1. www.monash.edu.au IMS5401 Web-based Systems Development Topic 3: Development for the web 3(g) Development in practice: organizational behaviour

2. www.monash.edu.au 2 Agenda 1.Common patterns of adoption of technology 2.Monash as a case study of web use in an organisation 3. Case study lessons 4. Implications

3. www.monash.edu.au 3 1. Common patterns of adoption of new technologies Diffusion of innovation typically follows certain patterns among organisations and within an organisation Common phases in the diffusion of technologies: Initiation Contagion and growth Control and development of standards Maturity and ‘normalisation’ ‘Second wave’ developments? Note: these are stereotypes; should not be adopted as universal truths

4. www.monash.edu.au 4 Technology Adoption Source: Geoffrey Moore: Crossing the Chasm

5. www.monash.edu.au 5 Technology Adoption Source: Geoffrey Moore: Crossing the Chasm

6. www.monash.edu.au 6 Technology Adoption

7. www.monash.edu.au 7 2. Organisations and the web: Monash as a case study Use of web technology at Monash reflects the size and diversity of the organisation Parts of the organisation fit across all elements of the stereotypical adoption patterns Monash may not be a ‘typical’ business organisation overall, but its experiences reflect some common organisational responses to the web

8. www.monash.edu.au 8 Initiation Techos and the internet; the early web Small band of enthusiasts; visions and grand ideas; diverse views Technology too complex and diverse for the non-technical to do anything Simple enough and (exciting enough) concept for some of the non-technical to become dangerous Limited number of small applications; pattern of early use Sporadic/Experimental/Ad hoc/Uncontrolled

9. www.monash.edu.au 9 Contagion Industry success stories and competitive pressure Customer demands and expectations The business environment and the quest for new business models (Berwick and its consequences) User and staff attitudes and understanding Managerial ignorance of realities and pressure for results (or appearances of results)

10. www.monash.edu.au 10 Control Perceived waste and lack of results Proliferation of approaches to web usage Uncertainty about progress; fears of lost opportunities Concern for corporate image Desire for consolidation (build on successes) and economies of scale (support, etc)

11. www.monash.edu.au 11 Maturity and ‘normalisation’ Consolidation of some key applications Acceptance (to some extent) of organisational standards Establishment of ‘normal’ development/ management patterns for applications Substantial reduction in hype/ expectations

12. www.monash.edu.au 12 Current situation Support for ‘core’ businesses in teaching and research (communications and document exchange with customers/clients) Intranet: Support for key internal administrative systems (e-mail, diary systems, internal publications, etc) Support for corporate promotion and marketing Interface for other corporate systems (WES, Allocate+, library, etc)

13. www.monash.edu.au 13 The ‘second wave’? Not much in sight at present Still believed by some to be on the way Greater degree of scepticism second time around

14. www.monash.edu.au 14 3. Case study lessons (my perception!) Current situation Usage patterns Technical issues Managerial issues How typical is Monash?

15. www.monash.edu.au 15 Current situation Continuing (generally non-critical) problems with technical issues Continuing problems with developing, maintaining and enforcing standards Continuing problems with developing user expertise Pressure to develop web-based access to more systems Desire for all-embracing “information repositories”

16. www.monash.edu.au 16 Usage patterns Types of use: Intranet Internal transactional Customer services - transactional Customer services - non-transactional Promotional Customer attitudes and expectations Staff attitudes and expectations

17. www.monash.edu.au 17 Managerial issues Managing growth Experimentation and failure Identifying and promulgating ‘good practice’ Establishing policies and controls for users and customers User training and commodification of expertise Controlling costs and unauthorised use

18. www.monash.edu.au 18 Technical issues Setting up and maintaining the infrastructure - network, servers, proxies, domain names, etc Developing support services Fostering user expertise Establishing and enforcing technical standards

19. www.monash.edu.au 19 Information issues Desire for ‘Big-bang’ all-singing all- dancing systems Attempts to bring together multiple information types and usages Achievability? Stability of information types and needs?

20. www.monash.edu.au 20 Development issues Types of development activity – from small-scale local incremental development to large-scale systems Development processes? Development standards? Expertise?

21. www.monash.edu.au 21 4. Implications Deciding what the web is for: Internal focus External focus Deciding what level of control is needed: Applications Standards Development processes Deciding who should have control: Local/central/outsourced Getting acceptance of control structures

22. www.monash.edu.au 22 Organisational realities Technologists believe that web technology will shape the organisation In practice, organisations will shape the web The use of the web is as much a result of organisational politics as it is of technological capabilities Beware unrealistically idealised pictures of organisations, technology and people!

23. www.monash.edu.au 23 Web site standards W3C technical standards Gurus of design/interaction/usability/ accessibility/etc Which aspect of development should be standardised? Which guru should be followed? Note: Range/diversity of application types Lack of certainty over standards Lack of established norms against which to verify standards

24. www.monash.edu.au 24 Web site development teams (from last week) ‘Traditional’ IS development team Business analysts Systems analysts Programmers Specialists (database, application software,testing, etc) Web development team? …?? Note: Lack of certainty over roles Diversity of specialist backgrounds Lack of established norms for collaboration

25. www.monash.edu.au 25 Development processes (from last week) ‘Traditional’ IS processes Waterfall SDLC Prototyping/RAD/JAD/iterative/etc Structured methodologies Web development processes …?? Note: Lack of clearly-defined processes Diversity of process models Lack of established norms/structures for development process

26. www.monash.edu.au 26 An analogy with the past (from last week) Computer systems development before IS professionals The evolving role of the IS professional Systems analyst/Business analyst/Technical analyst/Application specialist? Are we about to see this pattern repeated (or is it all just a continuation of the same pattern)? Web professionals: Content creators/web page designers/information architects/usability engineers/etc?

27. www.monash.edu.au 27 Mainstream IS worldMainstream web systems world Database design Systems design ERP systems Development methods Data warehousing Decision support MIS Digital media CRM systems Web publishing Systems analysis Content creation Content management Corporate intranets Graphic design Search engines Mobile computing E-commerce Etcetera, etcetera O-O development Data modelling Process modelling Web interfaces Site architecture Corporate promotion Virtual communities Mark-up languages Etcetera, etcetera What role can IS play? The IS-Web system relationship

28. www.monash.edu.au 28 The future Commodification of applications Identification and commodification of ‘best practice’ processes and techniques Evolution of specialised skills Commodification of technologies; impact on skill requirements Organizational recognition of needs Development of specialised development processes