The development of a fuzzy expert system to aid in the adoption and use of systems development methodologies

Abstract

A topic of great interest to the field of information system (IS) development is the concept of systems development methodologies (SDMs) and their successful adoption by, and use in, an organisation. Therefore, there exists a need for the developing of software and tools to aid in the adoption and use of SDMs. The focus of this study was to develop a fuzzy expert system that could aid in the adoption and use of SDMs. The study will focus on those factors that influence the adoption and use of SDMs in an organisation, as well as those factors that influence the submitting of rules to a fuzzy expert system to aid organisations in the decision-making process. Due to the fragmented nature of the research available in the field of study, an intensive literature study was undertaken to obtain the available rules. After the rules were identified, the rules were summarised to form the foundation for the development model of the fuzzy expert system. The research design for the study identified the positivism philosophical paradigm as being the most applicable for this study. The research method that was found to be most applicable to the study was the design and creation research method, which was, therefore, employed to conduct the research. The data collection method that was used in the research design was the literature review, which formed the basis of the fuzzy expert system. The fuzzy expert system was developed in two different programming languages, namely FuzzyCLIPS and C#. The fuzzy expert system part of the system was developed in FuzzyCLIPS and the user interface was developed in the procedural language C#.