Soft systems methodology and organizational informatics: a successful partnership?

Abstract: Information Technology is receiving a larger and more important role in organizations since more and more functions are built into technical systems. This means that the challenge of creating useful, workable systems for organizations is an important issue. Good organizational computing is a challenge because technical excellence alone does not guarantee that an Information System will be consistently used well. Organizations depend on computer professionals to design systems that help people to do their jobs well. An Information System can be seen as two linked systems, i.e. the data storage and data processing system and the organization. The relation between these two can be seen as symbiotic – each help to define the other. It is however common to put more emphasis on the technical system and less on the organization in the analysis and design phase in information systems development. Earlier there have been attempts to solve this problem with a combining of one method for analysis of the organization followed by another for the analysis of the technical system. This thesis tries to strengthen the analysis and design phase in information systems design through two approaches of systems design, which can complement each other. Both of them emphasize that the process of developing an information system needs to start with a focus on the organization served by the intended system not, as is so often the case at present, with attention focused on data and technology. A designer of an information system should already in the analysis phase consider the technical aspects as well as the social ones. We have found that Soft Systems Methodology and Organizational Informatics can complement each other with different aspects in the analysis phase and thereby improve the process of designing information systems.