Information management in support of the business

The introduction of new methods to improve the recording, communication, processing, evaluation and security of information, the increasing availability of cheap computing power and improvements in global communication facilities have promised much. However, in many cases actual achievements have fallen far short of the expectation. In contrast, there have been some cases of spectacular success. Does this mean that success in this field is a hit and miss affair, or are there some lessons to be learned that can help to engineer effective low cost information systems that can respond rapidly to change? The paper aims to provide a positive response to this question. It presents a number of case histories which highlight some of the drawbacks of conventional methods. It traces the formulation of a strategy for the successful development and implementation of effective low cost enterprise wide information systems and business processes that can respond rapidly to change. This strategy is based on the adoption of a holistic approach and the use of mixed methods. Both these basic principles can be easily applied within the framework of two complementary methodologies called Simple Architectures and Models (SAM) and Mixed Open Methods (MOM). SAM and MOM are the results of many years of experience in helping organisations in the commercial environment to successfully manage the implementation of business process reengineering (BPR) programmes and enterprise wide information systems within short timescales.