Appendix A – Assessing the value of the applications
Weill and Vitale (1999) proposed an assessment were a questionnaire is set up for managers.
Functional areas including instruments for management value, Importance and Use are
included. They also presented a questionnaire for the information services department
managers including instruments for investment and technical quality. With this questionnaire
a health grid can be set up to. The health grid displays information on four aspects of each
system:




Management value
Technical quality
Importance
Investment.
The health grid is used to picture this information in ways that managers can then use to
assess and interpret the portfolio's overall health. For more information on the heath grid,
please refer to the paper of Weill and Vitale (1999).
Questionnaire to managers of functional areas including
instruments for management value, importance and use
Most managers regularly perform all or some of the following tasks in their jobs. Please read
through the tasks and cross out those that are not part of your job. For the remaining tasks,
please identify how useful the system and the information it provides are in performing those
tasks. Circle the number that best describes how much management value is provided by the
system, ranging from 1 (system not useful) to 5 (system provides all information needed)
(Weill and Vitale, 1999).
System is Not
useful
Task
Planning
(Determine goals, policies and courses of
action, e.g., budgeting
Investigating
(Collecting and preparing information, e.g.,
sales analysis)
Coordinating
(Liasing with other departments, managing
upwards, e.g., meetings)
Evaluating
(Assessing proposals and financials, e.g.,
approving requests)
Supervising
(Directing, leading, and developing
subordinates)
Staffing
(Recruiting, promoting and transferring
employees, e.g., interviewing
Negotiating
(Purchasing, selling, dealing with unions,
e.g., working with suppliers)
Representing
(Advancing organizational interests
externally, e.g., speeches)
System
provides all
Information
Needed
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Importance
How important is the system in assisting your area in meeting its business goals?
Unimportant
(Would not be
missed if
abandoned)
1
Low
importance
(Some
inconvenience
if abandoned)
2
Moderate
importance
(noticeable
impact of
abandoned)
3
High
Importance
(major impact
if abandoned)
4
Crucial
importance
(essential to
operation)
5
Use:
How often is the system used by members of your department?
Never
Once a year
1
Once a month
2
Once a day
3
4
Several times a
day
5
Questionnaire to information services department managers
including instruments for investment and technical quality
System:
Purpose:
Information provided by:
Year of first implementation:
Hardware platform:
Author:
Operating system:
Number of lines of code:
Number of major mods:
Development/Purchase cost:
Operating cost (per annum):
Maintenance/New development cost (p.a.):
Portability Low :_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_: High
by whom:
Technical quality
1. Source code quality
How easily can the source code be understood and supported? Consider modularity, whether
structured code was used, documentation, comments in code, integration of modifications
over time
Code is
unreadable or
not easily
supported
1
Code can be
understood
only by author
or primary
maintainer
2
Code can be
understood
with difficulty
by experienced
programmer
3
Code can be
understood
easily by
experienced
programmers
4
Code can be
understood by
new
programmers
5
2. Data Quality and Reliability
How accurate, reliable, current, and relevant is the data collected and provided by the system?
Data is not
trusted
1
Data is OK
(used with
caution)
2
Data is fair
(reliable)
3
Data is good
(reliable &
current)
4
Data excellent
(could not be
improved)
5
3. Reliability
How often does the system perform its expected function? Consider functionality, response
time, and up- time/availability.
Very Rarely
1
Occasionally
2
Quite Often
3
Usually
4
Always
5
4. Ease of Use
How easy is it for a new user to become proficient with the system? Consider help facilities,
menus, user documentation, on screen prompts, and general system complexity.
Only possible
for IS
professional
1
Difficult even
with extensive
training
2
Useable with
extensive
training
3
Learnt easily
with some
training
4
Learnt easily
without
training
5
5. Output Quality-Screen and Reports
How well does the system produce output in terms of screen design (e.g., color, graphics,
layout) and report design and readability (e.g., layout, level of detail, graphics)
Very Poor
(unreadable)
1
Poor (mostly
hard to use)
2
OK
(inconsistent;
good and bad)
3
Good
(generally well
done)
4
Excellent
(could not be
improved)
5