users

inside and outside the organization. Inside the or-

ganization we can identify three types of users:

operational, managerial and executive (Jessup and

Valacich, 2005). For each user, IS needs a spe-

ciﬁc kind of application systems, from operational

FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CHANGING ROLE OF INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS IN

ORGANIZATIONS

285

system that automates repetitive functions to execu-

tive information systems that gives information trends

about the business. Also internally speciﬁc applica-

tions provides solutions for communication, integra-

tion and collaboration between people, given produc-

tivity for the team. This type of solution is published

in internal sites (intranets),

Outside organizations IS also havemany users like

clientes, partners, government and other stake hold-

ers. For this type of users, IS provides speciﬁc appli-

cations giving personalized information and transac-

tional resources. For partners, applications can pro-

vide business integration. External applications are

provided in public web sites to clients and private net-

works (extranets) to partners and to government. Fig-

ure 6 shows main users and applications.

Figure 6: Information Systems Users.

Currently has a wide range of applications with

different objective for different users, both inside

and outside organizations(Duarte and Lima-Marques,

2006). We can classify the applications above into

four categories as shown is ﬁgure 7 : Automation of

business, information and management, communica-

tion and collaboration and external communication.

4.1 Automation of Business

In this category IS automates the core and support

business. These kind of applications can be subdi-

vided. There are applications for processing the core

business, such as sales applications. Other category

is support applications such as human resources, pur-

chasing and ﬁnance and accounting. The ﬁnal cat-

egory are products that integrate many kinds of ap-

plications called ERP (Enterprise Resource Applica-

tions).

Figure 7: Information Systems Applications (Duarte and

Lima-Marques, 2006).

4.2 Information and Management

In this category are applications that provides infor-

mation about business giving control, forecast and

trends. These kind of applications can be subdivide

in solutions such as Business Intelligence (BI), CRM

(Customer Relation management), BAM (Business

Activity Monitoring) and also CI (Competitive Intel-

ligence).

4.3 Communication and Collaboration

In this category are applications that provides re-

sources for communication and collaboration such

as email, Work ﬂow applications, ofﬁce automa-

tion, ECM (EnterpriseContent Managament)and KM

(Knowledge management).

4.4 Relationship with the Outside

World

In this category are applications that provides re-

sources for communication with several kinds of ex-

ternal users, such as clients, banks, government, audit

companies, and other stake holders such as sharehold-

ers and the public in general. These applications can

give transaction resources and generic and personal-

ized information.

5 IS AND BUSINESS PROCESS

MANAGEMENT

Information Systems are the way to process automa-

tion. So they are also related to the way processes and

tasks are modeled and optimized at the organization

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Figure 8: Business Processes and Applications (Chow et al.,

2007).

(Chow et al., 2007). In other words organizational

processes and information systems evolve together as

shown in ﬁgure 8.

5.1 Total Quality Management

Initially processes were improved by total quality

management (TQM) programs, a participatory ap-

proach aimed at continuous improvement of depart-

mental processes (Walton, 1991). In TQM times com-

puters were in the ﬁrst stage and were not the main

source of optimization because of the cost and low

availability.

5.2 Reengineering

With the increasing availability of computers a

reengineering approach has came to make centralized

and radical changes in organization processes (Ham-

mer and Champy, 2003). Process reengineering lasted

nearly a decade and was responsible for the prolifer-

ation of automation applications in organizations. In

achieving its initial goal this approach declined.

5.3 Business Process Management

After the radical changes caused by reengineering, or-

ganizations are seeking the return of continuous pro-

cess improvement through the use of the concepts of

BPM (Howard Smith, 2003). The goal of BPM is to

place the management processes in the hands of users.

With the new automation tools, the Business Process

Management Systems (BPMS), users can model and

simulate the processes and the models are used for au-

tomation. Metrics collected automatically enable pro-

cess monitoring and improvement as shown is ﬁgure

Figure 9: Business Processes and Applications (BPtrends,

2006).

6 IS COMPONENTS AND

ARCHITECTURES - SOA AND

As seen in section three, technology tends to mod-

ularization of components and information systems

tend to be a composition of components to meet spe-

ciﬁc goals. This is a radical change in the way IS are

developed. Services (elements of automation) need

to be identiﬁed, designed, developed and maintained.

The architecture of services needs to be known and

controlled and the systems need to be designed to in-

tegrate all components in a practical manner to user.

