The Organisation of IT Functions in the 1990s: A Managerial Perspective

What is the underlying trend in IT structures? Why have individual businesses taken different stands with regard to their IT structures? There has been an ongoing debate concerning these questions with limited resolution. The issues surrounding IT structures are analysed in order to prepare managers to cope with the above two questions throughout the 1990s. Owing to the continuing progress in hardware and software technology, decentralised IT structures will continue to become more accessible and attractive in the 1990s. As a result, the users of IT services will assume an increasing share of responsibilities for producing their locally needed IT services. Generally speaking, the responsibilities of central IT departments will continue to decrease during the 1990s. Meanwhile owing to differences among businesses with respect to their organisational context variables, individual businesses will continue to subscribe to different IT structures ranging from relatively centralised to relatively decentralised.