Developing an IS/ICT management capability maturity framework

Information systems and information communication technology (IS/ICT) have a profound impact on the modern business environment. The role of IS/ICT in organizations has changed significantly over the past forty years. Its initial data-processing support function has evolved into it functioning as a corporate resource of strategic importance and competitive advantage. This new role necessitates an update of IS/ICT management strategies. However, it is argued that the prevailing approach to the improvement of IS/ICT management processes is fragmented. A more comprehensive IS/ICT management capability maturity framework was therefore developed through this research project. A review of historic and recent research studies produced a list of 15 factors that are indicators of organizational IS/ICT management capability maturity. A process of elimination, combination and iterative modelling, supported by interviews with five senior IT professionals in large South African organizations, yielded the final seven indicators that comprise the model. These indicators are IS/ICT Applications, Business-IT relationship, IS/ICT strategy alignment, IS/ICT user profile, IS/ICT managerial paradigm, IS/ICT governance and IS/ICT organization. In the proposed framework these seven indicators are combined in 'spider diagram' notation, and an assessment of an organization's level of maturity on all seven indicators is combined in an IS/ICT management capability maturity profile or footprint. It is argued that this framework is a valuable tool for evaluating an organization's overall IS/ICT management capability, or for comparing different organizations, or even to benchmark with the appropriate maturity profile for a particular industry.

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