Abstract
As technologies change rapidly, improved information technology (IT) products and services are released daily throughout the world. This phenomenon gives tremendous pressure on organization managers to plan, implement and adopt new technology solution in accommodating such changes. Thus, one of the most significant current discussions is IT infrastructure flexibility. Most of the studies in IT infrastructure flexibility have been carried out across industries; however less attention has been paid to measure flexibility of IT infrastructure in construction industry. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding on how IT infrastructure flexibility responds in changing the business demand by exploring the dimensions that could be used to measure IT within construction industry. The study is based on textual reading in a range of recently published works, of which majority of them are from 2000 to 2010. The findings will provide potential variables about each dimension in measuring IT infrastructure flexibility, indicating factors that can be used for future development of an IT infrastructure flexibility maturity model. In this context, the maturity model will be useful for construction organisations to determine where they are. It also offers a benchmark for assessing different organisations for equivalent comparison.
Highlights
In the current economic climate, people has realised the importance of information technology (IT) in altering and improving the way businesses operate
The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual understanding on how IT infrastructure flexibility responds in changing the business demand by exploring the dimensions that could be used to measure IT within construction industry
The world has witnessed the development of many technological advances in the construction industry
Summary
In the current economic climate, people has realised the importance of IT in altering and improving the way businesses operate. IT is perceived as a driver for many of the construction business and operational processes (Aouad et al, 1999; Eadie et al, 2010). The establishment of e-business in the industry such as e-tendering, e-procurement, e-portal, and other electronic transaction process is a proof that there has been a technological shift in construction sector. IT environments today are dramatically different from the host-centric systems of 20 years ago. The industry has started to realise how IT infrastructure can be managed to best achieve today’s business goals under ever-changing business environments, in the midst of rapid changes of technology (Abukhder et al, 2004; Ahmad et al, 2002; Alam, 2009; Aouad, et al, 1999)
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