EVALUATING IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULES FOR INVESTMENTS IN STRATEGIC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: FRAMEWORK AND APPLICATION TO EDI

Abstract

We develop a framework based on "project networks" and net present value analysis in order to help managers evaluate investments in infrastructural and strategic information systems that require significant amounts of time and money to implement. The framework, which we term "value networks", supports decomposition of investment projects into separate increments, offers a means to represent crucial dependencies that affect the creation of IT business value, and provides a basis for developing a measurement methodology which can be used from the planning through the implementation stages. This enables the user to identify the implications of choosing among different implementation schedules. We illustrate these ideas by examining how our framework can used to evaluate investments in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Cash Management Systems (CMS).