Presenting a Framework for the Management of Benefits in the Lifecycle of Information System Projects

Lack of a formal process for benefits management is considered as one of the main factors of failure in achieving expected benefits from investments in Information Systems. Although various models have been proposed for benefits management process, their practical application has been limited due to the lack of integration with Information Systems projects’ lifecycle. This research attempts to identify the main phases of Information Systems project lifecycle, map connections between these phases and different stages of benefits management lifecycle, and introduce benefits management activities and related inputs and outputs separated by their attributed phases. The proposed framework has been totally validated based on the opinions of the domain experts. The applicability and usefulness of this framework has been evaluated through scrutinizing Information Systems projects in System Group company as one of the forerunners of the software industry in Iran. The results indicate that more benefits has been realized in those projects that paid more attention to the benefits management activities proposed by this research.