Samuli Pekkola

The user – the great unknown of systems development: reasons, forms, challenges, experiences and intellectual contributions of user involvement

We are witnessing an interesting era in the history of computing and information technology (IT). Computing, telephone and television on the one hand and data, voice and video on the other hand are converging. Internet, the World Wide Web and mobile computing have made IT truly global. IT has become pervasive – it is increasingly difficult for human beings to live their lives without encountering IT. The applications of IT have expanded from traditional automating (e.g. process control and embedded applications), augmenting (e.g. word processing), informating (information systems proper) and communicating (e.g. email) applications to various accompanying (e.g. computer pets), entertaining (e.g. computer games) and fantasizing applications (e.g. virtual world applications such as Second Life) (Iivari, 2007). Modern IT has enabled us to organize our society, business, and lives in new ways. Both in the private and public sector, services or ‘meta-services’, i.e. services required for or supporting the acquisition of the primary service, are increasingly transferred to the internet, and people are being coerced more or less gently into using these electronic services (e.g. Internet banking). These electronic services frequently change the division of labour between people, e.g. between the customers and employees of the service providers. For instance, in internet banking, customers perform many operations previously performed by the bank clerks. Customers have become users of banking applications. IT has enabled organizations and individuals to become globally networked, as evidenced by network organizations and virtual communities. The IT field has not only been the supplier of the technology, but has also been profoundly influenced by these new ways of organizing. The digital nature of software has made it a natural application area for global e-commerce, outsourcing, offshoring, geographically distributed development and also virtual communitybased open-source development. The world of digital convergence and the new IT applications challenge many traditional boundaries. The border between IT and non-IT has become blurred, and as a consequence IT use may be implicit in the sense that people may not necessarily perceive themselves as IT users. For example, are people watching TV and interacting with the program using short doi:10.1111/j.1365-2575.2009.00336.x

From e-learning space to e-learning place

In this paper, it is argued that e-learning environments are currently more like ‘buildings’, ie, learning spaces, rather than ‘schools’, ie, places for learning. The concepts originated from architecture and urban design, where they are used both to distinguish static spaces from inhabited places, and more importantly, as design objectives. The transformation from space to place is supported and enabled by social interactions between the (learning) community members. We argue that this distinction between the concepts explains some of the problems with current e-learning systems and propose issues to consider when designing new systems. By acknowledging the importance and characteristics of a place, designers and researchers can justify the need and support for social interactions in learning space, consequently enabling social community building in e-learning environments, and most importantly, supporting the development of a user-friendly and motivating e-learning place.

Enterprise Architecture Quality Attributes: A Case Study

Enterprise Architecture (EA) is an approach for facilitating the integration of strategy, business, information systems and technology towards a common goal and mastering organizational complexity through the development and usage of architectural descriptions. The planning and modeling aspect of EA is already fairly well covered in the literature, while the attributes of EA quality have attracted less interest - even though EA quality has been perceived as a prerequisite for realizing its benefits. In this exploratory case study, we identify ten quality attributes for EA products and services, utilizing data collected from 14 EA practitioner interviews. We will fill in several gaps in the existing theory base, propose a list of attributes that increase EA quality, and call for more research.

Using enterprise architecture artefacts in an organisation

As a tool for management and planning, Enterprise Architecture (EA) can potentially align organisations’ business processes, information, information systems and technology towards a common goal, and supply the information required within this journey. However, an explicit view on why, how, when and by whom EA artefacts are used in order to realise its full potential is not defined. Utilising the features of information systems use studies and data from a case study with 14 EA stakeholder interviews, we identify and describe 15 EA artefact use situations that are then reflected in the related literature. Their analysis enriches understanding of what are EA artefacts, how and why they are used and when are they used, and results in a theoretical framework for understanding their use in general.

Understanding Enterprise Architecture: Perceptions by the Finnish Public Sector

Enterprise architectures (EA) support organizations in managing the complexity of their business environment and facilitate the integration of strategy, personnel, business and IT. In Finland, the use of EA has recently been mandated by the newly passed Act on the Direction of Public IT Governance. This has forced public sector authorities to familiarize themselves with the Finnish EA method. As part of the familiarization process, public sector organizations were given a chance to make statements on the proposed EA. We acquired the statements and conducted a content analysis to find out how the public sector authorities have understood the proposal and its basis, i.e. the EA itself. It turned out that while the statements were diverse and dependent on the level of previous knowledge on EA, several themes frequently appeared. Even though these problems of misunderstanding the EA concept are not new, the themes provide insights into how EA is understood. This helps researchers and practitioners to conduct their EA related works with multiple stakeholders.