6.1 Modularity and SOA

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a technical

approach that in one side promotes the modularity of

systems and in another side manages this modularity

allowing to use modules or services in a secure and

performative environment (Papazoglou and van den

Heuvel, 2007). SOA is a concept and a collection of

products that work together to implement the concept

of modularity such as Web Services and ESB as ﬁgure

10 shows. SOA can help to implement the promises

of BPM. The process model can use services and this

services can be executed in SOA infrastructure (Ionita

et al., 2008).

6.2 Enterprise Architecture

EA is a approach to govern organizations by archi-

tecture models (Ross et al., 2006). Organizations are

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287

Figure 10: SOA Elements(Ionita et al., 2008).

complex systems and the promise of EA is reduce the

complexity by modeling the organization, showing

all the relevant elements and its relations in models

called blueprints (Lankhorst, 2005). This infrastruc-

ture of models allows organization knowledge mak-

ing easy to change strategies, processes and systems.

EA can help to control the elements of SOA and can

help also BPM because services are related with pro-

cesses (Jensen et al., 2008). Figure 11 shows EA,

BPM and SOA working together.

Figure 11: EA, SOA and BPM (Jensen et al., 2008).

EA help to control the elements (services) of

SOA linking this elements to the rest of the organi-

zation (processes, products, strategies, etc). In or-

der to promote the construction of the architecture

there are proposal of frameworks and languages spe-

ciﬁc to EA, such as Zachman framework (Zachman,

1987), TOGAF (open Group, 2009) and Archimate

(Lankhorst, 2005), shown in ﬁgure 12. The models

can be constructed applying tradicional techniques,

such as UML (Pereira and Sousa, 2004) or speciﬁc

languages to EA, such as the Archimate proposal.

Figure 12: The Archimate Framework (Lankhorst, 2005).

6.3 Composite Applications

With SOA, applications are compositions of special-

ized modules of presentation, processes, rules, inte-

gration and security. Information is prividedin portals

that give to user an integrated vision of information

(Arsanjani, 2004). Figure 13 shows the application

composite components. Information systems are no

more monolithic. They are a puzzle.

Figure 13: Application Composite Components (BPtrends,

2006).

7 IS METHODS

As we have seen in section two, IS has many activ-

ities and phases. Each phase has different methods

and techniques that make up a domain of knowledge

shared by a group of professionals. In ﬁve decades of

research and practice in IS, each one of these domains

of knowledge, has evolved in its methods, mainly

those related to business analysis and systems de-

sign. In times of SOA, a new ﬁeld of knowledge has

emerged: services analysis and design.

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7.1 Systems Analysis

In system analysis domain, systems analysts inter-

act strongly with business professionals, identifying

goals, processes, rules, actors, resources and other

elements in order to identify concepts, relationships

and business requirements as shown in ﬁgure 14.

(Bubenko et al., 1998).

Figure 14: System Analysis and Design Techniques

(Bubenko et al., 1998).

There are many different techniques for sys-

tems analysis and requirement identiﬁcation (Ket-

tinger et al., 1997). Each technique is suitable to spe-

ciﬁc needs and circumstances (Parviainen and Maarit,

2007). Choosing a speciﬁc technique is a decision

that depends on the type of modeling needed and

the level of business knowledge (Tsumaki and Tamai,

2005). System analysis domain can be divided into

two main kinds os modeling: static modeling and dy-

namic modeling. The level of certainty in the knowl-

edge of the business requirements also determines the

best technique. Figure 15 suggests some techniques

depending on the static and dynamic modeling and

also according to the degree of knowledge of the or-

ganizational elements.

Figure 15: System Analysis Dimensions and Techniques

(Tsumaki and Tamai, 2005).

In static analysis, when elements are well known,

analysis can be made with conceptual modeling,

domain modeling or even ontologies (Sutcliffe and

Maiden, 1998). If there is no consensus on the con-

cepts and relations, techniques are required to iden-

tify such information with participatory tools such

as JAD and Brainstorming (Parviainen and Maarit,

2007). In dynamic analysis, if elements are well

known can be analyzed with Use Case UML tech-

nique (Buhr, 1998), or BPMN (Weske et al., 2004)

and EPC (Scheer and Nuttgens, 2000), techniques for

modeling business process ﬂow. If there is no con-

sensus on the process ﬂow, it is recommended to use

the technique of prototype applications (Nuseibeh and

Easterbrook, 2000).

