European, Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems 2013(EMCIS2013) October 17-18 2013, Windsor, United Kingdom José Sousa and Ricardo Machado 1 Complex-networks model analysis for the conceptualization of information systems development COMPLEX-NETWORKS MODEL ANALYSIS FOR THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT José L.R. Sousa, Information Systems Department, Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology (IBMC), University of Porto, Portugal jsousa@ibmc.up.pt Ricardo J. Machado, Escola de Engenharia, Centro ALGORITMI / Dept. Sistemas de Informação, Universidade do Minho, Portugal rmac@dsi.uminho.pt Abstract Typically, each information system implementation includes technological components that store data that reflects the interplay between the information technology and its users. That interplay reflect the information system connectivity (the way how, when and who information systems elements interact). The understanding about the behavior of that connectivity can play an important role on the conceptualization of the development of the information systems. This behavior of connectivity can be modeled with what is traditionally called complex-networks; i.e., quantified representations of the information system connectivity that allows the analysis of the information system behavior. This paper presents a framework to construct complex-networks models (CN-Models) of information systems and how these models can be analyzed to conceptualize some characteristics of the information system. The conceptualization includes measurements of the connectivity. Those measurements allow the characterization of the information systems integration, segregation, centrality and resilience developing a quantified conceptualization of the information systems development. We apply the conceptualization to an exploratory case study of an Enterprise Resource Systems (ERP). Keywords: information systems, connectivity, complex-networks, measures, modeling, development, integration, segregation, centrality, resilience. 1 INTRODUCTION The development of information systems covers the generation, implementation and adoption of new elements in an organization’s social and technical subsystems that store, manipulate, process, and utilize information. (Lyytinen & Newman 2006). Undertaking this according to organization’s needs and provisions its sustainability is a fundamental core for information systems practitioners and researchers. That core exposes the IT-business alignment long time dilemma (Leonard & Seddon 2012; Chan 2002). Understand the nature of the superior development remains contested and challenging. Moreover, investments on IT will not significantly augment organization sustainability unless used (Carr 2005). Additionally, information technology (IT) progressed to be ubiquitous increasing complexity. Modern information system, are techno-social systems, that consist of large-scale people and IT infrastructures embedded in a dense web of communication and computing infrastructures in which human behavior defines its dynamics and evolution. Information systems are each more seen as complex-systems that need to adapt and evolve according to organizations dynamics (Nan 2011; Hoffman et al. 2009). The complex-systems approach augments the limitations of the reductionist view by using it in coordination with a holistic view that includes the vision of the connectivity of the whole. To understand the connectivity of such systems, it is possible to characterize its patterns from