A Practitioner Centred Maturity Model of Information Systems Development

David W. Wilson, School of Computer Science & Information Systems

dave@dcs.bbk.ac.uk

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Greiner’s notion of a Maturity Model

• Stages of Growth for Organisations• Organisations are locked into their

history• Stable Stages punctuated by crises• Crises are the inevitable Consequences

of the solutions selected to solve the previous crisis

(Greiner LE, 1972 Evolution and Revolution as Organisations Grow, Harvard Business Review, July-August pp37-46)

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Nolan’s Maturity Models

• A bold simplification of complex processes

• Recognised various technologies had own growth processes

• Invaluable for decades in justifying IS investment

(Nolan RL 1984, Managing the Advanced Stages of Computer Technology: Key Research Issues in The Information Systems Research Challenge Proceedings of the Harvard Business School Research Colloquium ed McFarlan FW Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Massachusetts. pp195-214)

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Humphrey’s Capability Model

• Software Engineering function Specific• Bottom up – quality process oriented• Incremental management development

process• One of the more successful attempts to

bring order to software developers

(Humphrey WS, 1989, Managing the Software Process, Addison-Wesley)

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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A Strict Maturity Model

• An abstraction of the changes of form which a class of phenomena typically exhibit in a single pass of a life-cycle

• Composed of a number of stages through which an instance of the class will pass in a particular sequence

• Allows prediction of what is likely to happen to an instance

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Determinants of a Strict Maturity Model

1. A set of stages in a given sequence2. A number of conditions causing a

transition from one stage to the next3. A set of facets, the change in state of

which may be used to determine whether a transition has occurred

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Prediction allows

• Possibility of managing transition to later stages possibly limiting ill-effects

• Possibility of triggering or retarding entry to the next stage

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Objectives & Value

• To contribute to a body of knowledge – valuable to practitioners in making

career decisions– valuable to curriculum designers

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Value of Maturity Models

• May facilitate prediction• May identify circumstances where

a Stage may be skipped• Explicates pre-conditions for stage

transition

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Interesting models wrt to roles & careers in IS

• Avison & Fitzgerald – Single scientific user, Depts,

Organisations, Market Supply Chains

• Markus & Benjamin– Technician / Facilitator / Champion

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Dimensions Pertinent to IS Developers• Role• Technical Platforms (both hard & soft)• Evolving theory of systems, objects, and

society• Forms of employmentNB Risks are inherent in situations of very

high levels of environmental change in several dimensions

11th December 2004 IFIP WG8.2 OASIS Washington D.C.

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Candidate Research Methods

• Survey • Hermeneutics

– CV– Curricula proffered by professional bodies

• Case Study– Sense making models– Actor Network Analysis?– Grounded Analysis?