Enterprise Architecture Benefit Realization: Review of the Models and a Case Study of a Public Organization

In recent years, Enterprise Architecture (EA) has been of interest to both researchers and practitioners. However, EA benefit realization has not been focused on much. Even though a few studies have addressed the subject, the results are somewhat fragmented and are subjected to limited empirical validation, particularly from the viewpoint of different theoretical constructs and their interrelations in the benefit realization process. To understand how the EA benefits accumulate and how related constructs influence each other, we propose a model and criteria for analyzing the explanatory power of the existing EA benefit realization models. Our model emerged from the data of a qualitative case study with 14 semi-structured EA stakeholder interviews. The results support earlier findings, thereby contributing to the enhancement of the relevance and generalizability of the constructs present in previous studies. However, the results also indicate that no existing EA benefit realization model fully captures the complex process of EA benefit realization. Our findings highlight the following: the importance of EA process quality; EA service quality and supportive social environment; constructs that have received less attention in previous studies.

Why SPI Initiative Failed: Contextual Factors and Changing Software Development Environment

For todays software business and its productivity, software process improvement (SPI) plays a significant role. Organizations that produce software face challenges with the productivity and effectiveness of their operation. The literature lists numerous methods to make the operation better. Critical success factors are defined in order to make the successful improvement procedures more certain. However, these methodologies need to be adjusted to match the organizational context. All organizations and their environments are different, and thus the solution that is the most suitable for individual needs must be modified or localized to fit the case-specific contextual demands. This paper studies the importance of these contextual demands in SPI. In the paper, a framework is presented through which the software improvement process can be better under-stood and studied. The framework offers a view to understanding the change process describing eight change paths that may be observed when software process improvement is regarded.

Riding for a Fall in Outsourced ISD: Knowledge Transfer Challenges Between the Onshore Vendor and the Offshored Unit

Contemporary information systems development (ISD) is often conducted in a multi-stakeholder network where parts of the development are offshored. This entails several risks and challenges as inter-organizational boundaries get blurred and relationships become complex. Knowledge transfer (KT) is especially difficult; however, it has not been thoroughly studied from the network’s perspective. This interpretive case study investigated why KT between onshore vendor and offshored unit is difficult in the ISD network. Numerous KT challenges were found and organized into four categories. In addition, some root causes were identified, including the nature of knowledge to be transferred, inappropriate systems development methods, the number of middlemen, and political issues. The study contributes to research by confirming insights from the literature on KT and also providing novel issues unique to a networked perspective. For practitioners, this study shows some potential issues to be considered when planning how to organize the outsourcing or offshoring of their systems development.

Establishing an Organization's Master Data Management Function: A Stepwise Approach

Master data management (MDM) provides an access to the consistent views of an organizations master data. Yet the establishment of MDM function, i.e. a department that attempts to ensure master data consistency is not an easy task as several stakeholders have different interests and expectations, among many other reasons. This paper is based on a year-long MDM project, from which we identify the process for establishing MDM functions in an organization, and what are the different steps and interdependencies that should be taken into account. These steps and their dependencies, and other incidental issues help organizations when establishing MDM function, and complement the scarce MDM literature.

Introduction: Reframing Humans and Information Systems

Recent development of information and communication technologies (ICT) provides information systems (IS) designers with new potentialities to build systems for various purposes. The ongoing digital convergence refers to and discloses new views on the interactive reconfiguration of technological and social arrangements on a large scale in the contemporary society (Tilson et al. 2009). In addition to work-related activities, people use new technologies for increasingly diverse purposes, for example organizing their domestic affairs, for finding information and e-services, and for staying in touch with their friends and relatives (Lyytinen and Yoo 2002; Sorensen and Yoo 2005; Iivari et al. 2010). Different uses of IS can be classified to range from automation, support and mediation to informing, entertaining, artisticizing and accompanying (Iivari 2007). In addition to these seven “traditional” archetypes of IT applications, the emergence of ubiquitous computing and wearable computers supported by wireless technologies and distributed interfaces facilitates the design of innovative new applications for users.