• define the range of services that must be delivered to support end-users effectively; • distinguish between the general term ‘end-user computing’ and the more specific ‘end-user development’; • analyse the risks associated with pursuing end-user development of information systems as part of a company’s IS strategy; • recommend policies for the effective management of end-user computing within an organisation; • recommend new information systems applications that could reasonably be developed by end-user staff within an organisation.
• Managerial issues involved in controlling the use of
information systems by end-users include the following: – assessing the emphasis to be placed on end-user software development activities; – providing a suitable support function to assist end-users in their use of computers; – ensuring the appropriate skill levels for end-users through staff development and training; – controlling the cost of end-user activities and support.
• End-user IS services: All services required to support
end-users in running their PCs and developing and using applications. 1. Provide a help-desk service 2. Achieve standardisation of software 3. Ensure network efficiency 4. Provide training 5. Deliver services to end-users cost-effectively.
support end-users in running their PCs and developing and using applications. 1. Provide a help-desk service 2. Achieve standardisation of software 3. Ensure network efficiency 4. Provide training 5. Deliver services to end-users cost-effectively.
• The term end-user computing (EUC) has different meanings
according to the context in which it is used. The following statements could all refer to end-user computing: – all tools by which non-data-processing staff handle their own problems without professional programmers; – creative use of data processing by non-data-processing experts; – complex computing by non-data-processing professionals to answer organisational information needs; – non-technical end-users using user-friendly, fourth-generation languages (4GLs) and PCs to generate reports or build decision support systems; – the use of computer hardware and software by people in organisations whose jobs are usually classified as users of information systems rather than developers of information systems.
be defined as: – end-user-developed computer-based information systems for personal, departmental or organisation-wide use, where the end-user is a non-IT professional; – end-user control of which hardware and package applications are purchased for use in their department; – end-user use of existing information systems.
by business people who are not information systems professionals. • End-user development (EUD): Systems development and programming undertaken by non-IS staff.
Advantages Disadvantages Systems tailored to users Produces inappropriate Enables creative use of IS systems Generates competitive Causes duplication advantage Takes users away from Puts users nearer the their real job information Ignores long range and Allows for variety technical issues Increases user awareness Causes integration of IS problems Relieves work load of IT professional
indicated by the Help Desk Institute annual survey (2010) which shows that the median cost of an incident reported via phone is $20. • E-mail and chat is lower at $15, but are still significant costs when multiplied across a large organisation.
• People – training end-users and IT staff to make
optimal use of cost-controlling processes and technologies. • Processes – automating some tasks and streamlining others, ranging from asset tracking to software updating. • Technologies – deploying information technologies that minimise and in some cases eliminate the widest range of labor-intensive tasks.
monitor staff e-mails and web sites they access. • Acceptable use policy: Statement of employee activities involving use of networked computers that are not considered acceptable by the management. • Scanning software: Identifies e-mail or web page access that breaches company guidelines or acceptable use policies. • Filtering software: Software that blocks specified content or activities.
• Help desk: A central facility in an organisation
which provides end-user help-desk services such as phone support for trouble-shooting end-user software and hardware problems, training, guidance on end-user development and management of user information.
• Asset management software: Help-desk staff need to know
the technical details of the systems being used in the company and the software loaded on them. This is achieved by asset management software such as Microsoft Systems Management server. This can also distribute new software automatically. • Computer telephony integration (CTI): CTI gives automatic phone number identification and the system will then load up the details of the computer, its current user and configuration. This allows first-tier calls to be answered much faster. • Case-based reasoning: These systems use artificial intelligence techniques (Chapter 6) to guide the user or help- desk staff through the process of solving the problem.
• Web-based intranet access: Users can access frequently
asked questions, send an e-mail or type in keywords describing their problems. Problems solved this way will save help-desk staff the time spent dealing with straightforward queries. • Workflow: Workflow systems can be used to prioritise user queries and assign them to the staff best placed to deal with them. An example of a workflow queue used in a help desk is shown in Figure 16.1.
