IS evolution benefit assessment: Challenges with economic investment criteria

Abstract

In this paper, eight financial investment criteria and their advantages and disadvantages with respect to IS evolution benefit assessment are studied. As a result, it can be suggested that it is unattainable to define one appropriate evaluation method for IS evolution assessment in general. However, NPV and ROI appear to be the most appropriate methods for IS evolution evaluation. Their results can be reinforced with the supporting investment criteria, including AAR, IRR and payback method. The following potential challenges in evolution investment decision making were identified: selection of an appropriate criteria, acquisition of suitable metrics and follow-up data, data conversion, and comparison of different types of evolution options. A preliminary framework, ISEBA, was developed to address these challenges.