The extreme programming approach for financial management system on local government

Abstract

This paper reports lessons from implementation of a financial information system in the Indonesian public sector. Such the system is complex, as it should adhere various rigid government regulations and involves various levels of government units. In developing the system, we adopted an extreme programming approach, with an ultimate goal to meet requirements defined by all levels of government units. The evaluation indicated that there were no significant problems experienced at both the upper and the middle levels. But this was not the case at the lower (sub-organization) level. Although we found that 98% of the involved users agreed that their requirements has been met, and 100% of them were satisfied with the use of the extreme programming approach, we found that the users at the lower level in general had a high level of resistance against changes, which demanded a better strategy to cope with such problem. A recommended solution includes involving them more intensively throughout the development of the system, aimed at eliciting system requirements and cultivating a better awareness among them.