SYSTEM LIFE EXPECTANCY AND THE MAINTENANCE EFFORT: EXPLORING THEIR EQUILIBRATION

摘要

Aging information systems are expensive to maintain and most are eventually retired and replaced. But what determines (in the choices made by managers) whether and when a system reaches end-of-life? What shapes managers' judgements about a system's remaining life expectancy and do these judgments influence the maintenance effort itself? System maintenance and prospective replacement are examined here in new terms, positing that managers " equilibrate" (balance) their allocation of maintenance effort with their expectations of a system's remaining life.