A comparison of ‘traditional’ and multimedia information systems development practices C. Barry, M. Lang * Department of Accountancy and Finance, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland Received 28 March 2002; revised 20 June 2002; accepted 18 November 2002 Abstract As multimedia information systems begin to infiltrate organizations, there arises a need to capture and disseminate knowledge about how to develop them. Little is thus far known about the realities of multimedia systems development practice, or about how the development of multimedia systems compares to that of ‘traditional’ information systems. Herein are discussed the findings of a survey of multimedia developers in Ireland. Practitioners generally agree that systematic approaches are desirable in order to beneficially add structure to development processes, but they are predominantly using their own in-house methods rather than those prescribed in the literature. q 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Multimedia information systems; Systems development practices; Development methods; Development techniques; Development approaches 1. Introduction Software development is perhaps the ‘most complex endeavour humankind has ever attempted’ [7], and the demands on software developers continue to become increasingly sophisticated as ‘our ability to imagine complex applications will always exceed our ability to create them’ [5]. Information systems development practice has therefore never been a stable environment. Advances in hardware, networks and telecommunications, operating systems, and user interface technologies have all challenged the established skills of systems developers. In response, approaches and accompanying techniques have been devised to reflect the rapidly changing nature of information systems. With the recent and sudden emergence of organisational multimedia information systems, developers are once again challenged to resolve serious questions about how such systems are and should be developed. Thus far, business use of multimedia technologies has been limited to relatively simple, stand-alone applications. However, multimedia and hypermedia systems, particularly those that are Web-based, are growing in complexity and scope as they begin to intervene with critical organizational activities such as customer support, sales and marketing, and technical support. As an expected consequence, issues similar to those encountered in traditional IS development have emerged—such as how to manage requirements, how to control development processes, how to co-ordinate the collaborative work of design teams, and how to effectively manage projects. It is reasonable to propose that more sophisticated and disciplined approaches towards multi- media systems development are therefore needed, as well as a means to resolve various problems that accompany large- scale systems development. 2. Background and research objectives In the recent past, the world of systems development has been dominated by structured methods for large-scale systems development projects and by visual or object- oriented methods for interface design and specialized systems. However, many authors assert that multimedia and Web-based information systems are fundamentally different from traditional information systems [9,37,45], and that these traditional methods and techniques are therefore not well suited to multimedia and Web-based systems development [33,36,37]. Murugesan et al. [35] have spoken of a pressing need for ‘approaches and new methods and tools for development, deployment and evaluation of Web-based systems and applications’. On such a contention, 0950-5849/03/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0950-5849(02)00207-0 Information and Software Technology 45 (2003) 217–227 www.elsevier.com/locate/infsof * Tel.: þ353-91-750301. E-mail address: michael.lang@nuigalway.ie (M. Lang), Chris. Barry@nuigalway.ie (C. Barry).