skip to main content
research-article
Free Access

Seven principles for selecting software packages

Published:01 August 2010Publication History
Skip Abstract Section

Abstract

Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the decision-making process.

References

  1. Adam, A. and Light, B. Selling packaged software: An ethical analysis. In Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Information Systems. (Turku, Finland, 2004).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  2. Attewell, P. Technology diffusion and organizational learning: The case of business computing. Organization Science 3, 1 (1992), 1--19.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  3. Au, Y.A. and Kauffman, R.J. Should we wait? Network externalities and electronic billing adoption. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. (Hawaii, 2001). Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  4. Bailey, J., McKnight, L., and Bosco, P. The economics of advanced services in an open communications infrastructure: Transaction costs, production costs, and network externalities. Information Infrastructure and Policy 4 (1995), 255--277.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  5. Beatty, R.C. and Williams, C.D. ERP II: Best practices for successfully implementing an ERP upgrade. Commun. ACM 49 (Mar. 2006), 105--109. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  6. Besen, S.M. and Farrell, J. Choosing how to compete: Strategies and tactics in standardization. Journal of Economic Perspectives 8, 2 (1994), 117--131.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  7. Chapman, M.R. In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters. Apress, Berkeley, CA, 2003. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  8. Chiasson, M.W. and Green, L.W. Questioning the IT artefact: User practices that can, could, and cannot be supported in packaged-software designs. European Journal of Information Systems 16, 5 (2007), 542--554.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  9. Damsgaard, J. and Lyytinen, K. The role of intermediating institutions in diffusion of electronic data interchange: How industry associations in the grocery sector intervened in Hong Kong, Finland, and Denmark. The Information Society 17, 3 (2001), 195--210.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  10. David, J.S., Schuff, D., and Louis, R.S. Managing your total IT cost of ownership. Commun. ACM 45, 1 (2002), 101--106. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  11. David, P.A. Clio and the economics of Qwerty. The American Economic Review 75, 2 (1985), 332--337.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  12. David, P.A. Narrow Windows, Blind Giants, and Angry Orphans: The Dynamics of Systems Rivalries and Dilemmas of Technology Policy. Technological Innovation Project (No. 10), Stanford University, CA, 1986.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  13. David, P.A., and Bunn, J.A. The economics of Gateway technologies and network Evolution: Lessons from electricity supply history. Information Economics and Policy 3 (1988), 165--202. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  14. Erl, T. Service-Oriented Architecture: Concepts, Technology, and Design. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  15. George, J.F. (ed.) The Origins of Software: Acquiring Systems at the End of the Century. Framing the Domains of IT Management: Projecting the Future through the Past. Pinnaflex Educational Resources, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, 2000.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  16. Howcroft, D. and Light, B. Reflections on issues of power in packaged software selection. Information Systems Journal 16, 3 (2006), 215--235.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  17. Karlsbjerg, J. Staying outside the mainstream: An empirical study of standards choices. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii, 2002. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  18. Karlsbjerg, J., Damsgaard, J., and Scheepers, R. A taxonomy of Intranet Implementation strategies: To make or to buy? Journal of Global Information Management 11, 3 (2003), 151--165.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  19. Klein, H.K. and Myers, M.D. Evaluating interpretive field studies. MISQ 23, 1, 67--94 Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  20. Khoo, H.M. and Robey, D. Deciding to upgrade packaged software: A comparative case study of motives, contingencies and dependencies. European Journal of Information Systems 16, 5 (2007), 555--567.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  21. Klein, B. 1998. Microsoft's use of zero price bundling to fight the browser wars. The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Washington, DC, 1998.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  22. Kutar, M. and Light, B. Exploring cultural issues in the packaged software industry: A usability perspective. In Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Information Systems (Regensberg, Germany, 2005).Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  23. Light, B. Potential pitfalls in packaged software adoption. Commun. ACM 48, 5 (May 2005), 119--121. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  24. Light, B. and Sawyer, S. Locating packaged software in information systems research. European Journal of Information Systems 16, 5 (2007), 527--530.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  25. Ljungberg, J. Open source movements as a model for organizing. European Journal of Information Systems. (Dec. 2000). Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  26. Moore, G.C. End user computing and office automation: A diffusion of innovations perspective. Infor 25 (1987), 214--222.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  27. Nielsen, J. User interface directions for the Web. Commun. ACM 42, 1 (Jan. 1999), 65--72. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  28. Pollock, N., Williams, R., and Procter, R. Fitting standard software packages to non-standard organizations: The 'biography' of an enterprise-wide system. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 15, 3 (2003), 317--332.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  29. Raymond, E.S. The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary. O'Reilly, 1997. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  30. Sawyer, S. Effects of conflict on packaged software development team performance. Information Systems Journal 11, 2 (2001), 155--178.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  31. Sawyer, S. Information systems development: A market-oriented perspective. Commun. ACM 44, 11 (Nov. 2001), 97--102. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  32. Shankland, S., Kanellos, M. and Wong, W. Sun and Microsoft settle Java suit. News.com, 2001.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  33. Shapiro, C. and Varian, H.R. The art of standards wars. California Management Review 41, 2 (1999), 8--32.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  34. Shapiro, C. and Varian, H.R. Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 1999. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  35. Sia, S.K. and Soh, C. An assessment of package-organization misalignment: Institutional and ontological structures. European Journal of Information Systems 16, 5 (2007), 568--583.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  36. Truex, D.P., Baskerville, R., and Klein, H. Growing systems in emergent organizations. Commun. ACM 42, 8 (Aug. 1999), 117--123. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  37. West, J. The economic realities of open standards: Black, white and many shades of gray. Standards and Public Policy. S. Greenstein and V. Stango (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2007.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar

Index Terms

  1. Seven principles for selecting software packages

        Recommendations

        Comments

        Login options

        Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

        Sign in

        Full Access

        • Published in

          cover image Communications of the ACM
          Communications of the ACM  Volume 53, Issue 8
          August 2010
          136 pages
          ISSN:0001-0782
          EISSN:1557-7317
          DOI:10.1145/1787234
          Issue’s Table of Contents

          Copyright © 2010 ACM

          Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

          Publisher

          Association for Computing Machinery

          New York, NY, United States

          Publication History

          • Published: 1 August 2010

          Permissions

          Request permissions about this article.

          Request Permissions

          Check for updates

          Qualifiers

          • research-article
          • Popular
          • Refereed

        PDF Format

        View or Download as a PDF file.

        PDF

        eReader

        View online with eReader.

        eReader

        HTML Format

        View this article in HTML Format .

        View HTML Format