Title: IS development/IT operations alignment in system development projects: a multi-method research

Authors: Jon Iden; Bjørnar Tessem; Tero Paivarinta

Addresses: Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, 5045 Bergen, Norway. ' Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, PB 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway. ' Information Systems, University of Agder, Postboks 422, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway; Luleå University of Technology, Computer and System Sciences, 97187 Luleå, Sweden

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore IS development/IT operations alignment in system development projects. The paper triangulates data from four independent studies in order to explore how the two domains are aligned in today's system development projects. The paper concludes that the two domains are unsatisfactorily aligned: communication and information flow is not efficient, plans and activities are not well-connected, and they do not have a close working relationship. Our findings suggest that improving IS development/IT operations alignment must be a priority for IT managers, and we offer suggestions for focal issues. This study shed light on a new aspect of IT governance and alignment challenges, and provides researchers with data and perspectives for further research.

Keywords: information systems development; information technology operations; system development projects; alignment; multi-method; focus group; case study; Delphi study; IT governance; communication; information flow.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2012.049570

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2012 Vol.11 No.3, pp.343 - 359

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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