ABSTRACT
Information systems (IS) development is a complex endeavor. Notwithstanding significant advances achieved in a number of areas, including methodologies, techniques, architectures, and project management, the rate of unsuccessful or failed projects continues to be high. Development paradigms have evolved in an attempt to reduce the effort and cost of IS change necessitated by continuous demands of systems maintenance and integration. This has led IS developers to rethink systems design in terms of independent but collaborating components, each charged with specific responsibilities. Component-based development promises considerable benefits such as reuse, increased interoperability, and less costly software evolution. Such benefits are not easily achievable and require simultaneous work along multiple dimensions: organizational, methodological, and technological.
This chapter serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of the concepts, issues, and dimensions underlying component-based information systems development. Second, it serves as an introduction to the remaining chapters, providing the reader with the necessary foundation to critically appreciate the research work presented throughout the volume. A discussion of research methods on the development of component-based information systems is also presented, with particular emphasis on design research.
