Evidence suggests that information centers (ICs) have significantly
more interest in evaluating software packages and assisting in
the selection of software packages than end users have. However,
the selection of software packages by the information center product
specialists (ICPSs) can compromise their usage. Ease of use and
usefulness are believed to be fundamental predictors of usage.
The question of whether ICPSs are able to correctly evaluate ease
of use and usefulness of software packages for end users is posed.
An insight into this issue could enhance end-user computing (EUC)
policy and lead to a more effective partnership between end users
and information systems (IS) professionals. A search for this
insight provided the motivation for our empirical investigation
of the perception of ICPSs and end users in assessing the ease
of use and usefulness of thirty different software packages. Our
investigation was performed in an organization with an IC that
had evolved to the formalization stage. The findings show that
the perceptions of the end users and ICPSs were similar in terms
of assessing the ease of use of software packages. However, end
users found the software packages less useful than did IC product
specialists. Therefore, in sophisticated environments, end users
should be empowered to develop their own user groups and suggest
to IC personnel which useful software packages to acquire. Otherwise,
selection of software packages without end-user participation
could have an adverse effect on their usage.
Key words and phrases: human information processing , information center , software selection criteria