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Section1 - Web-based Information
Systems - Types and Characteristics
"A [Web-based information system] not only
disseminates information, but also proactively interacts
with users and processes their business tasks to
accomplish their business goals."3 According to Isakowitz et al.,
"there is a clear difference between a set of Web pages
and a WIS. The latter supports work, and is usually
tightly integrated with other non-WISs such as databases
and transaction processing systems."4 Going further, Isakowitz et al.
identify several types of WISs: "Intranets, to support
internal work, Web-presence sites that are marketing
tools designed to reach consumers outside the firm,
electronic commerce systems that support consumer
interactions, such as online shopping, and a blend of
internal and external systems to support
business-to-business communication, commonly called
Extranets."5These WISs are supported by
Web-based applications that can be grouped into two
categories: "informational applications
(dissemination/presentation) and software
applications."6 Ginige and Murugesan expand the
number of subdivisions to include seven
categories of Web-based applications: informational,
interactive, transactional, workflow, collaborative work
environments, online communities/ marketplaces, and web
portals.7
Even though there are similarities between
traditional- and Web-based information systems,
significant differences exist as well. Web-based
information systems pose a variety of challenges to the
developer who needs to deal with unknowns in terms of
network set-ups and users, various types of data, and
other issues such as content management, presentation
and usability. Although Web-based information systems
are platform independent in terms of information
delivery, which is one of the reasons why they are so
popular, web developers have to deal with very disparate
networks and need to take them into consideration during
the system development process. The users of a
traditional information system are often employees
working within a single organization or department. In
contrast, analyzing the users' requirements for a WIS is
far more challenging for the developers. Users "are more
diverse, and are sometimes even unknown before the
system development."8 Because of the global reach of
WISs, users are not limited to an organization or a
physical space but can be located anywhere around the
world, creating a host of cultural, social, and legal
issues for the developer.9 The challenge resides in
identifying users' requirements for the information
system without having easy access to the users.
Web-based information systems also deal with structured
data such as data records, and non-structured data such
as video or audio files. The choice between structured
and non-structured data must be decided upon after a
thorough analysis of the types of networks that will be
encountered, which, in turn, is related to the types of
users most likely to utilize the system. Another
characteristic of Web-based information systems is the
relationship between content, users, and presentation.
Contrary to traditional information systems development,
presentation and graphic design are significantly more
important in the success of a WIS; Content alone is not
sufficient. The way in which the information is
presented plays an important role in the success of a
Web-based information system. Therefore, "the
development of a Web application is a multifaceted
activity, involving not only technical questions, but
also organizational, managerial, and even social and
artistic issues."10
Faced with such complex systems, a systematic
approach to web-based information systems is necessary
in order "to divide a complex development into
manageable phases,… allocate necessary resources to each
phase, and to measure the progress of the
application."11 In the next section, I will
discuss the development life cycle of a Web-based
information system, and introduce some methodologies
used in the development process.
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