PRAXIS um referencial para o planeamento de Sistemas de Informacao

Information Systems Planning (ISP) is an organisational activity whose purpose id to define the desired future for the organisation's information system, how is should be supported by information technology and how that support should be implemented. ISP is a complex activity, holistic and contingent in nature and its practice in organisations has different motivations and goals. Although ISP is recognised as vital to organisational success, it is often neglected and its results are often described as a failure. This situation is explained with the lack of a sound referential system, adequate to ISP characteristics. The main purpose of this work was the search for a solution to this problem. Since the beginning it was clear that any proposal for a new ISP referential should be based on the existing theoretical studies and it should also take in account the necessities of ISP practice and the results of ISP experience. The necessity and the technical feasibility of such a referential constitute the main thesis of this work. PRAXIS, the ISP referential system proposed in this thesis, is believed to be complete as it includes a conceptual framework (PRAXIS/ec), an approach (PRAXIS/a) a method (PRAXIS/m) and a tool (PRAXIS/f). PRAXIS's conceptual framework is viewed as an important contribution to the study of ISP and it constitutes the PRAXIS's theoretical basis. Moreover, PRAXIS has been designed to cope with the necessities and the expectations of ISP practiceAvailable from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Servico de Informacao e Documentacao, Av. D. Carlos I, 126, 1200 Lisboa / FCT - Fundação para o Ciência e a TecnologiaSIGLEPTPortuga