Future Requirements for Information Systems Developers

ABSTRACT

Information system development is high risk endeavour, but failures linger frequent in spite of progress in development of tools and technologies. Intensive research conducted on IS failure over last few years has not facilitated practitioners to thwart continuing high level of failures. Despite the negative press it receives, failure has played a key role in shaping the organisational dynamics. The aim of the essay is to illustrate the interplay between the notions of IS failure and organisational and managerial aspects causing failure. The objective of the essay is to critically evaluate the concepts of failure, followed by extensive examination of organisational and managerial factors as studied by various researchers. Some of the most important aspects of failure of IS failure mentioned in the essay are user involvement and user acceptance, managerial support, organisational alignment and project abandonment. This approach is applied to a case study where the purpose is to demonstrate the factors such as user involvement, user dissatisfactions and improper designing leading towards failure during within the organisation. Finally conclusions are drawn based upon the examined definitions of failure, factors causing failure and organisational and management related characteristics.

Future Requirements for Information Systems Developers

INTRODUCTION

Information System plays vital role in the success of any organisation. Today in the era of competition and globalisation, Information Systems development is essential for an organisation to survive in the customer dominant market. Most of the companies nowadays go on board with the latest Information System, in this alteration many organisational, managerial and technical complications arise which serve as the resistance towards change and ultimately leading towards failure.

IS development and implementation is a complex process and its success ratio is less than its failure. The IS failure itself has always been challenging to define because of its complexity. One of the management and organisational aspect leading towards system failure is not meeting the expectations even though the system performs as intended. Researchers have defined it differently such as inability to meet the stakeholders expectations (Beynon-Davies, 1995).

Over the time, factors causing IS failure have been understood and defined in a different way. A number of the researches blame the technicality of IS, while some hold social issues responsible like users giving up and not the system. Several factors relating towards IS failure such as users involvement, insufficient management support, inappropriate organisational alignment are found to be common between management and users community of many organisations. (Prof. Lucas Introna, Lancaster University, Week 5) Despite the pessimism, failure has played a crucial role in the evolution of information systems. (M Wilson and D Howcroft, 2002)The aim of the essay is to critically analyse the notion and definition of failure and the managerial and organisational aspects of the IS failures as well as different ways these are studied by various researchers. Prior academic literature along with case studies will be critically analyzed to make the authors opinion about the factors of failure of IS development. The essay will conclude with the reasons and arguments towards the ...