Evaluating the Performance of Computer-Based Information Systems using a Restricted Linear Regression Model

Abstract

Performance evaluation techniques can contribute substantially to the successful management of the information services function in an organization. Unfortunately the design and implementation of computer-based information systems have for a long time been (and in some organizations are still being) accepted as being primarily technical activities. Some of the most serious constraints on the design, installation and use of computer-based systems are not technical in nature and from the literature it has emerged that many computer-based systems have failed, not necessarily as a result of poor technical quality, but because certain other important aspects which determine the success or the failure of a computer-based system have been ignored. The objectives of this study may be summed up in four main points, viz.: (i) to investigate the use of computer-based information systems and their success as perceived by the user; (ii) to determine which factors make the largest contribution to the success of a computerized system; (iii) to determine, by means of optimizing methods, which factors are the most important to change in order to obtain optimal improvement in the performance of the information systems; and (iv) to formulate a model which would enable the management of an organization to apply funds in such a way that the computerized systems may provide optimum performance.