The Client's Motives

A client does not initiate the development of an information system simply because there is money to do so. The need for a new/revised information system can be a combination of the following:

• the current system (manual or otherwise) is inefficient
• there is no system in place for a new business
• the current system cannot handle anticipated growth
• the current system is at a dead end (no future maintenance and support)
• the current system does not handle a required (new) feature

A client's motive(s) to initiate the development or revision of an information system is a starting point for more questions. For example, if a client states that ``our competitor processes significantly more transactions then us'', a systems analyst should ask ``could you quantify the competitor's ability?''