Evaluation methods of standard software with respect to their effectiveness

“Make or buy” of software has been a key question for management since the emergence of computerized information systems. Until today this question has not been answered satisfactorily. It is still unclear what evaluation methods should be used to support the decision process in the selection of a suitable package unambiguously. In this article a first step in the development of a framework for evaluating standard software packages for maintenance management is taken. It will be demonstrated that conventional evaluation methods are unsatisfactory; therefore development of better alternatives is required. The importance of information requirements analysis is emphasized, in which the user-specialist, e.g. the maintenance manager, plays the keyrole. Despite the importance of information requirements analysis there are no clear research findings yet with regard to analysis methods to be applied. The article reports on the on-going research which is focussed at the maintenance function.