Infrastructure Management as Cooperative Work: Implications for Systems Design

Abstract

This study looks at the data communications network management organization (NMO) within a large financial institution and applies concepts from Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and other domains to develop techniques for describing work within this and other similar organizations. Network management is one form of infrastructure management, which is comprised of two kinds of work: real-time supervisory control work and design work. While many studies of group work focus on the activities of small groups of people engaged in either real-time supervisory control or design work, examinations of organizations where both kinds of work occur are relatively rare. The focus is on the work patterns and data forms that are found within the NMO. Some of the implications of the analysis in regard to the design of CSCW systems are presented and discussed.