Merise in Practice

Merise is now probably the most widely used methodology for information systems development in France. First introduced in the early 1980s, it has been developed and refined to the point where most large French governmental, commercial and industrial organizations have adopted it as their standard methodology. The authors show how Merise proceeds to separate treatment of data and processes, where the data view is modelled in three stages - from conceptual, and logical, through to physical. Similarly, the process-oriented view passes through the three stages of conceptual, organizational and operational. These stages in the modelling process are paralleled by the stages of the life cycle: strategic planning, preliminary study, detailed study, development, implementation and maintenance.