• End-user development of applications represents a
major trend in the use of information technology in organisations. • McGill et al. (2003) explain that: ‘User-developed applications (UDAs) are computer- based applications for which non-information systems professionals assume primary development responsibility. They support decision making and organizational processes in the majority of organizations.’
• Reports from a corporate database using standard enquiries defined
by the IS/IT function. • Simple ad hoc queries to databases defined by the user. For someone in an airline, for example, these might include access to a frequent flyer database, customer reservation system or crew rostering system to monitor performance of each. • What-if? analysis using tools such as spreadsheet models or more specialised tools such as risk or financial management packages or business intelligence software, used for monitoring sales and marketing performance of information stored in a data warehouse. • Writing company information for a company intranet. • Development of applications such as a job costing tool or production scheduling system, using easy-to-use, high-level tools such as application generators, PC database management systems such as Microsoft Access or Filemaker, or visual programming environments such as Microsoft Visual Studio or Embarcadero Delphi.
• Applications backlog: The demand for new applications by users
exceeds the capacity of the IS department or IS outsourcing company to develop them. • The desire by users to query and analyse data and generate reports from information stored on databases available across the corporate network. • A trend to decentralisation of computing to user departments for systems to support departmental activities. • Reduced expense of application development when conducted by end-users (from departmental rather than information systems budget). • Better fit between end-user-developed software and their requirements (since no requirements translation is needed between the users and third-party developers). End-users are also less likely to ‘over-engineer’ a solution to a basic problem than an IS professional who will want to treat every problem with rigour.
A model of IS success that can be applied to end-user developed
Figure 16.3 applications Source: Reprinted by permission, DeLone, W. and McLean, E. ‘Information system success: The quest for the dependent variable’, Information Systems Research, 3, 1, 1992. Copyright 1992, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 310, Hanover, MD 21076 USA.
• Isolation: A few scattered pioneers of EUD develop small-scale business
tools within their area. Initially, little support from central IS. • Standalone: Larger-scale applications are developed that may be of importance to a department. At this stage, an information centre may be developed to support an increase in demand for user computing services. • Manual integration: Here, different end-user applications need to exchange data. This happens through manual intervention, with files being transferred by floppy disk or across the network or even with rekeying of information. Information centre development has continued to support the needs of these larger-scale applications by providing training and skills and specifying standards for hardware, software and the development process. • Automated integration: Users start to link into corporate applications to gain seamless access to information. • Distributed integration: At this stage of development, there is a good level of integration between different end-user applications and corporate systems. Good standards of metadata (or data describing data in a data dictionary) are required to help achieve this.
• Information requires export from other information systems before it can be analysed by the end-user application • Corruption of centrally held data by uploading erroneous data • Development of insecure systems without password control that are vulnerable to accidental and deliberate damage.
• Training: Provision of relevant training courses both in how to program
and in how to approach systems development in a structured way (the second of these is often omitted). This happened at the Open University, where many of the end-users wanted to omit the analysis course. • Suitability review: Authorisation of major end-user new developments by business and IS managers to check that they are necessary (this should not be necessary for smaller-scale developments since otherwise creativity may be stifled). • Standards for development: Such standards will recommend that documentation and structured testing of all user-developed software occurs. Detailed standards might include clear data definitions, validation rules, backup and recovery routines and security measures.
• Guidance from end-user support personnel: IC or help-desk staff
can provide training in techniques used to develop software. • Software and data audits: Regular audits of software produced by end-users should occur for data and application quality. There is an apocryphal story of a company that had an end-user-developed spreadsheet for making investment decisions which had an error in a formula that lost the company millions of pounds each year! • Ensuring corporate data security: Ensure that users are not permitted to enter data directly into central databases except via applications especially written for the purpose by the IS department which have the necessary validation rules to ensure data quality. For analysis of corporate data, data should regularly be downloaded from the central database to the PC for analysis, where they can be analysed without causing performance problems to the corporate system.
