Briefly discuss the information system identified and classify the type of information systems being used

EVALUATING THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS N. Bakis, M. Kagioglou, G. Aouad, Salford Centre for Research and Innovation, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT E-mail: n.bakis@salford.ac.uk ABSTRACT: In order to promote the use of new IT technologies in the construction sector, the research community needs to provide more empirical and specific evidence of the business value of these technologies to construction organisations. This paper reviews the issues involved in the evaluation of the business benefits of information systems. It focuses on the use of case studies for the evaluation of the benefits and favours a process oriented approach to evaluation. It explains why the evaluation of the business benefits is inherently problematic and why it is not usually possible to quantify those benefits in single, monetary terms. It then focuses on the evaluation of the business benefits itself and in particular on two main issues: how to identify the benefits in the first place and how to deal with the issue of intangible benefits. Keywords: Information systems, Business benefits, Evaluation/Assessment 1. INTRODUCTION The construction industry has been often criticised for its slow uptake of new IT technologies. In order to promote the use of such technologies, the research community needs to provide more empirical and specific evidence of their business value to construction organisations. The business value of an information system is determined by the system's benefits and costs (including purchase/development, user training, operating and maintenance costs). The element of risk is also usually taken into account when deciding the investment in an information system. Here we will focus on the business benefits and evaluation of those benefits. There are three main empirical investigation methods that could be used in evaluating the business benefits of information systems: case studies, experiments and surveys (Kitchenham et al., 1995). Case studies, which do not require any level of replication, involve the examination of the use of a system in particular projects/organisations, placing emphasis on the context within which the benefits of the system accrue. Experiments on the other hand require appropriate levels of replication and experimental subjects and objects that are chosen in random within the constraints of an experimental design. Finally surveys examine the impact of a system across many projects/organisations at a broad level without examining the particularities of each individual project/organisation.