Treatment of the uncertainties in prioritization of information technology projects: A hybrid multicriteria approach

Prioritizing information technology (IT) projects for resource direction is a complex decision-making process that involves the analysis of qualitative and subjective criteria. The uncertainty of the subjective and imprecise assessments derived from estimated data that represent the analyzed criteria characterizes the decision-making process. To reduce the uncertainties related to IT project priority setting, we proposed a model based on a hybrid multicriteria method composed by the best–worst method to establish the weights of the criteria and fuzzy-TOPSIS to define the project ranking. The model allows us (1) to define strategic subcriteria, (2) adjust the weights according to the company's reality, (3) to deal with the uncertainties of the evaluations of the decision makers, and (4) provide the project ranking that translates reality into the distribution of resources in the IT sector. Finally, we applied the model to a case study in the IT sector of a Brazilian agroindustrial cooperative. For the managers, the method provides a precise decision aiding tool. Although the model has been applied to the prioritization of IT projects in a cooperative, the same can be generalized to the IT sectors of other companies.