A Representation Model of Design Rationale for the Design of ERP Systems

Special attention has been given to documentation and support activities in Software Engineering design, mainly when they are related to complex systems and distributed teams. Usually, information related to the finaldecisions of each phase is registered. However, the reasons of each decision and the alternatives that were consideredand discarded are not documented. Capture and recovery of this type of information, in an efficient way, are thepurposes of the Design Rationale study. Recording this information can facilitate maintenance, reuse and even thedesign phase, providing a better understanding of the system, by knowledge spread, communication and integrationamong the project team. The main concern is when and how to capture this information with low interference indesigners’ usual activities, so that benefits can overcome the costs involved in this task. The purpose of the presentwork is to show, with plausible reasons, the great usefulness of the application of the Design Rationale technique inERP systems design, proposing a new representation model for recording design decisions in these systems