Growing pains—and successes—in transforming the information systems organization for client/server development

Abstract

Information systems (IS) groups are under increasing pressure to contribute to organizational performance and to support, or even drive, broad organizational transformation efforts through the successful exploitation of information technology (IT). Using a "sociocentric" model of organizational work, this paper analyzes the experiences of one company's IS group that recently embarked on a long-term, enterprise-wide client/server system development initiative designed to transform organizational decision support processes. Even though the client/server initiative is still in its infancy and has not yet delivered high-impact applications, it has brought about substantial changes in the nature of work in the IS group. These changes range from new philosophies, methodologies, and technologies to shifts in the skills, communication patterns, control structures and management styles required to develop and manage information systems.