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Technological, Organisational, and Environmental drivers for enterprise systems upgrade

Gerald Feldman (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)
Hanifa Shah (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)
Craig Chapman (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)
Ardavan Amini (Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK)

Industrial Management & Data Systems

ISSN: 0263-5577

Article publication date: 12 September 2016

707

Abstract

Purpose

Enterprise systems (ES) upgrade is a complex phenomenon, yet it is possible to reduce the complexity through understanding of the upgrade drivers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various upgrade drivers, in order to provide a detailed understanding of the factors driving upgrade decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is grounded in a qualitative survey design. It utilises a web-based survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to collect data from 41 respondents representing 23 large organisations. The data were qualitatively analysed and coded to identify the various drivers and their influence on ES upgrade decisions.

Findings

The findings suggest that the upgrade decisions are dependent on establishing the need to upgrade, which is influenced by various drivers and stakeholders interests. In addition, the findings suggest that organisations would only opt to upgrade when benefits are aligned with the upgrade and when the decision makes business sense.

Research limitations/implications

In this paper, the authors propose that there is a relationship between the upgrade drivers and the upgrade strategy. However, qualitative studies can only formulate logical generalisations. Hence, future research could explore these associations through a quantitative study in order to provide probabilistic generalisation that offers either similar or conflicting arguments applicable to ES upgrade phenomenon.

Originality/value

This paper provides an alternative classification of upgrade drivers, and conceptualises an association between upgrade drivers and the upgrade strategy, which in turn facilitates minimising disruptions and upgrade risks.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper was presented at the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, Singapore, 6-9 July 2015.

Citation

Feldman, G., Shah, H., Chapman, C. and Amini, A. (2016), "Technological, Organisational, and Environmental drivers for enterprise systems upgrade", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 116 No. 8, pp. 1636-1655. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2015-0407

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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