7.2 Systems Design

In the Design domain, systems analysts interact

strongly with technical specialists, such as data archi-

tects and software architects. This domain is special-

ized in architectural modeling and recently we can see

the predominance of UML techniques for modeling a

system (Larman, 2004).

There are many modeling notations in UML, each

one dedicate to a speciﬁc objective and that are related

(Berenbach and Wolf, 2007), as we can see in ﬁgure

16. There are techniques to model elements and re-

lations, to model sequence of activities and so on, as

shown in ﬁgure 14.

Figure 16: UML Diagramas for Analysis and Design of

Systems (Berenbach and Wolf, 2007).

7.3 Service Analysis and Design

In times of SOA and BPM a new ﬁeld of knowl-

edge and practice is necessary for the business ana-

lysts. Analyst must be able to identify the parts of

the business that were candidates for services (Papa-

zoglou et al., 2007). Services can be modeled and de-

veloped as individual components that compose the

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Figure 17: Modeling Services (Arsanjani, 2004).

whole organization with speciﬁc methods and tech-

niques as shown is ﬁgure 17 (Khoshaﬁa, 2007; Ar-

sanjani, 2004).

By identifying and developing individual services

systems analysts can easily build an application com-

posed of these elements, as identiﬁed in Figure 17. In

this approach, a systems analyst does not analyze and

design systems, but services. These services will be

the infrastructure for the assembly of systems. We are

talking about the system of systems (Cole, 2006).

8 IS STRATEGY AND VALUE

Each IS application provides value to organization.

But this values is different in time and in type of ap-

plication. The level of value a application provides

depends on three organization environments: tech-

nology, organization and competition (Mooney et al.,

1996). The three environments change every day and

each situation demands a different strategy that will

demand focus in a different type of application as

shown is ﬁgure 18.

Figure 18: A Process Oriented Business Value (Mooney

et al., 1996).

We have made a categorization of SI applications

in Chapter 4. There’s another way to classify them:

in the effect they cause. Applications can be automa-

tional, informational and transformational (Mooney

Figure 19: Dimensions of IS Business Value (Mooney et al.,

1996).

et al., 1996) as shown in ﬁgure 19. Application with

transformational effects are that one that can make

radical changes, innovating in products, markets or

processes. Although some authors state that systems

with transformational effects generate the best value

(Jessup and Valacich, 2005), we advocate that value

depends on the organization’s strategy. Applications

related to automation can generate greater value, re-

ducing costs for example.

8.1 Organizational Innovation

Innovation has a cycle in organizations (Gartner,

2008). A new technology grows in interest because

people believe it is the solution to a number of prob-

lems. However, experience can lead to frustration, be-

cause people hope a miracle. But some people really

identify the value of a new technology, identifying

true beneﬁts. This technology is then used in projects

for which it is actually useful and then evolve to a

level of productivity. Figure 20 shows a hype cycle

where java is at productivity stage and BPM suites

(BPMS) are at the top of expectations.

Figure 20: Hype Cycle for Business Application Develop-

ment - 2008 (Gartner, 2008).

Approaches such hype cycles show that good

technology will prove its beneﬁts, but people always

exaggerate the initial expectations undermining the

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effective use of technology. What is needed, there-

fore, is a realistic analysis of the potential of each

technology.

8.2 Organizational Strategies

Organizations set their strategies following market,

technology and the internal environment. In the in-

ternal environment organizations have a division of

power between centralization and decentralization.

Between freedom to the departments and actions and

centralized processes (EMERY and TRIST, 1965).

Thus, strategy works with two variables: external and

internal focus and centralization and decentralization

(Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983). The choice of vari-

ables determines the strategy: Growth indicates ex-

ternal focus and requires decentralization as shown in

ﬁgure 21. Efﬁciency and cost control demands inter-

nal focus and centralization of processes. There is no

right or wrong strategy. It depends on the moment of

the competition and of the enterprise and also of the

technology. A new technology can allow cost reduc-

tion, new products or new markets.

Figure 21: Organizational Strategies (Quinn and

Rohrbaugh, 1983).

There are several two of this approach. The ﬁrst

one is that strategies always will change because there

are variables beyond the control of the organization.

