The Failure of Integrated Information Systems

An Integrated Solution for Small to Medium Enterprises

An integrated solution is an easy solution for small to medium enterprises that streamline their word processes and provide their customers with services. Integrated solutions are explicitly designed to integrate smoothly and continuously with the available business processes and systems then finally deliver desired results. For instance, these solutions are used in restaurants via tablets and mobile information to send orders directly to the kitchen. It can also track inventories and sales transactions in the retail industry. By doing so, the management is given an insight into their favorite products. Most of the researchers conducted in IS are based on information systems success and failure.

About Integrated Solutions

Integrated solutions are known to be an industrial services provider and are recognized globally. It has its headquarters in the United States and other offices in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. In its glory days, the company was ranked as the most technologically sophisticated and its technological infrastructure was excellent at the time. However, the ever-changing technology posed a significant challenge for the company as it was unable to maintain the changes which resulted in them having old informative systems which were not adequately integrated. Its problems in IT began in the late 1990s. The company used to take a lot of time to process their customers’ orders due to their improperly integrated information systems, unlike their competitors who took a minute or two.

Factors Contributing to IS Failure

Despite the efforts to understand how these systems function, the IS failure rate is still high. The Is failure can be categorized in several ways, for example, we can say that it has failed when the system does not meet the user’s expectations or if the IS is unable to create a working system. Most of the mistakes that lead to this failure are based on the process used, individuals involved, technology implemented and product. Management factors surrounding the IT project are part of the process category that involves the process of management alongside different project management methods. The category of people focuses on the factors related to the individuals who take part in the project. The features of the project are contained in the product category. The category of technology focuses on how the use of modern technology can cause the failure of IS.

Misfits and Resistance to IS

The existence of a misfit in functionality, data, usability, role, control, and organizational culture can result in an IS failure. Also, IS outcomes are affected by country-context gaps, hard-soft gaps, and public-private sector gaps (Fathi, 2016). The findings are mainly experienced in developing countries. The research conducted also highlighted use resistance as one of the factors. It focuses on why end users resist the IS. The beginning of the problems associated with information systems was when some of the regional personnel objected it. There were differing opinions concerning the development software that was selected.

The Global Information System and its Challenges

The global information system got different receptions in different continents. It seemed like the other continents had their ideas about the best method to use. However, the headquarters was no familiar with the tool that was chosen. As a result, a team from Europe was flown to the U.S.A to start working on developing the new systems. Unfortunately, the building process went ahead of the set time limit. Soon, it was discovered that the new prototype had no significant functionality. The people were unable to comprehend the exact appearance of the global information system since the prototype provided little information.

Acquiring an Outside Vendor Package

The company decided to acquire an outside vendor package since an inside vendor system was proving to be impossible. It is unfortunate that after many years, the Integrated Solutions was still not able to create a new functional information system and was forced to employ an outside vendor who provided an already packaged solution. (Storbacka, 2011). The delay led to the company immensely in the stock market which led to them losing their position as the market leader. The factors were not only based on technology but also the company’s management. Most of the overseas regional managers denied the system and marketed their preferred products. The CIO failed in controlling the situation as both the CIO and the chairman did not respect or trust each other. As a result, there was a lot of chaos related to the choice of the development tool. Lack of responsible leadership is the main reason as to why an inappropriate development tool was chosen along with a packaged solution of low quality.

Recovering and Improving Integrated Solutions

For integration solutions to recover its previous solution, it should focus on creating a new system that is based on the modules of its existing information systems. The company should be careful and critical when choosing the leaders (DePamphilis, 2018). The practice will ensure that better decisions are made. When implementing their decisions, they should provide that they look at all angles to see whether or not the decisions are favorable. They should only apply the decisions that are more likely to succeed. According to me, the company did not follow the right procedure for creating and obtaining information systems. This is because even after three years in use, it had accomplished very little. Their attempt to improve the system led to choose a system that they were unable to complete.

References

DePamphilis, D. M. (2018). Mergers, acquisitions, and other restructuring activities: An integrated approach to process, tools, cases, and solutions. London: Elsevier/Academic Press.

Fathi, M. A. (2016). INTEGRATED SYSTEMS: Innovations and applications. Place of publication not identified: SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PU.

Storbacka, K. (2011). A solution business model: Capabilities and management practices for integrated solutions. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(5), 699-711.