Post-project evaluation of IT business cases: The case of an energy supply company

This research describes the design of a post-project evaluation model for business cases of IT projects. Structured post-project evaluation is hardly common practice in industry (Gwillim et al., 1995; Kumar, 1990). Consequently, many improvement opportunities are missed out on, including improving future business cases and system development practices. On basis of a literature study a post-project evaluation design matrix was developed to illustrate the most important design issues. This matrix includes six post-project evaluation aspects and for all these aspects, the following five issues: evaluation questions, required information, time frame, roles and possible actions. On the basis of this post-project evaluation design matrix and 30 business case documents a post-project evaluation method was developed for an energy supply company. Various information and communication problems were identified, such as, too little commitment of the business case owner and incomplete initial information. Several quick wins could be established by suggesting improved calculation methods and assigning cost and benefits to responsible owners. Additional benefits could be obtained of post-project evaluation, if the business case should receive significantly more managerial attention and would play a central role in the evaluation of each mile stone. This would considerably improve organizational learning

Calculating the Importance of Information Systems: The Method of Bedell Revisited

Various portfolio methods have been suggested to evaluate the information systems used in organizations. A characteristic method for portfolio analysis is the method of Bedell (1985). This paper provides an overview of the purpose and functioning of this method. The explanation is supported by an elaborated example

Benefits are from Venus, Costs are from Mars

Given the plethora of available information systems (IS) evaluation techniques, it seems unlikely that yet another technique will address the problems of unsuccessful projects and ineffective management. Rather, more insight into the foundations of evaluation techniques may yield greater benefits. One generally accepted, but largely unexplored, issue concerns objectivity and subjectivity in the assessment of costs and benefits. This research in progress demonstrates that, over time, the objectivity of evaluation approaches has diminished as they increasingly assess benefits. As cost measurements remain more objective, assessments that seek to compare costs and benefits become more problematic; benefits are from Venus, costs are from Mars and their orbits are diverging. This research assesses why this is the case. Specifically, it examines different characteristics of costs and benefits and the divergence in their assessments. Then, a design science methodology is adopted to analyse the divergence’s influence on evaluation methods, as well as the \u27tweakability’ for closing the gap. In this paper it is argued that narrowing the gap, and particularly the objective measurement of IT benefits, is a prerequisite for a more general acceptance of IT evaluation methods. This insight may enable better understanding of some of the fundamental problems underlying IS evaluation

Deep brain stimulation of the central thalamus restores arousal and motivation in a zolpidem-responsive patient with akinetic mutism after severe brain injury

After severe brain injury, zolpidem is known to cause spectacular, often short-lived, restorations of brain functions in a small subgroup of patients. Previously, we showed that these zolpidem-induced neurological recoveries can be paralleled by significant changes in functional connectivity throughout the brain. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical intervention known to modulate functional connectivity in a wide variety of neurological disorders. In this study, we used DBS to restore arousal and motivation in a zolpidem-responsive patient with severe brain injury and a concomitant disorder of diminished motivation, more than 10 years after surviving hypoxic ischemia. We found that DBS of the central thalamus, targeted at the centromedian-parafascicular complex, immediately restored arousal and was able to transition the patient from a state of deep sleep to full wakefulness. Moreover, DBS was associated with temporary restoration of communication and ability to walk and eat in an otherwise wheelchair-bound and mute patient. With the use of magnetoencephalography (MEG), we revealed that DBS was generally associated with a marked decrease in aberrantly high levels of functional connectivity throughout the brain, mimicking the effects of zolpidem. These results imply that 'pathological hyperconnectivity' after severe brain injury can be associated with reduced arousal and behavioral performance and that DBS is able to modulate connectivity towards a 'healthier baseline' with lower synchronization, and, can restore functional brain networks long after severe brain injury. The presence of hyperconnectivity after brain injury may be a possible future marker for a patient's responsiveness for restorative interventions, such as DBS, and suggests that lower degrees of overall brain synchronization may be conducive to cognition and behavioral responsiveness

Оцінювання за зашумленними спостереженнями невідомих даних лінійних еліптичних рівнянь, що допускають змішане варіаційне формулювання

Получен новый класс систем вариационных уравнений через решения которых выражаются минимаксные оценки значений функционалов от неизвестных правых частей линейных эллиптических уравнений 2-го порядка.Одержаний новий клас систем варіаційних рівнянь через розв'язки яких виражаються мінімаксні оцінки значень функционалів від невідомих правих частин лінійних еліптичних рівнянь 2-го порядку.We obtain a new class of systems of variational equations via whose solutions the minimax estimates of values of functionals from unknown right-hand sides of the second order linear elliptic equations are expressed