Information Systems Development Outcomes: The Case of Song Book Music

INTRODUCTION When is an information system development outcome considered a success and when is it considered a failure? What factors contribute to a conclusion of either success or failure? How does the situation arise to create the environment which contributes to the above conclusions? Generally, an information system is considered a success when it does what it is supposed to and/or the user is satisfied with the system’s performance in support of the information-providing and decision-making responsibilities. Naturally, this area is fraught with the problems inherent in divergent interpretations of “what it is supposed to do,” “satisfaction,” and “systems performance.” Suffice it to say, when the systems developer and user are in positive agreement about these interpretations, the information system development outcome may be considered successful. Negative information system development outcomes can be classified as either “completed” or “abandoned” projects. First, “completed” projects result in the implementation of an information system, but either the information system fails to attain initially stated goals or attains the goals after the expenditure of more time and effort. According to Laudon and Laudon (1998), 51% of all corporate software development projects result in costs of two to three times more than the initial budget amount, and eventually may require up