Failure Analysis of Information Systems: Reflections on the Use of Expert Systems in Information Systems

Abstract

One of the specific products of modern information technology is the expert system. Expert systems have been developed to support humans in handling the large amount of information on which more and more tasks depend for their success. The expert systems do that by applying techniques of artificial intelligence, mainly various types of reasoning, to cases where human intelligence is insufficient — either because it is too slow or error-prone or because it is a scarce resource (cf. Wiener, 1986). Expert systems thereby more and more often become part of large information systems — in addition to being Information Systems themselves. It is therefore necessary to consider the implications of the increased use of expert systems for the general approach to failure analysis of information systems. There are two completely different aspects of this:

• • The expert system as an information system that itself may fail, i. e., as a target.

• • The expert system as an aid for the prevention and diagnosis of failures in information systems, i.e., as a tool.