This research proposes a framework that helps information systems managers to interpret present state of the system, to understand its past and to predict its future. The benefits of the framework are twofold. First, it gives managers a tool for assessing the impact of a change from either the users or the business/IS perspective. Managers can use this framework to design a strategy for information system evolution. Second, the framework allows the study of information systems evolution by revealing specific evolution patterns. In this context, this article presents a systematic method to inform components of this framework. The framework' s structure is tested against six case studies on information systems evolution. Based on these case studies, this article presents a timeline of evolutions used to trace and study the life cycle of each information system according to the framework. Moreover, the case studies validate a trace analysis method and highlights specific evolution patterns.