Deciding the Future for IS Failures Not the Choice You Might Think

Abstract

Abstract Experience does not encourage optimism. However, there are changes unfolding in practice and research which could result in significantly reduced failure rates. The first is a shift in practice toward risk containment, a relatively new approach which promises to reduce the high incidence and cost of failure. The second is the growing research interest in IS failures. This chapter places IS failures research in its historical context to help us see what has and has not been achieved in the past, what is happening today, and where current trends are taking us. The main purpose is to demonstrate that we face a choice between reducing risk through containing it and accepting high risk but trying to control it. The dilemma is this in an ideal world there would be no IS failures, but a world in which there are no IS failures will not necessarily be ideal.