The Biography and Evolution
of Software Packages
Three year project funded under the Economic & Social Research Council
(2004-2007)
This is a
comparative study of the development and use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
software packages and how they are evolving as they are adapted for use in new
organisational contexts. Working across an interdisciplinary team, we shall
conduct ethnographic research in both supplier and user settings.
Over 60% of
organisations rely upon COTS software packages and information systems. Yet
despite the economic importance of the COTS markets the
Our hypothesis
is that there is a growing gulf between the strategies of COTS suppliers who
design increasingly generic information systems and the requirements of the
private and public sector users of these systems who must ultimately reconcile
them within their local setting. In some sectors, for example, such are the
difficulties of using generic solutions that there are demands for systems
which are already partially adapted to particular business settings. Yet we
know very little about the strategies of COTS suppliers and how they develop systems
for both specific users or classes of similar users
and wider markets. Nor has there been research conducted on how user
organisations themselves assess and make decisions about the wide range of
systems available, and their implementation and customisation strategies.
Drawing on
theories from Science & Technology Studies, and through tracing the
'biography' of a number of software packages, we shall investigate how the
dynamics between software suppliers and users and how tensions are managed and
resolved (detailed project outline). Contact neil.pollock@ed.ac.uk for more information.
Neil Pollock
is a Lecturer in the
Robin Williams is Director of
the Research Centre for Social Sciences at the
Luciana D'Adderio is a Research Fellow in the
Rob Procter
is a Reader in the
James Cornford is Co-Director of the centre for Social & Business Informatics at
the
Christine Schwarz is a Research Fellow at the
Gillian
Hardstone is a Research Fellow in the
Christine Grimm
is a PhD student in the
Technology Choice and
its Performance: Towards a Sociology of Software
Package Procurement
Global Software
and its Provenance: Generification Work in the Production of Organisational
Software Packages (Pollock & Williams, forthcoming Social Studies of Science)
Putting the University Online: Information,
Technology & Organisational Change
(Cornford & Pollock, Open University
Press)
When is a Work-around? Conflict and Negotiation in
Computer Systems Development
(Pollock, Science, Technology & Human
Values)
ERP Systems and the University as an 'Unique'
Organisation (PoIlock &
Cornford, Information Technology &
People)
Fitting Standard Software Packages to Non-Standard Organisations: The
'Biography' of an Enterprise-Wide System (Pollock, Williams & Procter, Technology
Analysis & Strategic Management)
The 'Self-Service' Student: Building Enterprise-Wide
Systems into Universities (Pollock, Prometheus)
The Virtual University as "Accurate and Timely Information (Pollock, Information,
Communication & Society)
Inside the Virtual Product: How Organisations Create
Knowledge Through Software (D'Adderio, Edgar Elgar Press)
Crafting the Virtual Prototype
(D'Adderio, Research Policy)
Configuring Software, Reconfiguring Memories (D'Adderio, Industrial
& Corporate Change)
AMASE (Advanced Multi-Agency Service Environments)
Space, Place and the Virtual University
AIM Fellowship in Excellence in Public Services: Local E-Government
DIRC (Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration in Dependability)
The Network Enterprise: the Shaping of Institutions
& Standards in E-Business
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