The Architecture of Computer-based information Processing and the Effectiveness and Adaptability of Systems

Abstract

The effectiveness of a computer-based information system can be defined in terms of its ability to support effectively the functions of the system it serves. In fact, a basic principle for the design of computer-based information systems stated earlier (Kampfner, 1997) asserts that in order to provide effective function support, a computer-based information system must be compatible with the structure, dynamics, and adaptability of the system it supports. The effect of computer-based information processing on adaptability can be associated with its effect on the interdependence of the subsystems of the system it serves. In fact, a basic architecture design principle favors the adaptability of the system as a whole (Kampfner, 2008) by appropriately reducing subsystem interdependence (Conrad, 1983). In this paper we propose a top-down approach to the design of computer-based information systems in which the architecture design principle is applied first in order to find an architecture that favors the adaptability of the system being supported by the information system. The effective support of function support must then be achieved on the basis of this architecture.