Barriers to Agility in a Large Company's IT Organization

Abstract

The ability to detect and respond to change with ease, speed, flexibility and dexterity – referred to as agility – has become a necessary ability for almost any IT organization. In fact, today's IT organizations need to deliver products and services faster and in a more agile manner than before. Despite its importance, there is a lack of research on what barriers exists towards achieving agility in IT organizations. This article explores what factors inhibit agility within an IT organization in a large company in Sweden. The data was collected using interviews, internal documents and observations. An IT organization agility dimensions framework was used to identify and contextualize the barriers to agility. The findings, show that agility is as much a tactical and managerial issue as it is operational. The holistic approach of exploring barriers to agility in an IT organization fills a knowledge gap in research literature, and extends the existing body of knowledge concerning agility for IT organization.