Effects of IT Infrastructure services on business process implementation-Focus on small and medium enterprises in emerging markets

Sammanfattning: An organization’s information technology (IT) infrastructure capability is increasinglyrealized as a critical part to business effectiveness and efficiency. IT infrastructure servicesare particularly important for organizations looking to deploy business processes indeveloping markets. There has also been an interest from many small and medium sizedorganizations whose core business is not in IT to outsource and manage these servicesthrough third party service providers. However there is a need to create an understanding forthese organizations to deploy the right infrastructure services in order to enable easierimplementation or reengineering of the business process. There has been little researchfocusing on the patterns of the IT infrastructure capabilities in the small and medium sizedorganizations in the developing markets.The research aims for a comprehensive coverage by analyzing the requirements in thedeveloping markets and proposing a selection model for the organizations to choose ITservice provider in case they decide to outsource the infrastructure services. The effect of theIT infrastructure services on the business process implementation is presented with anemphasis on the boundary crossing services. Using empirical case study, the research analysesa firm in developing markets and compares it against four strategically similar organizationsfrom different industries. Data collection was primarily qualitative and ably supported bysecondary data.The requirements in developing markets reflect the same as in mature markets. The pricing isseen to play a major role in the selection of the service providers with service security notvery much organization’s priority. The number of boundary crossing services effectivelyenables information sharing and control. These services are the drivers in simplifying thebusiness process implementation. The findings have implications for both business andtechnical managers in regard to planning the IT strategy in the long term and developingappropriate infrastructure according to the process needs.