Measuring readiness for successful information technology/information system (IT/IS) project implementation: A conceptual model

Abstract

Many investigation have shown that the introduction of new investment in information technology/ information system (IT/IS) are profoundly affecting the processes, work environment, structures and strategies of an organization. This is due to the fact that new IT/IS will lies in changing the people system or better known as ‘soft issue’. The resistance to change might occur due to lack of creating a sense of need and urgency for change among the employee and consequently might lead to the IT/IS project failure. Therefore, to reduce the resistance to change among the employee, it is essential that an organisation needs to determine the level of readiness for change prior the introduction of new IT/IS implementation by measuring its internal capabilities. A failure to assess organisational readiness prior the IT/IS implementation may result in mangers spending more time dealing with the resistance to change or even worst may result in IT/IS failure. To date most of the traditional IT/IS performance measures are based on productivity and process, which focus mainly on method of investment appraisal and become obsolete and suffered with a many problem. Furthermore, majority of current IT/IS performance measure approaches are mainly post-investment measures which fail to address the readiness issues. On top of that, there are constantly lacks of understanding of the human and organisational issue in the current IT/IS measurement approaches. Those approaches also lack holistic perspective on IT/IS which unable to describe the complex impacts within organizations. Therefore, this paper will address the issue of organisation readiness prior IT/IS implementation. A proposed IT/IS maturity model is developed as an attempt to address the problem issues with current IT/IS measurement approaches. This model has been designed to measure the capability of organisation to “successfully implement IT systems” and it is applicable across industries. The idea is to provide managers with measurement tools to enable them to identify where improvements are required within their organisation and to indicate their readiness prior to IT investment. This model investigates four organisational key elements: IT, environment, process and people, and is composed of six progressive stages of maturity that a company can achieve its IT/IS capabilities.