The second is that IS strategy must accompany these

changes, so that applications will continue adding

value to each strategy at each moment. IS strategy

must identify the variables and build an architecture

for change (Ross et al., 2006).

8.3 IS and Business-IT Integration

The integration between IT/IS and the business is

reached in two dimensions: external and internal (Sil-

vius, 2007). As ﬁgure 22 shows, IT/IS strategies

Figure 22: The Strategic Alignment Model (Silvius, 2007).

should be linked to business strategies, and internally

IT strategies must ﬁt with IT infrastructure and busi-

ness processes must ﬁt to business processes and both

should also ﬁt.

Internal integration is a problem with several com-

ponents. It involves among other variables: IT gover-

nance, enterprise architecture (EA) and also business

communication (Chen et al., 2008). Historically, or-

ganizations have difﬁculty in aligning strategy with

the internal operations and it really does not happen

easily. With the objetive of integration companies can

rely on approaches such as the Balance score card

(BSC) (Kaplan and Norton, 1997).

9 IS MATURITY

Success is an arduous task for organizations in a com-

petitive world. Both, organization and IT must work

efﬁciently to achieve proposed objectives and there

are many variables to be controlled. There are ap-

proaches to measure how much organizations are pre-

pared to achieve this efﬁciency. These approaches do

not guarantee efﬁciency. They measure only orga-

nization’s actions and structures that potentially can

help promote efﬁciency. On the business side the

Software engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mel-

lon University proposes the Capacity Mature Model

(CMMI-SEI, 2002). On the IT / IS we have ITIL

(ITIL, 2009).

CMMI analyzes organizational processes matu-

rity. The Highest level is when organizations have

processes with metrics continuously improved trough

teams, as shown in ﬁgure 23. Ross suggests a similar

approach to systems where the highest level of ap-

proach is modularity that promotes strategic choices

as shown in ﬁgure 24 (Ross, 2003).

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291

Figure 23: Levels of CMMI - (Harmon and Wolf, 2008).

Figure 24: Maturity in Information Systems Applications

(Ross, 2003).

For promotion IT/IS service management we have

the Information Technology Infrastructure Library

(ITIL) proposal. ITIL is a set of concepts and prac-

tices for managing Information Technology (IT) ser-

vices (ITSM), IT development and IT operations. The

most popular instrument of ITIL is the Service Level

Agreement (SLA) where IT units celebrate a contract

of service level with its users.

10 CONCLUSIONS

It has long been recognized that IS is not a easy dis-

cipline and practice. Information systems and their

applications can not be treated with a simplistic view.

information Systems involves the knowledge of sev-

eral disciplines and the practice involves several kinds

of professionals.Here we presented a series of difﬁ-

culties and also paths to succeed.

There no simple approach to information system.

There is no silver bullet. Organizations are complex

systems and information system is a complex mat-

ter. There are many elements and variables to be an-

alyzed. We presented a series of framewoks that help

to understand the various parts that make up the cur-

rent information systems. We discussed key concepts

about information systems and their applications. We

presented the evolution and current stage, composed

of a wide range of applications to different types of

users internal and external to organization.We pre-

sented the integration of systems and organizational

processes and analyze the impact of new trends such

as EA and SOA. We showed the radical change is in-

formation in information systems in several charac-

teristics as type of users, professions involved, meth-

ods and techniques and types of solutions. We saw

information system as a composition of fragmented

elements. We conﬁrmed the growing importance or

enterprise architecture as a approach to manage these

elements. We analyzed the complexity of IS and iden-

tiﬁed recent methods and techniques that deals with

it. We identiﬁed strategies and approaches to busi-

ness and IT integration. Finally, we also discussed

Frameworks to evaluate organization and IT maturity

in their structure and actions.

Componentization seems to have come to stay as

well as the SOA approach. EA is a need in the short

term. EA can not be a function of IT. BPM ap-

proaches are not so mature but can bring agility to

business if well conducted. Success is possible with

a broad range of solutions that require maturity of the

organization and technology. The integration of busi-

ness and IT is a double issue. There is no success of

one without the other. IT must understand the busi-

ness and business must understand technology.

The complexity of the fragmented current infor-

mation systems environment is huge but its beneﬁts

are also great. It is for organizations beat the com-

plexity and to prepare for the beneﬁts. Academy can

help studying new ways of designing and implement-

ing integrated information. Organizations must con-

struct an infrastructure of information and applica-

tions that can provide agility.

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