Book reviews 81

Information Management: The Evaluation of Information Systems Investments L. Willcocks, Chapman and Hall, London, 1994, 272 pages. ISBN 0 412 41540 2 and Investing in Information Systems: Evaluation and Management L. Willcocks, Chapman and Hall, London, 1996, 360 pages. ISBN 0 412 72670 X

So you wish to tackle the thorny issue of evaluating your IT investment? Well, here are two texts from the same author to help you. Published in 1994 and 1996 respec- tively, they pull together a large number of the ‘classic’ papers in IT investment evaluation, most of which have undergone some modification for these texts.

The theme of the earlier book is ‘evaluation practice at strategic levels and during the prepurchase phases of IS assessments’. The text is organised into four parts. Part one is an overview of current evaluation practice in organisations. Part two is devoted to the strategic dimensions of IS evaluation. The third part offers modern techniques for evaluation while the final part focuses on evaluation processes.

As all the papers here are based on previously published work, often in major journals, there is no faulting them on technical or content grounds. The real issue is whether the choice of these papers is the right one and whether the papers have aged too much to merit their inclusion in a text.

The latter problem is most likely to affect those papers which set the scene of current practice. The first reports on survey work undertaken in 1990 as does the second. Six years on there certainly have been more up-to-date surveys but not much seems to have changed and the discussion in these scene setting papers remains as valid today as it was in the 1990s.

Part two, on the strategic issues, has lost some of its bite as these topics are now so well (and often) discussed and researched that early papers in this field feel a little ‘old hat’. However, as an introduction to these issues they are all competent places to start.

Part three, on techniques, starts with a frameworks paper which might have been better placed in the overview section as it provides useful classifications for IT invest- ments. The second paper explains information economics, which never seems to have got anywhere but makes an interesting read. The discussions of risk analysis are welcome since this aspect of IT investment appraisal is one which passed evaluators by for many years.

The final section, on processes and perspectives, reminds us of responsibility and the need for multiple perspectives.

This is a useful text marred only by a strange decision to embolden certain words in each chapter except the last. In some chapters complete phrases are in bold, ‘these three areas have not been addressed with sufficient thought’ (p. 235) while in others only single words, ‘before’ (p. 203 and p. 89), ‘all’ (p. 94) and ‘do’ (p. 44).

So, given the competence of this text, what can the more recent one offer us? The second text curiously has no blurb on the inside folds of the dust cover where most give information on the book and at the back on its author. Again, this text is a volume based on published papers updated for this book. Again, it uses the four

82 Book reviews

section format. The introduction states that this text is complementary to the earlier one, ‘the volume takes the discussion further and investigates evaluation and manage- ment issues across system portfolios and lifecycles’ (p. 1): ‘the chapters in this book serve to put some flesh around this notion of an evaluation cycle’ (p. 8).

Again, this text commences with an overview; this time the first paper surveys activities in 1992. The second began life as a discourse on practices at BT though this version tries to be more general.

Part two looks at software and projects, going beyond its remit to incorporate business process re-engineering (BPR) projects. It is not clear why BPR in general, though often IT-enabled, finds its way into this text. It seems that the difficulties BPR has in defining costs and benefits ex ante in the project, just like IT, qualifies it for inclusion.

Part three addresses implementation: assessing and managing the benefits. Again, this starts with a chapter on BPR though the IT element is explicitly referenced.

Part four moves to a new area - routine operations, which is fine, and IT sourcing issues, which may be less consistent.

By including much on outsourcing and BPR, this text is more up-to-date than the other but also more wide-ranging. While all the papers are interesting they fit less well into the theme of this text. This may be because there are fewer ‘classic’ IT evaluation papers which to include here. However, a moment’s thought reveals a number of further ‘classics’ which would do justice to any new text - and indeed may.

In conclusion, both these texts merit purchase if you have not come across all the originals and want to get up to speed relatively quickly. The second text goes in for the same strange use of bold type but this should not put you off. These texts confirm the place for edited volumes from which some publishers now seem to shy - it is very doubtful that a single author even working from the original material could offer so useful a set of commentaries.

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Philip Powell Information Systems Research Unit

Warwick Business School