Norwegian methods for benefits realization Øyvind Hellang Center for eGovernment, Institute of Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway oyvind.hellang@uia.no Leif Skiftenes Flak Center for eGovernment, Institute of Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway leif.s.flak@uia.no Tero Päivärinta Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden Institute of Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway tero.paivarinta@ltu.se Abstract. Benefits realization from public information and communication technology (ICT) investments is complicated. Research and development has resulted in methods for evaluating alternative business cases – and also more substantial methods to manage effects through an investment’s life cycle. Previous research suggests that use of benefits realization methods can lead to more informed decisions and implementations driven by benefits, this in turn can result in more realized benefits. However, there is a lack of studies of existing benefits realization methods-in-use. The objective of this research in progress is to give an overview of the state-of-the-art of benefits realization method use in the Norwegian public sector, to highlight the variety of methods-in-use, and to discuss the different methods with reference to the much cited Benefits management model (Ward et.al., 2006). Keywords: benefits realization methods, eGovernment 1 Introduction Benefits realization, i.e. “(t)he process of organizing and managing such that the potential benefits arising from the use of IS [information systems]/IT [Information Technology] are actually realized”, involves significant challenges for organizations (Ward and Daniel, 2006). This is highlighted especially in IS projects which aim at organizational change in addition to plain implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) (Markus, 2004). Methods for benefits realization have been developed since the mid 90’s, inspired by British research (Ward and Daniel, 2006; Ward et al., 1996). While the literature on benefits realization on and evaluation of ICT investments have traditionally suggested a plethora of more or less generic methods and techniques intended for this purpose, actual implementation of such methods has been less common (Thomas et al., 2007) and thus a lack of empirical