The ISSUE methodology for quantifying benefits from information systems

The assessment of information systems (IS) benefits is an important practical problem in IS investment appraisal. After briefly reviewing the nature of IS benefits, we argue that an incremental measurement approach can help an organisation obtain quantitative estimates of expected IS impacts on business performance. Such an approach should start from quantifiable benefits directly attributable to the information system and then gradually consider more intangible and indirect effects. We suggest that Business Process Simulation can be an effective technique in applying this approach and we present a methodology that incorporates incremental, iterative business process modelling and simulation into five practical steps. To illustrate this approach, we present a case of measuring the potential improvements in inventory management introduced by electronic data interchange and discuss issues of feasibility and directions for further research and development.